Drama has been an inseparable part of Jomo Dixon’s life since his talent was discovered by a teacher in grade four. Since then he has been devoting himself to this beautiful form of art. When Dixon became disillusioned with the Jamaican education system, when he bravely refused to go to college and took a gap year, and when he was fighting against social injustice with all his might: drama was always Dixon’s loyal companion. “Art is life” Dixon believes and uses as a source of motivation.
“In performing art; it strings together a series of emotions. So, when you perform, the audience receives and interprets the emotions. It is almost like emotional communication,” said Dixon, “People will not remember what you say or what you act, but they will always remember how you made them feel. So drama is the ultimate communicating language because it conveys emotions, as opposed to just words. So, that’s what life is.”
My impression of Dixon has been that he is always performing, even when he is off stage. During Foundation Week, when I first met him in the hallway, he greeted me with energy: like a radiating sun. His white teeth beautifully lined up as he broke into a big smile, eyes looking straight into mine as if trying to see through me. His arms were flying in the air and his body never stopped moving as he taught me how to pronounce his name. Dixon’s enthusiasm excited me and I and almost felt like I was acting on stage with him, even though, unfortunately, we did not have an audience. He is a born dancer and dramatist.
Dixon, however, is actually not what he appears to be. He is, what he describes, as an “extroverted introvert”. He confessed: “I am a dual, but at heart I am truly an introvert.” Drama has come to shape his personality, turning this shy boy into a sunny, bright man. “What drama has done for me is that drama has not only helped me mask how shy I am, or to get a different level of confidence, but also to discover another aspect of myself” said Dixon. He knows that being introverted does not permit him to show all of how he is and in theatre he is able to show off his extroverted side.
As Dixon puts himself into other characters’ shoes and tries to depict the characters to the fullest, he is also growing spiritually and developing his own character. To portray a character is to walk through this character’s spiritual journey, to feel both the happiness and sadness that this character feels. Through this process, Dixon is able to develop the ability of viewing the world through different eyes while still maintaining his own perception of life and the world.
Drama has not only shaped Dixon’s personality, but also his view of the world and his values. In drama, Dixon often touches upon very serious social issues such as male marginalization in Jamaica and sexual abuse. These are very difficult problems that cause even social scientists to drain their brains, but Dixon is approaching these problems from a different angle. He appeals to the emotion, and sometimes it can turn out to be a more powerful method than tackling the problem with science.
“We use arts to bring awareness of it [social problems in Jamaica]. That type of art is almost transformative. It has let people to seek help. We don’t just do art in a vacuum. It is actually transforming lives,” said Dixon, “so that’s the importance of art at the end of the day: to communicate what wouldn’t be normally communicated.”
“It’s extending who you are. You are growing. I am no longer Jomo. I am a growing Jomo through the arts.” Said Dixon.
Dixon also developed his patience through drama. When he talked about the most important characteristic of a dramatist, he re-emphasized “patience” twice, as if it is never enough to stress the significance of patience. As Dixon reflects on his experience, he is very aware that theatre is something that one has to love to do, because it takes time to get it right. He tasted the cruel of reality when he was not able to put his ideas into practice because his team could not afford it. Furthermore, he experienced the pain of miscommunication when the message wasn’t accepted the way they wanted it to be, or drama not being marketed the way his team wanted it to be marketed. Despite all these difficulties, Dixon still loves drama and never gave up his passion.
“Especially in Jamaica, where we don’t have many resources for drama, so you have to use your creative minds to actually make it work,” said Dixon, “you have to have that patience to relax, re-gather, and attempt at it again.” It was under such difficult environment that Dixon grew more patient and persistent.
While Dixon’s drama career was at its peak, his academic career was not generating the same results. In the last two years of high school, Dixon had hard time focusing on the school work, not due to his time-consuming drama career, but because he was “disillusioned by the education system”.
Dixon had always been a competitive student. He was the top student in his primary school and managed to be one of a few who got into the top high school, even though his primary school did not have many resources. Surrounded by excellent students from other schools, Dixon lost his crown of “top student” when he first came into high school in grade seven. Dixon worked hard and by the end of grade ten he had risen back to the top. However, grade 11 and 12 did not continue to follow the momentum of grade ten.
“I was demotivated by how messed up the system was,” said Dixon, “I started to focus more on the type of person I was instead of the grades that I got.” He began to fight against the test-oriented education in Jamaica.
After graduating from high school, despite receiving an offer from the university of Jamaica, Dixon chose to take a gap year. . He felt that he was not yet ready for the soul-crushing education again. During his gap year Dixon worked in an insurance company as a customer service representative while also doing drama. Fortunately, Minerva came to Dixon just in time, when Dixon was thinking about going back to the social norm.
Dixon first came across Minerva in a documentary. Since then, he has been captivated by Minerva. He knew right away that Minerva was the thing for him, and thus he put his heart and soul into the Minerva application process. In some sense, Minerva is a savior to Dixon, saving him out of the corrupted education system in Jamaica, but on the other hand, it was also up to Dixon whether he could grab onto this rope and climb out of the abyss of education in Jamaica. Dixon recalled his mentor saying to him: When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Apparently, Dixon was ready to embark on a spectacular intellectual journey.
Dixon’s long-term goal is to build a primary school in Jamaica, much like Minerva, because he knows very well how the unfair test-oriented education system can demotivate aspiring students. “I want to create an environment where the sole purpose of student is not to worry about finance or resource, but just to learn.” said Dixon.
It is strange to look back and imagine what would happen if Dixon was not admitted to Minerva. “I would be on the road to the conformity right now. In Jamaica, you are expected to do well in school, and become a teacher, doctor or lawyer; those generic jobs,” said Dixon, “if my application didn’t work out, I would have taken an online law course. I was going to sign up for University of London, online law degree.” But then almost like a miracle Dixon turned his life around and came to San Francisco.
In the interview, Dixon often referred to the phrase “social commentary”, revealing how much he cares about the social issues and his desire to have his voice heard. “I became more globally aware, culturally aware and historically aware. Drama has definitely impacted my awareness on the whole.” said Dixon. Through the platform of theatre, film and radio, he tries to inform people of what is happening in the world and make tells people to them understand that their story isn’t the only story they should be focusing on, and they have company in the world. “It’s more so sometimes not for me, but for people how are seeing it. I guess that’s what was motivating me.” said Dixon. It was this motivation that brought Dixon to Minerva. He wants to stand at the crossroads of arts and social issues, combining the two paths together to carve out his own journey.
One take home message: We should always prepare ourselves to be struck by surprise in what life throws at us: get ready for it.
Photo by: Mike Daley