Kudzukian video series honors Black men
Kudzukian, in collaboration with The Delta Boulé of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, is launching a video series highlighting the path successful Black men in Memphis have taken.
“The Journey” premieres May 1, and each 30-minute episode features a different “Memphis icon,” who shares the peaks and valleys of their journey and how they overcame the obstacles.
The Delta Boulé chapter in Memphis had a program in which they went to different schools to empower young men. But when the COVID-19 pandemic caused schools to close their doors, the organization reached out to Kudzukian to help them connect with young men through a socially distant medium.
As a result, “The Journey” podcast launched in 2021. In the podcast, Kudzukian founder Larry Robinson interviews the men, encouraging them to be self-reflective by asking questions about what motivates them and when they knew they were on the right path.
“Seeing these successful men, you're looking at the completed package. You don't see the journey, and what we try to talk about is the fact that success in life is not a linear event, you know, it's not going to just go smooth,” Larry Robinson said. “You're going to have ups and downs, but there's no reason for you to stay down.”
What's special about the series, Robinson said, is it aims to diversify the narrative of what success can look like for Black men.
“If they can see it, they can be it,” Robinson said of the guiding principle behind the series. “What we're hoping to do is show them a whole lot of career options, a whole lot of directions to go that could still be positive. You don't have to be a football player. You don't have to be a basketball player. You don't have to be a singer. You don't have to be a musician. You can be Neil Blackford, the first black EMT in the city of Memphis, or you can be Dr. Leroy Norton, the first black man to own an independent optometry practice [in Memphis].”
The next iteration of the series, Robinson said, is to create an in-person experience, where an audience could ask questions.
“What we were hoping is that by hearing from all of these successful
Black men from all different walks of life, blue-collar, white-collar, everything from a plumber, police ... whatever that could be,” Robinson said. “These young men are getting the opportunity to see.”
Founded in 2014, Kudzukian is an independently owned audio and video production company providing on-demand content across various platforms and aiming to amplify Southern voices and stories.
The Delta Boulé is the Memphis chapter of Sigma Pi Phi, the oldest Black fraternal organization in the U.S.
The project is funded by an anonymous donor and the Memphis chapter of The Delta Boulé, and they are looking for donations to sustain the project.
The first season includes 10 episodes and will be available to stream on their website at https://shows.kudzukian .com/show/the-journey/. The first season of the podcast with the same subjects on which the videos are based is already available on that website.
Astrid Kayembe covers South Memphis, Whitehaven and Westwood. She can be reached at astrid.kayembe @commercialappeal.com, (901) 3047929 or on Twitter @astridkayembe_.