Someone unfamiliar with his work, accolades or age could easily mistake M.K. Asante, Jr. for a college student instead of a university professor. Asante’s mesh brim hat, a constant fixture in his attire, bright smile and casual demeanor radiate youth while his knowledge of film, literature and African-American history could rival that of scholars twice his age.
Asante, an awarding-winning poet, author and internationally acclaimed filmmaker, recently embarked on his most ambitious teaching assignment to date: educating the world about Kwanzaa.
Sitting comfortably behind his desk at his Morgan State University office, the 26-yearold professor subtly announces the motto he lives his life by and the rationale for his latest film: “If you make an observation, you have an obligation.”
Two years ago during the 40th anniversary of Kwanzaa, Asante noticed there were no films that accurately depicted the history, migration and impact of the week-long holiday usually celebrated during Christmas. He decided to create one.
“Kwanzaa is phenomenal and interesting to me,” Asante says. “In elementary school, they were doing the Hanukkah and Christmas stuff. I stood up in front of the whole school and said, ‘What about Kwanzaa?’”
While millions of people throughout the world celebrate Kwanzaa annually, according to the National Association of Kawaida Organizations, many African-Americans are oblivious to Kwanzaa’s founding, meaning and purpose. Asante’s film, “The Black Candle,” aims to bridge the two: those who celebrate Kwanzaa and those who do not.
Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor of Africana studies at California State University, Long Beach and Kwanzaa’s founder, says the holiday was created in 1966 to give Blacks “an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history.” Karenga, along with an all-star cast of Black intellectuals including poet Amiri Baraka and rapper and culture critic Chuck D, is featured in Asante’s film.
