About Maintain The Mystery (MTM)

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 DeMarco Smith, is a screenwriter, film director, author, kingdom builder, an overcomer, a miracle baby and a L.A historian that’s living proof that God is real. He is a walking testimony that every single one of our ancestors live through us. He is somebody who wants to build a family tree and spread the proper message of Black excellence and community building, entertain the people with good images and representations while building generational wealth for his city and people. DeMarco has a heart of gold and knows that he only has to look inside his soul to find that gold and get “rich.”

“I know exactly who I am and what I want to become. I am as naked as they come with my truth, heart and words. I speak for the unspoken, I shout for the unheard, and I protect the vulnerable ones.”

 His impact is indescribable, from incorporating education and community empowerment into the fabric of social media and the youth minds, he found way to change life from a phone. One tweet and Bruce Beach is viral on every platform until the land was back into the family hands and every kid know who Yasuke is. Teaching so many LA natives, young and elder about impactful history left out the book and left out the classroom about the rich backyard they grew up in. The dedication to family and fighting for his uncle who he called his brother until the gate open from a federal life sentence. From turning twitter threads into history books and tv series, he manage to rewrite and restore what was stolen from us.

“Listen to this young man, he is about to change the world with the truth he is after.”

 Miriam Haregot, professionally known as OkayMiri is a CEO, Entrepreneur, Community Organizer & Leader and  Road Manager., born on July 28, 1998 in the strategic Horn of East Africa where the Red Sea parts as Daughter of Eritrean immigrant parents named Eden and Kesete Haregot. Since a child growing up in Eritrea, she displayed a fearless and head on approach to her pursuit and life in general, climbing every mountain with a smile. By the age of 6, she moved from her homeland to America with her Mother without speaking or knowing any English. This taught her variety way to communicate her thoughts and emotions as she learned her second language in a new country. Her family arrived in South Central near USC where Miriam would start Elementary. She immediately shown sign of being a fast learner and by the age of 9, she was already speaking fluent English with advanced communication skills. Miriam graduated from Arcadia High with signs of leaderships and an overall goal to plant her feet in the entertainment industry and world of business. And that exactly what she did.  

At the age of 22, in May 2021, she graduated from Cal State LA, majoring in business. During college, she took the route of grinders and interned at 1500 Sound Academy where she got her first introduce and expose to the world of the music industry. After graduating college, she became the talent coordinator for Afterchurch LA curated by Mars, and a couple months later she became apart of MyGuyMars management team. My guyMars is a Diamond plaque, Grammy Award Winning and Nominated artist and producer of 1500 or Nothin. During this time period, Eritrean American and Daughter of Immigrants, Miriam Haregot would partnered up with a young Author, Filmmaker and Historian “DeMarco Smith” and become CEO of Maintain The Mystery, a multi media brand and production company soft launched in Nov 2020.

 Throughout her hunger for adventurous and being into control of her destiny, she remains devoted to her God fearing ways and tremendous love for community. During college, she founded a non profit called “The Pack Project” where she offered a unique and personal experience to the homeless living in Downtown, whose Miriam referred to as “The Homies”. Pack Project created a dining experience where they feed the homies food options they would prefer to eat themselves, providing quality, healthy and gourmet options made with love. They have branched out into community event and giveaways, back to school bash and brand partnerships.

 Maintain The Mystery functions as both a brand and a production company. It is a multimedia platform created with the intention to celebrate the artists and entrepreneurs coming out of Los Angeles. MTM is an umbrella which houses literature, art, film, and archival storytelling. At Maintain the Mystery, we maintain our history, our narrative, and our culture. 

On July 10, 2022, Maintain The Mystery and Tensixteen Industries released their debut history book series written as a TV Show Script titled “South Central Is Mecca Part One” which sold out within the first month of release. By August 04, 2022, MTM hosted their first book release at John Singleton former office turned Black owned Art Gallery called Aziz Art Gallerie. The event came with a documentary screening, a unique sip and paint and mobile library winery experience which recaps reached the radio on 92.3 and LA Newspapers “Los Angeles Waves Publication”. MTM also held a In-Office speaking engagement at RIOS Architecture Firm presented by Sola Impact in September 2022, becoming partners and allies with Maintain The Mystery moving forward. Following that, MTM Artist JayP debuted his SCIM sketches inside South Central Is Mecca Coloring Book that debuted at The Pack Project x Corner Store Back 2 School Bash at the Beehive. On December 04, 2022, MTM partnered with Designing in Color to debut their first public speech with curated stage design at CivaLAia Partnership with Metro and return to South Central LA for a 7 mile open street, car free event. 

 As CEO of Maintain The Mystery, Miriam first task of business was getting the history book into LAUSD Schools and within seven month of release, they landed their first school with Audubon Middle School starting in March 2023.