#SherYourStory: Akil McKenzie
By: Akil McKenzie
So much has happened within two years of graduation. I started a media production company called Falling Motion and have actual employees! We do commercials, music videos, films, weddings, events, and promos. Thankfully, I didn’t let myself fall into “cliques” in college. It helped because after graduation I knew so many different people with different talents, all hungry for work like myself that were able to bring the company an amalgamation of jobs. Also, a lot of my work came from connections outside of college, so popularity in college didn’t matter much. Within a year of graduating, I was able to direct my first 20K budgeted music video, which led me to do one with a 40K budget after that. Running a business is way harder than managing yourself, but I’ve found it’s very rewarding to be someone that brings in opportunities for others.
I feel like I’ve learned something important within the last year though. Covid-19 had forced me to reduce the amount of work I could be outputting within 2020. It was a big disruption for my mental health because I had begun to realize that my self-worth had become completely dependent on the amount and/or quality of work I was producing. Being an entrepreneur is difficult enough, but when you’re shooting for excellence… it’s easy to get lost in it. I have been. And who knows how long I would’ve been pushing myself like this if I hadn’t been forced to take a second to re-evaluate due to reduced work from Covid. As my film work slowed down, I began to remember that I was more than just a filmmaker and business owner. First and foremost… I’m a creative. I remembered that I loved making music, playing guitar, poetry, writing… and now that work has kicked up again, I made a vow to myself. I wanted to embrace all aspects of myself without sabotaging other parts of me to excel in one. Thanks to my creative realizations, I had an artistic output to place my emotions after the tragedy of George Floyd.
With such darkness spread over the Black community after his death, I didn’t know how to contribute outside of the marches that were already in progress. What else could I bring to the table? So, I wrote. Historians. The poem was originally meant to provide understanding. A sense of understanding is powerful enough to end wars. Hopefully, some people who may know me may begin to empathize with the issue at hand and see another perspective. That was the idea anyways. After I had posted a video of myself performing the video in my car, it had grabbed quite a bit of traction. A friend and work associate of mine, Fabio Buritica, reached out to me asking if I wanted to do more with the poem. Soon after him other creatives had joined in saying that they wanted to help push the same message. Creating the video became more than just a providing of understanding… but more so, a message of help. With the large amount of people coming together to create this piece, different ethnicities wanting to show support, this was an example of how many people are standing with us to showcase hope for those who need it. And thus, our Black History Month movement, the Historians Initiative, was created. There’s more to the idea of the initiative, but I have a word limit… so hit me up if you want to hear more about it aha.
But the response to the initiative and the film was remarkable. We managed to get colleges, universities, high schools, influencers, celebs, companies, and organizations all to gather in a group effort to share and showcase this message of hope. Some notable people and organizations to support are The League of Canadian Poets, RED Digital Cinema, Carlos Bustamante, Omito Beats, Canada’s Top Drag Queen, Priyanka, Sheridan College – OOH! And the audio for the poem is being used to teach children in Brazil and Uganda about dance and how it can be incorporated into social justice. I’d recommend you go watch it if you have a chance and maybe you can be a part of it with us! But yeah, there’s tons more people… but crazy enough it all comes back full circle. Embracing all aspects of my creativity allowed me to pioneer an initiative I wouldn’t have fathomed I’d be partnered in leading. And ironically… doing my poetry added to my film work anyways. So, I guess Sheridan was really on to something with their slogan... be creative.
In a time of incredible change, we are all experiencing this monumental shift together. With a global pandemic, the transition into online schooling and so much more, members of the Sheridan community have become chameleons to welcoming change into their daily routines.
But not every situation starts and ends so easily. There are hardships, challenges and struggles that we experience to come out successfully on the other side. In this blog series, students, Sheridan Alumni, and members of our Sheridan community will share their stories of resilience and how they were able to overcome these obstacles.