Everett N. Kelsey Jr. is a Brooklyn-born filmmaker, technologist, and ethical AI pioneer whose life journey bridges the cultural, creative, and computational frontiers of the 21st century. Raised in a family with deep intellectual and civil rights roots—his grandfather, Dr. George D. Kelsey, was a theologian, scholar, and mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—Everett’s early life was shaped by a profound awareness of moral responsibility, cultural identity, and the transformative power of ideas.
After spending several formative years living in Germany, Everett returned to the United States and immersed himself in the heart of the film and television industry in Hollywood. Drawing on his multicultural perspective, he founded Organic Polyester Productions in 2004, establishing himself as a writer, director, and actor. His screenplays and films have been honored at several Oscar-qualifying festivals, including Slamdance (twice), Final Draft’s "Big Break," the Page International Screenwriting Awards, the American Black Film Festival (ABFF), and the Chicago AI Film Festival. Everett’s creative work consistently explores the intersection of beauty and brutality, using cinema to interrogate power, perception, and authenticity—without judgment.
The murder of George Floyd in 2020 marked a catalytic turning point in Everett’s career. Fueled by outrage and guided by the moral compass of his civil rights lineage, he launched BLKMKT Media, Inc., and subsequently BLKMKT Tech, LLC and BLKMKT AI, Inc., to confront systemic bias in storytelling, technology, and data infrastructure. Together, these entities form the core of the BLKMKT ecosystem—a sovereign, ethics-driven framework for building culturally fluent, human-centered AI.
The acronym BLKMKT stands for:
In 2025, Everett expanded this mission by founding Fifth Industrial Revolution AI (5IR AI), a public-facing civic media platform that functions as the cultural engine of BLKMKT’s larger vision. As the town crier for the digital age, 5IR AI demystifies the role of algorithms, surveillance, and tech-military alliances in reshaping democracy, freedom, and civil society.
Everett also leads the Digital Sovereignty Coalition (DSC), a nonpartisan initiative championing digital civil rights and democratic technology governance. As DSC’s founder, Everett channels his grandfather’s teachings into a 21st-century movement that safeguards civil liberties against techno-authoritarianism, Big Tech monopolies, and unregulated AI.
From media to machine learning, Everett Kelsey’s work is defined by an unyielding commitment to narrative justice, cultural preservation, and digital sovereignty. His vision: to ensure that the future of AI is as morally grounded as it is technologically advanced.