HiStory as told by Keenen

Hey 👋🏾 Hope all is well in your world. If these words reach you in a place of unease, I am sending you nothing but positivity, love, and light. 🙏🏾 I hope you surprise yourself with your strength. ❤️

On this day I get to present you with one of my favorite people in the whole wide world, Keenen C. A man of many talents. We sew, we design, and we expand together. He may not say it but he also enlightens children everyday in and out of the classroom. Throw a ton of literature and musical exhibitions in there and we still haven’t encompassed all that is my friend and business partner. He took the time to answer a few questions about who he is and how we can support him a bit below.

How long have you shared your art with the world and how did you start?

I’ve always leaned toward and expressed myself in creative ways as a young child. I loved to write my feelings, engaged with fashion as a form of expressive art, listened to music and created personal playlist, and played school with my cousins, not aware I was creating possibilities of my future relationship in artistic ventures.

I affirm that I am a Writer, I am a Fashion Designer, I am a DJ, I am a Teacher, and forever, I am a student to life . A student to being in practice of analyzing myself and the world around me and figuring out how we can all shape our lives into a collective society of transformative potentionalities. All of these forms of art have come to me in unstructured periods of time.

I have always been writing, had a blog or two on the internet. I am a DJ who puts up mixes on soundcloud, mixcloud , and live sets and I love the freedom that creating a story through music gives me to be creative with mixing. I assist Fantasia Cormier with Fancy Vibes and have done so since 2015. I value being in partnership with her. I will forever appreciate the lessons I have learned and all of the creative moments in time we offer up to the world together. I fell into teaching through being a substitute and actively working as an assistant teacher. Now, I am actively pursuing my own path as an Educator and enjoy everyday that I am in a classroom.

What or who is your biggest inspiration?

I am inspired by experiencing my life and being with other people as a witness to their experience. I am inspired by my mother, sister, and close friends. I am inspired by media I consume. I am inspired by the constant change that is ever present always.

What is it that the general public can do to support you? (Include your social media handles and any other way to keep up with your work)

Support me by supporting all the people I love. Support Black people in a world that seeks to erase us. Support Fantasia Cormier. Support your local artists and support your communities.

(It is rare that I will insert myself into the interview part, but my friend has separated himself from social media for a while now. If you would like to keep up with the Fashion he releases it would be at our business ig: @_fancyvibes_)

What do you want to leave behind?

I want to leave behind work that offers up some affirmation of community and love ethic that promotes sustaining us all.

My goal for my art is to create physical & technological archives through multiple mediums through writing, digital media, music, and voice to encourage hope and promote generative change and transformation in the hearts, and imaginations of all folks I encounter, and those who live beyond my physical journey on this planet.

If I can achieve this and be present to intentionally reducing harm caused as I move through life, then I know I have done my part.

What, if any, advice would you give to someone that is looking to grow within your field?

Always be open to being wrong, changing, apologizing, giving up, choosing another way, loving, learning, and unlearning, and growing throughout your journey. Practice your craft, make mistakes, and seek mentorship. Expand on what you already know and be able to let go of things that don’t work for you and the collective good anymore. Be open to the lessons of change.