Jason C Louder

JASON C. LOUDER: LET’S MAKE A CHANGE TOGETHER

BY DRUINE SANTANA

After 17 years of being a teacher, Jason C. Louder found his passion for acting in 2009. The Atlanta, Georgia native has carved his way into the industry as a multi-talented performer. Louder has made an appearance in over 70 stage productions and independent products combined. He is a true advocate for working in the Atlanta community as he canvassed Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff’s campaign team for the U.S. Senate election. Recently, Louder is working on a new production called Sour Milk, which will produce short films, episodes, and more. While we wait for the completion of his new production, Louder revealed he will be working with Jamie Foxx next month on a new film.

This year has started great for the natives of Georgia. You played a part in the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, which was the largest statewide campaign for Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff for the U.S. Senate runoff. What made you want to be a part of this campaign?

It was time for a change! Even in school, I was always involved because I was the president of a Black Student Alliance. I was the vice president of NAACP, at Georgia Southern University. So, I’ve always kind of been engaged in knowing that we must be involved, and we must be empowered in our agency, right? Taking up arms when it comes to our rights. So that’s kind of always been instilled within me. My mom was like, “Hey! NACA needed canvassers for Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff. Do you want to be a canvasser?” I was like “Let’s go put his work here in!” It was more so one of those things where it was like, “Hey, you know what the work needs to be done.” I have time. I am blessed to have time to do it and they compensated us as well. So, it was like, I am doing the work that needs to be done and I am being paid to do it. That is awesome!

How did you get involved with the prison system concerning social justice reform?

My mother is an activist, just by calling. She was called to be an activist. Right? At the beginning of the pandemic, my brother got into a situation where some people tried to rob him, and he protected his family and his life. As a result, he was locked up and my mom was very intentional about making sure that we saw that case fully through. She began to see different things that were going on in the prison. She said, “No, this is not right.” This was going on during the height of COVID. The inmates were not provided tests, even if they asked for them. They were not provided a mask. They were not given hand sanitizer. It was like “Wait, what’s going on?” So, my mom just became engaged and said, “Hey, you know what, we need to be the voices. They don’t have the voice right now and we need to speak for them.” So, every single week, starting from April until August. She voiced some action items that they can help to get done in the prison system. So, that is what she did, and I was here to support her. Family and friends were all there to support her. So that helped

open our eyes to what was going on in the prison system. We already knew that there was injustice within the justice system, but when you have somebody close to you, that’s affected by it, you get to see “Oh! This is not right.”

What is the mission statement behind 21st Century Policing?

Mmm... It is to empower citizens to do what they can do to engage our police here to protect the service. That is what this is, that is essentially what this is going to be about. To inform and empower while also entertaining, but essentially to inform and empower them and give them agency into how they can most effectively engage with the police.

So now let us move forward and get to know who you are, Jason C. Louder. You are an actor, mentor, coach, you do it all. Besides being an advocate for the community in Atlanta, you spent 17 years being a teacher before acting found you. How did that happen?

Wow! So, you want the long or the short story? (Laughs) Okay, essentially, I have been blessed to work at two different African-centered schools. One was called Romar Academy. That is why I first started teaching and I was there for seven years. I came straight out of college. 2000, straight out of college, wanting to work with our young people. So, I got a job teaching and that flourished into 2007 when I went to Imhotep Academy. One of the guys in the rap group I was a part of called me and he was like, “Hey, man, you should act, you should use all that energy you got and go act.” He told me about this audition at Georgia State and they gave me my sides. I did not know what to do with them, so they knew I had no sight of being an actor. So, I read over them and I thought that the lines were deep. When I got into the room and started reading with the director, something happened. It was like this light went on. It just came on! After we went back and forth, I was like, “This is real.”

You have been seen in not only 30 stage productions, but also over 40 independent projects. So, this was your calling?

You know when you say that l, I did talk to the principal of Imhotep because there was a point where I was like, oh my god, I am giving as much as into my acting as I am to the teaching sounds like you have two passions, and she told me that you sure can have two passions. You can have two columns; you can have more than one column. So that is when I was like, okay, that is my work.

You have done a lot over the years, but what is something that you are manifesting for 2021?

I am always in the space of abundance, manifesting abundance in every single area of my life and wealth, and abundance and health and abundance in relationships, right? So, that is where I am manifesting the abundance in all those places. Out of that or inside of that, playing in the space of manifesting a series regular role on a major network television show. So that is in the vortex as well. I love to create from a space of abundance because sometimes we create from a place of lack, or we get caught or stuck because we are in the mindset of lack so and I am guilty of that too and none of us are immune to that. It happens to all of us. However, just knowing about mindset. It is just about changing your mind.