The Black Candle (2008)

The Black Candle: Directed by M.K. Asante. With Maya Angelou, Molefi Kete Asante, Jim Brown, Chuck D. A documentary about the struggle and triumph of African-American family, community, and culture, using Kwanzaa as a vehicle to celebrate the African-American experience. The seven principles of Kwanzaa (unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith) are so important to African-Americans today. The documentary explores the holiday’s growth out of the Black Power Movement in the 1960s to its present-day reality as a global, pan-African holiday embraced by over 40 million celebrants.

“Now we all Loved 500 Years Later. And this film coming from the producer has again sustained the quality necessary for African American documentary cinema. You know this film has the quality and sincerity of African people. It presents Africans in a positive light, just like 500 years later. And it is a shame that we had to wait so long for a film about Kwanzaa — come on people. So between Asante and Shahadah they seem to be making up for lost films.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn one hand, most Africans claim to recognize the plethora of negative images, which for centuries have been perpetuated by Europe, in books, films, news, universities, against Africa. It is voiced that Africa must do for self and African people must be agents of their own stories and controllers of their own images, like everyone else. If all of these things are true then what is the global African responsibility in actually building these tangible things so that they inhabit reality?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCant wait to see Motherland. I hope films like these keep coming and African documentary cinema continues to push new aesthetic boundaries”