Heather Kenney, left, performs in the finale of the Blackout Arts Collective’s performance Saturday at the Aycock Recreation Complex.
Several of the nine Blackout Arts Collective performers at the Aycock Recreation Complex on Saturday had North Carolina ties, but only one was a Hendersonian born and bred.
Heather Kenney, the singer among the varied artists in the Washington-based group, is the daughter of Dr. James Kenney and a proud 1997 graduate of Northern Vance High School.
Now nearing graduation from law school at Howard University, she has been part of Blackout for about two years, since she saw a D.C. performance of the group.
“They were doing the kinds of things I want to do,” Kenney said in a brief interview after Saturday’s three-hour show. “Progress the community, inspire the community and help out the community.”
Heather Kenney
The inspiration went both ways with the second of her solo songs Saturday: the premiere Henderson performance of a song she wrote in memory of Samir Rasheed, a childhood friend who was murdered in his Vance County home March 29, 2004.
With Rasheed’s mother, Marolyn, in the Aycock gym as one of the organizers of the day’s events, Kenney struggled at times to make it through the song. She broke up at least once, and she was in tears at the end.
“Young brother … for you I weep,” Kenney sang. “Water in your mother’s eyes, sadness when your sister cries, lonely when your daddy weeps, your brother’s sleeping.” (Click here for the full song.)
Kenney said Rasheed’s death gave her a new perspective on the violence she had known about in Henderson and Washington. “It really helps me to understand better that violence is a community problem and it can only be solved if the community comes together and works together.”
Blackout gives her an outlet for her feelings with its monthly showcases.
Still, Kenney’s membership in Blackout had nothing to do with the group’s visit to Henderson. Jennifer Madriaga, the executive director of the Vance County Arts Council, saw a Blackout performance and knew she had to get the group to Vance.
It was a happy coincidence for Kenney, although she gets to make the drive home for a visit several times a year.
After her graduation from Howard Law School next month, Kenney said, she’ll be in Henderson for about six months before she moves to Atlanta to practice juvenile custody law.
“I was a social worker, and I really feel like this is probably the best way I can help take some pain away and make sure parents and children are treated fairly,” she said.
And Kenney will remain active with Blackout, which recently launched an Atlanta chapter.