Tattoos & Body Art

Black Outlining

Black Candle

This is an interview I did with M.K. Asante, Jr. He's the director of the Kwanzaa film 'The Black Candle'. The film is narrated by Maya Angelou.

KwanzaaMedia: I'm very privileged to be talking with filmmaker, author, professor, wait not just professor... TENURED professor, Brother M.K. Asante, Jr. Greetings brother.

M.K. Asante, Jr.: Hey Peace.

KM: Thanks a lot.

M.K.: Great to be here with you, man.

KM: Thank you.

M.K.: Thanks for having me.

KM: My pleasure, my pleasure.

So we want to talk to you today about his film, The Black Candle, and let you know a little more about that and let you know a little more about him.

So before we talk about The Black Candle, tell us a little bit about yourself. You're the offspring of some very dynamic people. Tell us about your parents.

M.K.: Yeah, well I was born in Zimbabwe to Molefi Asante and Kariamu Welsh. My mom is a choreographer, a dancer, a scholar of aesthetics. My father is a scholar, a writer. You may have heard of him, Molefi Asante.

KM: Yeah, yeah!

M.K.: So, yeah, I was born in Zimbabwe. We came to America in 1983, been here ever since. Grew up in Philadelphia and I've always gravitated towards the Arts, film, media and things like that.

KM: Ok. And you're a professor?

M.K.: Yes, I'm a professor at Morgan State University and that's just wonderful. It's been a great experience.

KM: What are the classes that you teach?

M.K.: I teach creative writing and screenwriting. I teach documentary film classes. I actually teach a class called 'It's Bigger Than Hip Hop' where we use Hip Hop as a vehicle to look at social and political issues. I teach a poetry class. So basically a lot of creative writing classes, the Hip Hop class and then things related to film.

KM: And you have some books under your belt. What are those?

M.K.: Definitely. So my books are 'It's Bigger Than Hip Hop'. That's the latest book. It's creative non-fiction. And then the other two books 'Beautiful and Ugly Too' and 'Like Water Running Off My Back' are poetry books.

KM: And 'The Black Candle', that's not the only film you've done as well, right?

M.K.: No. 'The Black Candle's my second film. I directed it, co-wrote it and produced it. But the first film I did was called '500 Years Later'. That looks at slavery and colonialism around the diaspora, the effects that it's had on African people all over the world. And not just the effects but how we can overcome those effects. So that's '500 Years Later'

Then we have 'Motherland' which is the new film which really deals with and looks a lot at the historic and also contemporary issues that affect Africa on the continent.

So those are my three films. They're all documentary films and I'm working on a bunch more.

KM: So as far as 'The Black Candle's concerned, it's an award-winning film. What are some awards that the film has won?

M.K.: Well it won Best Documentary at the Africa World Documentary Film Festival and it just got nominated for an Image Award. So it's got a bunch of different things under its belt.

'500 Years Later' is the winner of five awards. 'Motherland' just won Best Documentary and the Pan African Film Festival and also at the Zanzibar International Film Festival.

KM: So 'The Black Candle' is like the first feature-length Kwanzaa movie. Out of all of the 50-million subjects that you could have picked to do a film on, what inspired you to do a film on Kwanzaa?

M.K.: Well, for one thing, it hadn't been done before. And I thought it was important. I believe in transforming observations into obligations. I didn't see that film. I thought that film was important so I decided to endeavor in making it. So that was one of the main reasons. I thought it was an important topic. It's something that's really misunderstood. People don't know what [Kwanzaa] is. People don't know where it comes from. And I wanted to put it into a historical context.

I'm real big on context. I like to know, if you say something, what's the context? Where were you when you said it? What was going on? So I want to know. We have this holiday. Where did it come from? What was going on at the time? And then, what's happened since then? So I was really interested in it.

And using [Kwanzaa] also as a vehicle or as a prism to really look at the overall African-American and African diaspora experience.

KM: You have a lot of heavyweight personalities in this film. Tell me some of the people who are in it.

M.K.: Well, you know the film is co-written and narrated by Dr. Maya Angelou so she's really the voice of the film. And then a lot of people who are instrumental to the holiday are in the film like Dr. Karenga, for example, who's the founder of the holiday. Then there are people like Chuck D and Dead Prez who are in the film.

And then you have scholars like Haki Madhubuti, Dr. Gaye Theresa Johnson, Lisa Brock. Then you have everyday folks. People who celebrate, people who don't celebrate but want to know. People who have questions. People who have their own opinions about different aspects of the Black experience. So you have a range of people.

I always think it's important to have the kind of celebrity figures and have the people that we know about, but also feature the people that you may have never heard of. The teachers, the educators and the people at the grassroots level, barbers, [poets,] whoever. Because all those people, really, are a part of our experience.

KM: And you even have the woman who designed the Kwanzaa postage stamp in the film as well, right?

M.K.: Yeah, Synthia Saint James, visual artist. She designed the first original Kwanzaa stamp. I think that was 1997. She's in it. She actually designed the cover art for 'The Black Candle' film. So when you look at that cover, that image, that's her.

KM: Ok. That's good work!

M.K.: Yeah

KM: So what travels did making this movie take you on? Where all did you film it?

M.K.: One thing that people really like about the film is when you look at the scene when we go to Paris and you see the brothers saying 'Bon jour, Paris, Kwanzaa (M.K. does his french language impersonation). You're like, 'Oh, ok. So they do it over there.'

So we went to Paris. We went to Jamaica. We went to Africa. We went to Ghana. We went to Toronto. But most of the time was spent around the continental U.S.

KM: And as production progressed did the film begin to take on a new vision and a new scope?

M.K.: It did, man. I thought it was going to be one thing in the beginning and then it kind of evolved into something else. And that's how, i think a lot of times, the creative process works. You kind of come in with an idea. But in a documentary, you may have kind of an outline written already or you may have a narration written but you don't really know what people are going to say and how that's going to develop.

So as we began to do interviews and talk to people from all around the country who've been doing this for years, the film started to take its own shape. For me, at one point it was like: This is going to be a film about the holiday. But then as we began to do more and more interviews I realized that it WAS a film about the holiday but it was also a film about our story, our people, our journey. And so the holiday became a vehicle through which to look at our people and our journey and our identity essentially. And really a celebration of that identity, of that journey, of that experience. So it did change and evolve and grow, I think really, in a positive way.

KM: You commented on something that Maya Angelou said after she saw the final version of the movie. Would you comment on that? About how many copies [of the film] she'd like to see made.

M.K.: Oh, yeah! She saw the film when we sent it to her after we were done editing and she said that she wants to distribute a billion-zillion copies.

KM: (joking) That's a real number, you know that.

M.K.: Wow. So we're working on it. We're a bit a ways from a billion-zillion but that's the goal. You want everyone to see it. Because it's the kind of film that inspires, it empowers and it also educates. And I think the more people that see that film, the better world we'll live in because I think the film deals with really important issues as far as we're concerned.

KM: You fit into a category of people that I call 'Kwanzaa-preneurs'. They're entrepreneurs who have made products for the Kwanzaa celebration and the Kwanzaa holiday. Do you have any advice or any guidance for someone who's maybe thinking about making a product or someone who has made a product for Kwanzaa?

M.K.: Yeah. Definitely utilizing new technology, the Internet, and utilizing it in a really smart way. Building an audience. Really identifying the people who do celebrate [Kwanzaa] and really being loyal and true to them and making sure that whatever you're selling is really in line with the principles. Because you shouldn't be selling something, obviously, that's contradictory to the principles.

And really finding ways to synergize with other groups and organizations to really get [your product] out there. And let people know that this is something that you've made and it does support the holiday and supports the mission and the ideas. But mainly I think each generation, each decade has to think about how we can use these tools in a contemporary context. Making sure that whatever you're doing, you're able to do it in a way that's relevant today even though it can be rooted in the foundations of when [Kwanzaa] was created in 1966. It has to be fresh for the new generation, basically.

KM: So, someone who watches 'The Black Candle', what do you want them to take away from the experience of watching the film?

M.K.: Well, I think they'll have a greater understanding of where we come from, where we were and where we're going. And I also think it will take a lot of viewers passed where they were. Even people who know a lot. Because one thing about this film it wasn't made just for people who celebrate [Kwanzaa] or people who know about it. This film was made, really, for everybody.

In the beginning of the film you realize that you can go out in the street right now in Harlem and ask young people do they know about Kwanzaa and what are the principles and many of them will not be able to tell you. So THAT'S really why I made the film. THAT'S the catalyst. Those people who've been celebrating [Kwanzaa] for 30 years definitely gravitate towards the film. They definitely appreciate it and support it and they like it. But I'm really interested in the person who doesn't know anything. Because, you know, we're trying to educate. We're trying to inform.

So I think you'll come away with something that you didn't know. I think [the film] will take people passed where they were to new places that they hadn't yet considered. I think they'll be entertained, they'll be educated. I guess it's that 'edu-tainment' thing that KRS-One talked about.

KM: So what things are you looking forward to working on in the future? Present projects, future projects.

M.K.: Well right now I'm working on several new book projects. I have several new film projects. Lots of different people involved, just crazy. So I've been traveling a lot for those. Just looking forward to 2011. The new books will be coming out. 'Motherland' is new. So that's kind of just coming out. And then there's some other films I'm working on. A lot of the products I'm working on now are getting into the fiction realm. There's great truth in fiction. So there's a fiction, feature-length narrative film and then there's a novel and some other stuff. So definitely look for that.

KM: You mentioned your schedule. I looked on your website and I saw one day you're going to be in Dakar, Senegal and like the next day you're going to be somewhere in Washington state. (laughs)

M.K.: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's kind of a crazy schedule in balancing doing the creative work with speaking engagements and trying to spread your work. People want you to talk about your work, and you WANT to do it, but at the same time you have to WORK. You know, you have to do your other work which is the actual writing and the actual film-making. So sometimes it gets a little crazy and it changes every week, but it's a good journey. It's fun. I'm enjoying it. Everywhere I go I learn, I pick up new things and learn new things. It's cool.

KM: Well thank you. Definitely keep up the good work

M.K.: Thank YOU

KM: You're an inspiration to a lot of people and thank you very much

M.K.: Appreciate it, man. And let me know how we can work together and how I can help you with your site and everything.

KM: OK. I really appreciate that

M.K.: Cool

KM: Alright. Thank you.

M.K.: Alright, man
About the Author

Okera Ras I is a media producer and entrepreneur. You can check out the video version of this interview at
http://www.kwanzaamedia.com/blackcandle

GIMP how to make black outlines look neater?

I draw cartoons, and I would like the black outlines I give my cartoons to look neater and not so edgy and hand-drawn. How do I do that with GIMP?

for line art, you can try a few methods of cleaning up sketch scans, one is to brighten with contrast and brightness, that would give you white background and black monotone image, there is color threshold, but that pixels edges, when you scan, use 300 dpiin color mode for better lines ,

In gimp you can use pen line tool to go over each line, and convert line to stroke with color and thickness of choice,

other option select color range with same color selector wand tool, and apply selection. border to add 1 or 2 pixels, use new layer to fill and compare, you can also feather edges 1 or 2 pixels from selection,

other tool that you could try is Inkscape illustrator to trace bitmap lines, and save as svg, but also export as png

Gimp ~image editor,

http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

Inkscape illustrator

http://www.inkscape.org/screenshots/index.php?lang=en

deviantart>gimp>line art tutorial

http://www.deviantart.com/#order=9&q=gimp+line+art+tutorial

..

SADIK1 Graffiti Tutorials: "Coloring" (Ep. I)