Collective of Creative Spaces
Launch Year
2013
Formats & Presentations
- Short and Feature Documentaries
- Short and Long Narratives
- Written and Recorded Essays
- Publications, Reviews, Commentary
- Audio and Video Logs & Broadcasts
Topics
- Community and Lived Experiences
- Eclectic Personalities and Local Stories
- Service, Justice, and Entrepreneurship
- Science Fiction, Fantasy, Animation
- Gaming, EDC, Technology
- Celluloid and Digital Imaging
- Optics and Lenses
Za • ma (zɑːmə ˈzɑːmə) | verb/noun – to try, to attempt; one that endeavors
The word Zama, in both Zulu and Xhosa, translates loosely to “to endeavor,” “to attempt,” or “to try.” It’s a simple yet profound term that resonates deeply with me. Beyond its linguistic beauty, the word encapsulates the perseverance I’ve needed throughout my life.
If I introduce myself as Zama, I am endeavoring in my personal ZAMA Creative online spaces, conveying comments on the color of our conduct, and the context of our condition— all while documenting my journey investigating my own whims, commercial and creative. Expression through execution.
Colors & Symbols
Standard • Traditional Colors of Japan • HTML
The amber bronze hue represents the operations division in Star Trek franchise from which I pull much inspiration for personal perseverance toward artistic goals of service of better ideals. The green, purple-blue, yellow, and red tints make reference to the South African flag, the nation whose languages inspire my moniker, and whose story inspire my nuance of forces powerful and reconciliatory in the themes of my work. The purple-pink and black touches are hallmarks to my millennial roots. The hand crafted lines a literal imprint of my touch on this work.
À l’Orange • 櫨染 • darkorange
#f5890A
Safflower • 玉蜀黍色 • sandybrown
#f9B140
Noble Red • 真朱 • brown
#8f1622
White • 藍白 • White
#ffffff
Royal Night • 瑠璃色 • darkslateblue
#2c3191
Frog Green • 青竹色 • forestgreen
#03683B
Cadmium • 藤紫 • rebeccapurple
#7F3F98
Black • 黒色 • black
#000000
The History
In elementary school, I spent countless afternoons in an after-school program, where we socialized, snacked, completed homework, and occasionally rehearsed songs for holiday and spring performances. These rehearsals were compulsory, often feeling like child labor, though I look back with a mix of humor and fondness. One year, we learned a song in Zulu. I’ve long forgotten the lyrics, but that experience sparked something deeper in me—a desire to learn the language and reconnect with my ancestral roots. I am an unabashed nerd with special interests in linguistics and etymology—a intriguing fascination inherited from my father, the one to tape our home copy of the film “Shaka Zulu”.
Why ZAMA?
Though I’m not particularly adept at acquiring new tongues, I nevertheless try to learn much of other languages and cultures, including X’hosa and Zulu, two languages of South Africa. Deeper than academics it felt personal. It was a path of expressing my Afro-descended identity beyond the limited African American history taught in my youth. The circlet of hair around my locs pays homage the umqhele, the traditional headband worn by South African warriors. I am not South African, but the little connections to my ancestral homeland planted in an after school program choir resonates in my art today.
Wisdom from Many
To me, creativity is not siloed. My college experiments, samples of which I’ve included here, to my work in education, caregiving, and community engagement informs my media artistry—just as much as my experience in photography, videography, and consulting. These intersecting modalities converge into a singular vision, driven by my commitment to justice and authenticity in every endeavor. As Zama the Creative, I endeavor to be.
What This Is • What This Isn’t
ZAMA Creative is all about the solo projects. represents the creative wing of my work. All of these projects whether they are personally sourced or commercially published, they are the projects that matter because they matter to me. I separate them thusly from the body of work for Upbound Media Group LLC, my media company. These few gems are samples from my college years, endeavoring to try something new. Not corporate. Something Creative.
Spaces of Zama Creative
Contained within this website are references to the online spaces of ZAMA Creative that I will be launching across 2026 Beginning with my documentary, “This.1.Chronicle – Portrait 1 • Rebel Jones. All spaces will have a ad-hoc social media components with Content formats and delivery platforms tailored and chosen according to my schedule and the appropriateness of the medium. The Trek Realist, and select spaces from Blerd Speak will likely release before the end of 2026.
Spaces & Creations of ZAMA
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Trek Realist
Star Trek Video Essays & Reviews
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Blerd Speak
Internal Universe of Editorial Nerd Content
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This.1.Chronicle
Feature Length Documentary Anthology
6
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SATO
Starfleet Archive of Tactical Operations
- Trek Realist • Reviews and Essays
- Blerd Speak • Nerd Space
- This.1.Chronicle • Docu Series
- SATO • Trek Vids & Gaming
A reflective dive into the cultural and personal impact of Star Trek, examining its themes, fan discourse, and how it continues to inspire through its idealism and storytelling.
An online space exploring the eclectic interests of a proud Black nerd, featuring thoughtful video essays, gaming streams, and discussions that celebrate the intersection of identity, fandom, and creativity.
A documentary series exploring the legacies of everyday individuals whose lives and work may otherwise go unsung, celebrating the enduring impact of their passions and pursuits on their journeys in their community.
An imaginative exploration of Star Trek’s tactical and technical lore, curating analyses of historic battles, overlooked skirmishes, and beta-canon doctrines within the Federation’s storied history.
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Service (S&D)
Volunteer for local speech debate organizations
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Enpraxist
Artisanal social justice commentary
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But He Not A Bass Doe
Comical music creative space
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Fringe Glass
Video reviews and short projects
- Service • Speech And Debate
- Enpraxist • Editorial Justice Content
- But He Not A Bass Doe • 🎙️🎤
- Fringe Glass • Vintage Optics
Having worked with the Brooklyn Debate League in the past with a personal history in speech and debate, I will volunteer by media services and personal experience to support students building more than just skills in the practice of speech and debate.
Written and recorded articles. Podcasts. Community. Content and commitment both comical and critical outside of the classroom of collegiate conversations regarding ethics, heuristics, justice.
But He Not a Base Doe is an online space launching in late 2026 on Instagram and YouTube. This ZAMA Creative project is a musical experiment fueled by my obsession with filling in bass notes—an exercise born from echolalia and my deep appreciation for the rare, resonant tones of basso profundo singers. My old tennis self from my choir years could only wish and dream…
An exploration of vintage and obscure camera lenses from the past century, blending technical insights with creative experimentation to uncover the unique character and potential of these hidden optical gems.
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As It Was
Architectural photojournalism
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Once I Trot
Travel photo and vlogging journey
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In-an-Instant
Instant Film and in-camera photography
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ZAMA Sci-Fi Anthology
Science fiction film anthology
- As It Was • Photo Journalism
- Once I Trot • Photo Journey
- In-an-Instant • Rapid Photography
- ZAMA Sci-Fi Anthology • Film Series
This is a photojournalism series documenting the last vestiges of Brooklyn focusing in on Landmark staples of my millennial childhood capturing the structural bastions left from an untenable time renting commercial and residential spaces in this great city of New York.
A travel-inspired photo series capturing vibrant and intimate moments across my journeys, blending documentary style with personal reflections on culture, place, and memory.
A visual celebration of fleeting moments, captured using instant film to preserve the raw, analog beauty of candid memories and spontaneous storytelling.
A collection of short soft sci-fi films in development, uniting themes of humanity, connection, and introspection through narratives that seek to resonate deeply with the times we live in.
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Quiet Care
Feature Length Film Documentary
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Dirty Light
Modeling & Cosplay Culture Docu Series
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SAS • Film & Album
Independent Film and Original Soundtrack
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Collabs
Ad-hoc creative collaborations
ZAMA Creative • (ZC) • will produce and publish this independent documentary in Q4 2027. If nothing else, I hope to showcase the beginning of the journey that my mother and I walk as the situation without him in person, but assuredly in work to call other to not be quiet while they offer care. We hope to showcase our story of how we start to process and persevere through this most distressing era, and to show others a possibility of how not to take or granted the very many opportunities one is afforded, even in overwhelming and blinding circumstances.
An exploration of the independent entrepreneurship, lived experiences, and told perspectives of online models, artists, and cosplayers in open yet adverse online social media spaces of both expression and enterprise.
A creative endeavor capturing the soulful artistry of my mother’s musical journey, blending her lifelong passion for music and stage with a renewed focus on self-expression and legacy-building with the production of her first film and album, Sas.
These commercial and creative projects are woven in between quite literally every other client project and personal piece. These are typically long term commitments between Zama creative and other artisans who wish craft a very specific idea into which we both have bought stock. An artisan’s network. Filmographic poetry. A coding collective. A feature documentary or indie narrative. and the scopes and sequences of all of which is dictated by time and resources allotted by its purveyors; You, and me, are its purveyors.
