ATLANTA — Following the shooting death of Koko Da Dall, a beloved member of the Atlanta LGTBQ+ community and star of the Sundance Film Festival documentary "Kokomo City," her friend is speaking out about what she meant to her and the community.
Dominique Silver said she first met Rasheeda Williams, better known as "Koko Da Doll," on a Zoom. The stars of "Kokomo City" were filmed separately, and when the documentary got picked for Sundance in January, the four stars -- including Silver and Koko -- jumped on a Zoom call to meet one another before flying out to Utah in January.
“I got to meet her in person when we went to Sundance, and we spent like three days together, and she was just really like a light to my world," Silver said. "We immediately bonded. She was so sweet. She was very protective and guarded like most of us black trans women in America.”
The documentary "Kokomo City" was shot in black and white. The Sundance Institute describes it as a documentary that presents the stories of four Black transgender sex workers in Georgia and New York.
"Sharing reflections on knotty desire, far-reaching taboo, identification in labor, and gender’s many meanings, these women offer an unapologetic and cutting analysis of Black culture and society at large from a vantage point that is vibrating with energy, sex, challenge, and hard-earned wisdom," the Sundance institute describes it.
The documentary won the NEXT Audience and Innovator awards at Sundance and was acquired by Magnolia Pictures, which plans a theatrical release later this year.
“It just really hurts me deeply to the core that she (Koko) didn't get a chance to see the movie live and play its course and succeed in what she wanted to succeed in,” Silver said.
Silver said the world lost an angel.
“She was a beautiful soul, very caring, she was very warm," she said, adding, “She was living her truth. She’s a beautiful light and a big part of my heart.”
A light now darkened, and a heart crushed.
“She had a lot of goals and hopes and she was a very positive, sweet person that was stuck in the struggles of being a black trans woman in America,” Silver said.
In a clip Koko posted on her Instagram, she’s seen in the documentary saying while becoming emotional, “I want people to understand, just be something you were born to be. How can people look down on you and say things…”
Silver said Koko was trying to get out of the sex worker business and said she was on her way. She was launching a hair company, and her music was getting noticed. In fact, Silver said one of Koko’s songs is set to be on Showtime’s "The Chi."
“She he really had a passion for her music, and she was wanting that to take off. But she was really looking for a way to get out of this industry because she had a lot of friends that she lost in the past. And she spoke about it in the documentary, and she was very passionate about leaving this part of her world behind,” Silver said.
One of the producers of ‘Kokomo City’ Harris Doran, posted the following about Koko’s death:
"I am absolutely grief-stricken over the loss of our wonderful Koko Da Doll. To know Koko was to love Koko. She was the sweetest, kindest and gentlest soul. This tragedy is just unbearable to process. Koko was working so hard to get out. She is brilliant in the film, and when you see it, you will fall in love with her just as we all have. But she had also discovered her gift for music. She was making amazing music, so much so that @lenawaithe even put one of her songs on her show. Koko had been through so much and was doing the work and getting out. To go from starring in a film at Sundance to this within 4 months is beyond words.
But this moment backstage right before our Sundance premiere, Koko did make it. She did get to see the success that she was. She got to live her dream, even if it was only briefly.
As wonderful as it is that she will be immortalized in the film, she deserves to be here."
Silver agreed and just wished Koko could continue doing the work she set her mind to.
“She wanted what was best for her and for the community. She wanted to be a good representation of our community, she was, she was on path of doing. She was well respected in Atlanta,” Silver explained.
While Silver said she wouldn’t stop until justice is served, she has a message for everyone about what’s happening in our society.
“We have work together to really stop these issues and protect Black trans women at all cost because this is a serious epidemic. It’s unacceptable. We need to do better. It’s hurting our soul. We are human beings at the end of the day.”
An online fundraiser has been set up in Williams' honor.