by Jay Najeeah

How do you return to a place you never wanted to go?

That’s the big question that, for me, builds the entirety of this story. Family has always been complicated, but being able to put pen to paper, and truly discuss it was vital to my own growth. I have always had a fraught relationship with my father, and after the passing of my grandmother, I had to really look at what that meant moving forward.

This script was the first story I wrote while studying to receive my MFA in Film from Howard University (HU 24! 🥰), and as soon as I finished it, I realized how much of myself I saw in it. That scared me. It was as if I had thrown a direct shot at myself that I was ill-prepared to take on. I immediately closed myself off from what the work was and threw myself in another direction (which in hindsight, was a blessing and a curse.) I found my cinematic voice as a filmmaker in that moment of fear, but I still found myself itching for resolution in the story.

That was when I saw that Resisting Narratives of Erasure was coming back for another year. I needed something that spoke to my intersecting identities in a new way, and I felt drawn to this fellowship. After applying and making it in, I was blessed to see these other artists fully pull themselves into the work and refuse to shy away from their existence. Seeing these other folk blossom, I realized quickly how important looking internally was for my growth as an artist.

I was scared but knew what needed to be done in that importance. I dug through the years' worth of scripts and found "Meet Me." again. The film you may have seen is one that I had to make myself produce. Though simple in nature, really looking at my own feelings of abandonment from my father, especially after the death of someone so seminal to who I am, was earth-shattering. I had to really sit with myself and wonder why it hurt so much to look at this made version of myself.

It hurts to let go. Let go of loved ones, and of people you wished loved you how they should. Making "Meet Me." was a turning point in my growth.

I don't need the people who have harmed me, and I don't have to make amends. At the end of this film (spoilers!), we are unsure of what happens between Symone and Shakale, but we do know that something will. In my personal story, I had to come to terms with the fact that my own release was enough. Being able to let go of what felt like a requirement to be a "good daughter" and an affable or easy to calm woman, was a huge weight off of my shoulders.

Coming to terms with the fact that the only people who owe you things are the people that treat you how you deserve is a hard pill to swallow, but in the creation of this film, I was able to take that medicine, and I'm all the better for it.

Jay Najeeah is a 2024 Resisting Narratives of Erasure fellow.