From pop star to social campaigner
SHE has graced some of the biggest stages in the UK and spent years living as a ‘WAG.’
But now Chinyere McKenzie is determined to make a real change to some of Manchester’s most vulnerable after witnessing a brutal murder.
The 39-year-old initially rose to fame after she moved from her family home in Moss Side to London in 1999 at the age of 19 to pursue a career in music and dance.
In 2004, she was selected to be a member of pop band VS with Marvin Humes, who would later go on to be in JLS.
The band, managed by Simon Webbe from boyband Blue, secured three top forty tracks including a number seven hit before splitting up in 2005.
In that time, she appeared on the Top of the Pops stage and performed in front of tens of thousands at the Manchester Arena, before she met Premiership and ex-Manchester City footballer Dickson Etuhu.
The couple soon married and had two boys, now aged ten and eight, but divorced after five years together.
It was after her marriage was over that Chinyere decided to move back to Moss Side.
“I came back in 2018 because I needed support from my close family and friends,” said Chinyere.
“As I arrived back, I saw a young boy in the street who was stabbed and killed.
“I was shocked, and it instantly made me see that things had gone too far and things had to change.”
With two young boys and a new perspective on life, having moved from what Chinyere calls ‘Poshville’ back to her family neighbourhood, she soon decided that something needed to be done to help those affected by knife and gun crime.
“When I was younger growing up, Moss Side went through lots of turbulence and violence,” Chinyere said.
“I realised that some parts of the community have still not been able to get over that era.
“Coming back and looking at where I was brought up with a fresh perspective, I saw that people really needed to come together as a community and talk to one another if any change was going to happen.”
It was then that she decided to take on a real battle and try and help prevent and combat crime in Moss Side.”
Chinyere launched Muma Knows Best, a weekly show on community radio station Legacy 90.1 FM where listeners could ring in and provide each other with advice and support.
“I feel that I’ve been in a great position being a pop star and being at a place where I was financially able and now I feel I am at a point where I am able to do what I want to do,” Chinyere says. “What I want to do is help bridge that gap between the rich and poor and between opportunity and perception.”
Chinyere is currently seeking fundraising to help evolve the brand into a social enterprise, giving people affected by trauma the tools to get themselves back off the ground, such as financial management, cognitive behavioural therapy and community workshops. Chinyere’s journey is also being documented in a fly-on-the-wall series on YouTube as she fights to spread the message of Muma Knows Best. The ten-part series has already received a positive response from viewers. Chinyere says the series is something she felt compelled to do, especially if she wants others to open up about their own experiences.
“It’s not about fearing our differences, it’s about celebrating our differences and coming together to enrich those differences.”
Asked about the elusive Muma, which the whole scheme is based around, Chinyere says it’s more about a community than an individual. “Muma is not me, I am certainly not saying I know it all,” she laughs. “I’m the person going on the journey trying to find the answers to the questions. “Muma is the voices of everyone else that comes up with the answers and goes through those experiences.”