As a hip-hop artist and educator, Karega Bailey maintained a message of peace, hope and liberation. But after he lost his brother to gun violence in 2014, his grief tested him; he felt sick with revenge and hopelessness.

Bailey’s story is at the center of the documentary 'When the Waters Get Deep,' which follows his journey to find his voice and purpose again. Crucial to that journey is SOL Development, an Oakland-based hip hop, jazz and soul ensemble, that Bailey is the lead MC for, but also connecting with BE-IMAGINATIVE, a collective dedicated to healing Black and brown communities through storytelling. In healing circles and musical experiences, Bailey and SOL Development channel their grief and love into tangible support for mothers whose children have been lost to gun violence.

Watch Bailey and Lauren Adams, Felicia Gangloff-Bailey and Brittany Tanner—the members of SOL Development—as they embody a new vision for how art and music can reflect a community’s pain and work to heal its traumas.

When the Waters Get Deep, 36 min RT
Directed by Kelly Whalen and Produced by Benjamin “BJ” McBride
Winner, Best Short Documentary, 2020 Oakland International Film Festival
Winner, Best Short Documentary, 2021 National Black Film Festival.
#hiphop #oakland #blacklove #healing

Learn more about BE-IMAGINATIVE and access more resources: https://be-imaginative.org/
Hear SOL Development:    • Music from SOL Development & Friends  

🔊 Drop a comment below and let us know what you think 🔊

00:00 Intro
00:57 Spoken Word
03:11 SOL Development Interviewed by NPR
04:10 SOL Development Sings with Oakland School for the Arts
06:48 SOL Development Dinner
08:20 SOL Development Recording Session and Karega loses his brother
11:28 Karega and his mother Sharon Bailey
13:15 BE-IMAGINATIVE Community Activation
17:03 BE-IMAGINATE Mothers' Retreat
23:29 Remembering Kareem Johnson
25:13 Gender Reveal Party and Kamaui Sol Bailey
30:11 Radical Gentleness and Grief As Love
31:30 Black Joy Parade and Festival
34:16 Epilogue


And while you're at it...
👉Hit that Subscribe button:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c...
💗Like us on Facebook:   / kqedarts  
🚶‍♀️Follow us on Twitter:   / kqedarts