Kkimmestry - Avid Feature

In light of my latest release “Proud Black Soul” I wanted to do something that felt less like sharing just music and more like sharing an experience. Proud Black Soul for me stemmed out of a very heavy time in our history. During the peak of Covid, a pandemic that had been the cause of so many deaths around us, black people were and are still dealing with police brutality from the very ones meant to protect us. It’s a whirl of emotions that for the first time I think everyone in the world was forced to sit down and acknowledge.

With all the rage around it was easy to be sad, it was easy to be angry… What was hard was smiling. Writing Proud Black Soul for me was a smile for the first time in a long time. It was a reminder of all the reasons why I was proud to be black in America, why I love my people, and how strong I genuinely feel we are, especially when we join hands. We are creators, we are healers, and so much more than the ways we’ve been portrayed.

The project I’m currently working on in light of this song is titled “Proud Black Soul: A Piece of Mind” which is a short episodic documentary highlighting five black individuals and their businesses for what they do for the Black Community.

In this documentary I sit down with Kent King of Leverage Luxury, Anthony Diaz of the Newark Water Coalition, Quentin Jordan of All Day Fitness, Decan Davis of Green Acre Community Garden, and Queena Bergen of CreatorRX to discuss the intricacies of their business, why they’ve chosen to give back, and any advice they have for young entrepreneurs.

I’m hoping that with this project we continue to open the dialogue of staying connected within our communities, understanding that we as a collective each play a role in uplifting our people. It’s easy to complain, what’s hard is taking action.

But we don’t have to do it alone. Our voices are our power, our actions are our power, and using them both collectively can catapult change within our community, change that doesn’t need the approval of the world.

This Docuseries is set to release June 19th. We all genuinely appreciate those who tune in and open themselves up to these conversations. Please follow each of these businesses and find out how you can be a part of their journey to giving back to your community. Proud Black Soul can be streamed on all musical platforms. Follow @Kkimmestry on Instagram for updates and more content.

For online magazine proud black soul link: https://open.spotify.com/track/5yFCw2L8ymBvbiHsJlglOY?si=MFARonlKSFGIAHGAPccqaw

Kkimmestry and Quentin discuss how he uses fitness to raise scholarship funds for students who wish to attend HBCUs. (@_alldayfitness_)

Kkimmestry hears from Queena all the ways she uses spoken word, technology, and imagination to shed light on her community. (@queenabergen)