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Monthly Archives: December 2011
What Naysayers Do For Me: My Imaginary Talk With Michel Martin
Michel Martin is an accomplished journalist who hosts my favorite show on NPR, Tell Me More. Earlier this month, I dreamt she and I discussed haters. I used to listen to her show, a lot online (especially the Barbershop and Can I Just Tell You pieces), that aside, I can’t explain how or why I came to have this dream. Now that I think over our conversation, I can really hear her elegant voice asking me these questions in all her charm and refinement. Here’s an excerpt from the transcript of our imaginary talk:
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Michel Martin (MM): It’s great to see how Live Unchained is growing. I imagine that with a project as international and dynamic as this you’ve had to deal with a lot of people questioning how it would all come together, doubters.
Me (K): Yeah, I guess everyone who starts an organization has to deal with that– doubters, haters, haterade.
MM: [Lightly laughing] Well, I think of a hater as someone who is also jealous, so I guess I’m not speaking of doubt in that sense, let’s just call them…naysayers.
K: Well, first of all, I know that there is always going to be art that doesn’t resonate with me. And, in that same sense, I don’t expect Live Unchained to resonate with everyone. There are always going to be people that get it, and people that don’t.
And, it helps me to think about artists who I didn’t always get or just felt lukewarm about. For example, I wasn’t too impressed with a lot of what I considered—“poppy R&B” singers. I felt like a lot of their lyrics were cliché and the beats were all starting to sound alike. Later on in their careers, I saw that some of the artists I had lumped in this category were really taking themselves seriously as artists, and not just stars, with innovative music videos. I found myself looking forward to what else they had to put out, paying more attention to what they were saying in interviews, and even defending them against folks I thought were hatin’.
And, you know, that’s what I’d want for Live Unchained. I don’t want people to like us just because someone they know likes us, or someone important gave us a good review. I want Live Unchained to earn a place in people’s hearts, like many artists have for me.
MM: And, what about the people that have been with you from the beginning? I mean, how does what you’ve just said relate to the folks who don’t need you to fight for their hearts because they’ve been wanting a project like this?
K: Well, I think the haters…excuse me, naysayers, are like fuel to them…and me. I think the fact that there are people out there doubting our cause makes the Live Unchained community stronger in their commitment, their support despite the opinions of folks like that just shows that their loyalty isn’t superficial. And, I think it’s the same on a personal level—you know your self-love is strong when other folks’ negative opinions deepen it instead of taking away from it.
MM: It sounds like this has a lot to do with what it means to live unchained as a lifestyle.
K: Yeah, exactly. You can’t wait for other people to get what you’re doing before you start doing it. And, that’s why I carry this post-card Sean Mack designed for us everywhere I go.
[Then I pull out the card above, Michel reads what it says, we cut to commercial, I compliment her on her hair and we talk some more...]
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Posted in Community, Inspiration, Live Unchained
The Art that Binds: Idil Ibrahim on Film, Unity and Empowering Somalia
Idil Ibrahim, photo by Annie Escobar
Artists have restless minds. For many of us, it’s not enough for us to know what goes on behind the scenes of a film, but also what it arouses in the audience. The fear of not having our vision received the way we’d like stops many of us from continuing, or worse, even beginning our creative projects. Yet, when you know that your creative vision serves a larger purpose—perhaps, to heal, to unite, to educate—it’s easier to move past that doubt. I think Idil Ibrahim’s commitment to telling stories with these intentions has been key to her success as a filmmaker.
A member of New York’s tight-knit independent film community, Idil followed her passion to start her own production company, Zeila Films. The daughter of Somali Parents, raised in the United States, and having known many communities across the country and abroad, it became important for her to, as she says: “bridge cultures, communities and perspectives through art.” As executive of her own company and a contributor to Double 7 Images, while still working on local and international creative projects, Idil shows me that if your problem is too many creative ideas, you don’t have a problem, you have a gift; and it really is worth sharing with the world. Here, Idil discusses what makes film so powerful, contemporary challenges facing Somalia and how art and the Diaspora can help.
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What drew you to film-making?
I was always interested in film and television as a means of communication by sharing things like ideas, information and experience. However, I fell in love with film while I was an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley. I was inspired to be a filmmaker after taking a class with my professor, the late Loni Ding, who was an amazing Chinese-American documentary filmmaker based in the Bay Area. Loni taught us production but also analysis and I devoted all my time to the creative process. Soon, I realized that I was spending more hours working on my film classes than the rest of my academic coursework. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this is what I wanted to do in life.
What is special about what film can express?
I find film special because of how enchanted I become when I watch an amazing film and I would love to be able to have the same effect on others. I appreciate the way film transports viewers into another time and place. I love that film can educate, entertain, inform and potentially change the way people interact with reality. All art forms are powerful tools of expression with the capacity to connect and reach others.
Idil Ibrahim, Dadaab Kenya, photo by Brenda Phillips
Would you say your heritage inspires your work and what you hope your viewers will take away?
The name of our production company comes from Zeila (Saylac), a city of antiquity, is surrounded by the sea on three sides and served as a center for trade, intercultural exchange and the sharing of ideas for many civilizations. My parents are Somali and I grew up in the States in incredibly diverse areas so I had a multicultural upbringing. I have wanderlust and love meeting new people and connecting with others–which is always expanding and reshaping my personal views and life outlook. I value difference but try to find points of connection between people and places, so I approach my work as such, with an international approach focusing on personal stories, fiction and narrative, that resonates with others.
What do you think are the greatest challenges facing Somalia? What are the mis-perceptions?
I think many people want to write Somalia off as a failed state, full of conflict, humanitarian disasters and disease. Somalia and Somalis worldwide have immense obstacles to overcome, but I believe that Somalia has potential. There are so many individuals within the country and abroad working day and night to change their current reality for the better.
There are many pressing issues in addition to the famine, such as the ongoing conflict and political instability, the threat of extremism, and so on, but I believe in our global society we must remain as engaged and emotionally invested in Somalia as we are in other places. My vision for a healed Somalia would be a place free from conflict and oppression and an end to the cycle of violence that persists in many parts of the country.
How do you think art helps?
Art is a form of expression and it is quite subjective and personal. Applying art to conflict and post conflict settings can help serve as a tool for dialogue, expression, awareness building and hopefully healing and peace-building.
As you know, our organization aims to unite women across Africa and the African Diaspora. How do you think people from across the Diaspora can get involved in helping Somalia?
I believe it is always important for individuals to foster ties with others regardless of background or location. There are many ways people from all backgrounds, Somalis within Somalia, and members of the Diaspora can get involved. The situation in Somalia is complex, so it’s important to understand the context and then find ways to engage, but any step made as an attempt to ease human suffering is crucial. Somalis are resilient and despite the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis there are numerous individuals forging forward with life and working towards the betterment of society.
Finally, what does living unchained mean to you?
The term “living unchained” symbolizes my personal effort to live free—free from social expectations and conditioning. It reminds me to embrace similarities among people as opposed to focusing on difference, and encourages me to be true to myself, living with integrity and remaining passionate about life and work.
I love Mahatma Gandhi’s quote “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” I know that may come across as really cliché, but I honestly strive to live my life as the quote suggests.
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Be sure to visit Zeila Films online and stay in touch with them via Facebook and Twitter.
Also, learn more about Somalia and what the Diasporan community is doing to help with the issues Idil discussed at Soobax Blog, The African Future and I Am a Star.
Posted in Creativity, Film, International, Somalia, Travel
Without Approval, Applause or Understanding: What Your Vote Means to Me
I’m proud to tell our loyal, encouraging and artsy readers that Live Unchained recently won a fellowship to participate in a media entrepreneurship boot-camp with Unity Journalists of Color in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now begins the second phase of the program, a competition for $10,000 in seed money. We would be eternally grateful for your vote here: http://
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The Unity Journalists of Color New U boot-camp was a great experience. Each participant gave a business pitch and, as you’ll see in the video below, mine ended with what conducting Live Unchained interviews with nearly 90 artists from over 16 countries across Africa and the African Diaspora has meant to me:
It meant so much to hear people say that this part of the pitch (the least “businessy” part of it) resonated with them the most. I don’t take this lesson about freeing yourself from others’ ideas–or what you assume their ideas are without even really knowing sometimes–of your passions lightly. From time to time, I have been insecure as an artist and entrepreneur, but my good and bad experiences with networking, branding, budgeting and organizing pounded the false need for validation, security and stability right out of me.
If you want to live unchained, personally and creatively, in a world that encourages conformity, you have to be comfortable standing out. You also have to be grounded enough to not be disturbed by being misunderstood, unheard or stolen from. And, of course, there’s the real work of paying your dues, putting in the time and energy to build your creative dream. For Live Unchained, the truth is, we didn’t start this project with a lot of connections, internet savvy or money; we started with the bare minimum of each. We managed nearly 90 interviews because many more artists never responded to our request. (Also, I spend hours trying to get each post just right so that our interviewees know we don’t take their participation for granted–I used to get like “The Hulk” whenever I found a typo here.) I learned everything I now know about the importance of social media from time and energy draining research after many technology mishaps. And, as far as sustaining Live Unchained financially, I’m still funding as much as I can out of pocket while living on a student budget–eating cheap rice and canned beans most days (seriously). The point is, if we let any of this stop us, we wouldn’t be living unchained.
Kathryn after finding a typo in a Live Unchained blog post
We are completely committed to the vision of Live Unchained as a non-profit organization, which is why we’re still going forward. Our dedication is also why winning this grant would mean so much, it represents all we ever needed: a chance. I know how much it inspires me to see black women telling their own stories in ways that common language could never capture, those that challenge cliché depictions of us in the media or our under-representation in the artworld (both of which have become way too palatable for mass consumption). Women artists, their fans and communities, need an initiative that encourages them to connect, create and Live Unchained; it would mean the world to us if you could help us create that. Growth starts one step at a time, with our first event, a revised site and non-profit incorporation–your vote can help us get the funding to do all that and more. So, please visit http://
and help help Live Unchained rise.
Posted in African Diaspora, Art, Entrepreneurship, Live Unchained, Women
