She is the Renaissance
By Hailey Stangebye
Photos by Kenny Williams (@kbizhwl)
Keisha Soleil is an alchemist who holds all of Columbus in her heart.
People know her as a poet and a singer, but those labels hardly scratch the surface. Keisha identifies as a spiritual practitioner, a ritual leader, a woman, a creator and, most-encompassing, an alchemist.
“I can do whatever the hell I want to do,” Keisha says. “It’s whatever moves. I let the spirit lead me.”
For Keisha, the Harlem Renaissance is more than a campaign. It’s life itself.
“In the actual Harlem Renaissance, they were coming together because that was their way of surviving. That was their way of thriving. It wasn’t because they looked good or because ‘I can do this.’ No. It’s because ‘I need to do this or else I’m going to die,’” Keisha says.
“For me, in my everyday life, telling my story is how I liberate myself. It’s how I liberate my family, my mother, the people who are gonna come after me, the young people that I’m living for. I have to stand on the truth of my narrative. Every day, I have a reason to be a Renaissance. Even if this campaign wasn’t happening.”
“Every day, I have a reason to be a Renaissance. Even if this campaign wasn’t happening.”
Every fiber of Keisha’s work links to her central goal: To challenge the status quo. Her method of storytelling invites her audience to reexamine truth and explore how they fit into this puzzle that is the Columbus narrative. That’s why she tells her story.
“My narrative is one that usually gets either overlooked, or other people try to make it fit what makes them comfortable. I feel like it’s my duty to tell my story,” Keisha says. “Not even for a bigger scale, but for my family. I have a mom who was born in 1950, who lived through Jim Crow, who lived through Nixon, who was raising kids in what we know now as the King Lincoln district… I have to speak my truth so that their truth doesn’t get erased.”
“I have to speak my truth so that their truth doesn’t get erased.”
Columbus is Keisha’s canvas. These are the people and the streets that built and continue to shape her. This is where, as a child, she would entertain herself by making up songs and creating custom cassettes for her mom. In her Columbus middle school, Keisha performed with Transit Arts. And in high school, she helped found Columbus City Schools’ first-ever high school slam team.
“I feel like I was really shaped and made by the Columbus writer scene. People like Will Evans, Scott Woods, and Writing Wrongs Poetry — that was my home poetry spot,” Keisha says. “As long I’ve been allowed to go out and have a social life, I’ve been performing and doing stuff in Columbus.”
For Keisha, Columbus is unique. She says that the spirit of this city is not broken, but wounded. That’s why her work creates spaces of vulnerability and transformation to help the people in her community heal and grow.
“I fucking love this city,” Keisha says. “I love the people. I love every aspect of it. If anything, that’s why I want people to know who I am and to know my art, because I literally want my art to reflect my people and to reflect my city in a way that’s honest. Because we deserve it. This city deserves it so much. There’s just so much beautiful stuff in this city. But there are so many people in this city who are just hungry and longing for somebody to acknowledge them. That’s what I want my art to do — to shine a light on all those people whose voices aren’t popular enough to be heard or to be seen.”
“That’s what I want my art to do — to shine a light on all those people whose voices aren’t popular enough to be heard or seen.”
Keisha’s Work
