VIETNAM WAR VETERAN OMAR SHAHEED is one of three Black men featured in a documentary about their experiences in the war, and how it affects them
by Naomi C. Ilochi
For New Pittsburgh Courier
The power found in community can only be made possible through the accounts of those who came before. As these stories make their marks on the individuals who hear them, they tug on the heartstrings of its consumers to find out who’s responsible for helping share these stories. Makia Harper is a documentary filmmaker, writer, multimedia artist, and adjunct professor who’s been telling stories since she was 5 years old.
Harper’s fondness for personal stories, storytelling and its process formed through her closeness with her grandparents and their shared lived experiences growing up in the south. Harper, born in Philadelphia, attended Temple University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Arts in 2001.
In Philadelphia in 2007, Harper decided to do her first film, at the encouragement of her former professors at Temple. At the time Harper was looking for work and thought she was going to be a video editor, which she did here and there but not consistently. Harper was asked, “Why don’t you do your own film?”
Her thought process was loud to say the least: “How do I do this? This feels overwhelming.” But, it caused Harper to think that maybe she could make her own film. At this time, Harper was working at Drexel University in Philadelphia for two deans; one in academic affairs and the other in student affairs in public health. Public health deals with a number of social issues in a myriad of ways, epidemiology being one of those ways, and it was one of the issues that really spoke to Harper. At the time, a major issue in Philadelphia was gun violence.
Harper was an artist through and through but she was also “very interested in coming up with solutions for social issues.” From Jan. 1, 2007 to about May 1, 2007, there were about 100 murders in Philadelphia. Harper thought it was unacceptable, and these travesties sparked questions like, “How are we working to stem this issue? There has to be something I can do as a filmmaker.”
It was at this moment that Harper’s former professor’s voice came back to her: “You can create your own film.” The saying, “all you have is all you need,” became a conduit to spark change.
VIETNAM WAR VETERAN JAMES WILLIAMS IS FEATURED IN THE DOCUMENTARY.
“I’m at a university working with scientists and researchers exploring these issues, and I have access to equipment,” Harper said. She would go on to take a documentary production course at Drexel University, and hired people to make a documentary centered around reducing gun violence in Philadelphia.
It was this experience that allowed Harper to realize, “I, indeed, can produce a film.”
She said she had “learned the power of storytelling and filmmaking, and how we can work together to create solutions by visual community organizing.”
Harper moved to New York and decided to attend Hunter College for graduate school. That’s where Harper had a community that rallied around her. They saw her passion and excitement to share information and teach others how to tell stories, as well as think critically about larger stories in media.
Harper’s thesis project at Hunter College was a film on her uncle, James Israel, a Vietnam veteran diagnosed with multiple myeloma as a direct result to his exposure to the hazardous herbicide Agent Orange, which proved to be lethal and debilitating to many Vietnam vets.
“It was powerful,” Harper said in an interview with the New Pittsburgh Courier. “I wanted to share his experience as he dealt with the repercussions of being exposed to Agent Orange and being diagnosed” with multiple myeloma, a type of cancer that affects plasma cells in the bone marrow.
Harper graduated from Hunter College in 2018 with a Master of Fine Arts. By 2020, Harper applied for an artist residency at Robert Morris University, and she was offered the opportunity to produce a video project of her choosing.
Now, in 2025, Harper, a Pittsburgh-area resident these days, is knee-deep into creating a documentary that sheds a bright spotlight on living Vietnam War veterans from the Pittsburgh area. In a way, the documentary is an ode to her uncle, who died in 2020.
Harper is focusing on three Black men from the area—James Williams, Malcolm Andress and Omar Shaheed.
“This documentary is so important because it is a documentary that is preserving African American history at a time when our history is trying to be erased,” Harper told the Courier. “It is a story of inspiration, hope, possibility, how to move through trauma and pain and heal and flourish even with physical disease.”
The Vietnam War occurred from 1955 to 1975, although the U.S. didn’t get involved in large part until the mid-1960s. At the time, African Americans were 12 percent of the U.S. population, but comprised more than 16 percent of all servicemen in the armed forces. Over 300,000 Blacks served in the Vietnam War, including Williams, Andress, Shadeed, and Harper’s late uncle, Israel.
“This film really shows you the power of storytelling, so the act of sharing these stories is incredibly healing. It’s an important ‘document’ to have to remind us that we do not experience life on our own; we all have our own pains, our own trauma, discrimination…these gentlemen weren’t just part of this controversial war, but had the emotions and experiences that we can all relate to.”
The documentary is called, “Better than Before: Journey to Now.” Harper, who spends much of her time as a professor in the Film and Media Arts Department at Robert Morris University, is determined to complete the documentary, but she said more funding is needed to complete it. She’s been on the doorstep of some of the larger philanthropic foundations in Pittsburgh, but has also established a “Spot Fund” account for anyone to donate to the cause. To donate, visit spotfund.com and search, “Betterthanbeforefilm.” More funding is needed for additional video shooting, editing, consulting for post production, sound, and additional outreach.
Harper is shooting for a completion date of March 2026. The documentary would then be made available for viewing at film festivals, in the hopes that distribution deals can be reached for massive production. A preview of the documentary can be found online on YouTube, by searching “makiaharp Better Than Before Trailer.”
Harper told the Courier she asked the three Black male Vietnam veterans questions that brought out very heartfelt, revealing answers. “Talking about the ways in which the war has impacted them psychologically and emotionally, dealing with PTSD, trauma and how it’s impacted their loved ones and their families.”
Harper continued: “At this stage, in the last quarter of their lives, they’re getting to a place of healing. They are reconciling with some of the pain and accepting it, and working towards getting benefits that they haven’t been able to receive for many years.”
Harper told the Courier that overall, the documentary is “about healing, transformation, hope and possibility.”
VIETNAM WAR VETERAN MALCOLM ANDRESS IS FEATURED IN THE DOCUMENTARY
About Post Author
