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Woman In Red, In Love With Red – The Story of Kennikki Jones-Jones

Kennikki Jones-Jones grew up with a naturally-formed love of the stage. Her first step into the spotlight was as an actress. However, she slowly realized her true love for the art was behind the scenes. Once she discovered and shared her talent of writing, she stopped being the face of the productions. Instead, she became the writer, producer, and/or director in order to make the productions happened. Nonetheless, in whatever form, it was always a pretty accurate guarantee that if you could not find her, she was at the theatre doing what she loved most…creating works of art.

While Kennikki Jones-Jones does have background in multiple genres, such as comedy and drama, her true passion is horror. As a filmmaker, the ultimate goal is to bring people joy and entertainment through what you create. I’m sure she loved making people laugh with her comedies by sharing a joke or two, or maybe making the audience shed a tear when the two lovers finally reconnected. However, her personal goal is a lot deeper than a quick laugh or happy cry. Her goal is bring broken people a sense of peace by helping them identify their broken pieces and providing a safe-space for them to acknowledge why those pieces broke in the first place. When researching her, I came across this impactful statement that she wrote about herself for a website to publish: “She hopes to heal through horror”. Yes, she wants to entertain people with her creative works. However, her main goal is to heal, and that is beautiful.

While doing research, I cam across a term I had never heard before…”Black Horror”. This term, from what I understand, can have two different meanings depending on the individual’s belief. Some consider a film with an African American lead actor/actress a contribution to “Black Horror”. Others only deem these films a contribution if the film also has an African American writer, director, producer, and/or all 3. Throughout the source, the writer includes input from many different African Americans in the filmmaking industry. Of course, the only comments of interest to me where those of Kennikki Jones-Jones.

While she did not speak directly on the term “Black Horror” itself, she spoke on what she personally felt like being an African-American women trying to find her way in the filmmaking industry. When Kennekki first started writing, she stated that she would only write in a “white voice”. Kenniki stated, “I felt like a white person had to be a part of the narrative” (As Black Horror Rises In Popularity, Horror Writers Discuss Its Evolution). How disheartening is that? A writer as talented as Kennikki Jones-Jones did not even feel like her voice, because she was an African American woman, would be accepted in the filmmaking industry. She then goes on to explain the “white wall” she had built, a wall that was between her and her full writing potential. We have got to do better. If she feels that way, I believe it would be safe to say that many others in the industry feel that way. If we start missing out on incredible talent, it is our own fault for not making the filmmaking industry feel like an inclusive place. To all aspiring breakthrough film writers, Kennikki finished off her thoughts with a very important piece of advice: “Don’t be afraid to write in your own voice”. Kennekki Jones-Jones did herself a disservice by not writing as her true, authentic self. It was not until she learned her voice is what makes her an incredible writer that she felt freed by the “white wall”. I hope young, aspiring African American girls learn about Kennikki Jones-Jones and become inspired.

Main concern at the moment is thinking about where I want to take the ending, and adding last bits of information in order to reach the word quota