Jamaa Fanaka was born Walter Gordon in Jackson, Mississippi. When he turned 12 his parents gave him an 8mm camera, igniting Fanaka’s love of film at an early age. The following year, his family moved to Compton, California. After four years in the Air Force, Fanaka was accepted into UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.

At UCLA Fanaka changed his name to Jamaa Fanaka (based on the Swahili words “together we shall find success”), and dove headlong into his film career. Fanaka graduated summa cum laude from UCLA’s film school in 1973. In the two years following his graduation, Fanaka created Emma Mae (Black Sister’s Revenge) and Welcome Home Brother Charles (aka Soul Vengeance). These two films charged Fanaka’s career and helped him create Penitentiary (1979), a box-office hit grossing over $13,000,000 in U.S. theaters. Penitentiary 2 was spawned from the original, adding to Fanaka’s already impressive filmography.

Fanaka used his platform as a talented and dynamic filmmaker to address issues of racial discrimination; something he himself was faced with throughout his entire career. Despite his final film debuting in 1992, Fanaka continued to be an advocate for equality within the entertainment industry until his death in 2012.