AN INTERVIEW WITH MING ZHAO > To be honest, my mom did an excellent job with telling me a lot > early…some things I did not understand since I was so young > lol…but the one thing 

that I wish people would be honest about is > that you just have to figure out things as you go along. There’s > no book, no pamphlet for anything and things change all of the time.

> Just trust God. As_ a part of my series about __leaders helping to make the entertainment industry more diverse and representative__, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Kara

Mack._ _Kara Mack is a performing artist, choreographer, creative director, and founder of founder of Africa in America®, which serves as a primary resource for professionals and

and Busta Ryhmes’ performance at the 2021 MTV VMA’s._ THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US IN THIS INTERVIEW SERIES! CAN YOU TELL US A STORY ABOUT WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THIS SPECIFIC CAREER PATH?

Since I was young, I knew I wanted to be a performing artist, but I just didn’t know specifically what I would be doing or how it would come about since I was gifted in so many areas. I

struggled in the beginning thinking that I had to make a choice on one and stick with that, but I soon discovered that type of thinking hinders you way more than ‘keeping you focused’. I was

born and raised in Columbia, SC and moved to Los Angeles during the end of my 10th grade year in high school. Though that was an extremely rough transition, it forced me to really fight for

what I felt would have been taken for granted if the move never happened. After moving, Debbie Allen Dance Academy soon opened, and I began to take classes at the studio, including West

African dance. Though I took classes in South Carolina, it was not so formal; it was outside and less structured. However, what connected me was that I, for the first time, saw how every

movement I saw in the studio, I recognized through the movements of my own African-American culture…majorette, steppin’, jazz, hip-hop, etc. A light bulb lit up in my brain and that’s when I

committed to in my one body learning as many different African Diasporic techniques. I had no idea that over 20 years later, the industry would be going in this direction, but it has placed

me in many different positions; including choreographer, creative director, singer, founder of my own trademarked brand Africa in America, and now creating the first-ever online hub through

Bopsidy.com. CAN YOU SHARE THE MOST INTERESTING STORY THAT HAPPENED TO YOU SINCE YOU BEGAN YOUR CAREER? Yes; the 2016 Grammys…when I got the call from famed choreographer Fatima Robinson to

come through to the rehearsal, I didn’t know that it would first be me dancing for Kendrick Lamar’s biggest award night, or that my choreography would be in it! So, after the performance is

done, yes the energy is high and everyone knows we killed it, but I had no idea that so many people from around the world would be so affected by it. I was unknown, just in my little world

of continuously studying all these various techniques, and now people are putting my name in comment sections for my contribution to the performance. It was like a switch happened

automatically for my career. CAN YOU SHARE A STORY ABOUT THE FUNNIEST MISTAKE YOU MADE WHEN YOU WERE FIRST STARTING? CAN YOU TELL US WHAT LESSON YOU LEARNED FROM THAT? I’m still learning

now, but I keep forgetting sometimes that there are some people that are actually more calculated even over the simplest of things, and I just be talking away! Lol. I learned over time to

keep my thoughts and ideas to myself until either after it’s done, or until I’ve vetted a person enough that I feel comfortable with sharing your thoughts. OK, THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT. LET’S

NOW JUMP TO THE MAIN FOCUS OF OUR DISCUSSION. CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW YOU ARE HELPING TO MAKE POPULAR CULTURE MORE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE US POPULATION? One of the ways that I’m making popular

culture more representative of the US population is by creating and founding my brand Africa in America in 2014. Artists are already placed low on the totem pole in society; however, black

artists are even lower than that. Unfortunately, what’s also lower than that are artists who aren’t professionals in what America deems as ‘technical’…ballet, modern, jazz, etc. This is for

both musicians and dancers. So, if you are a professional in genres of music and dance that are not yet codified, then you are simply doing something that is fun, a hobby, or as they say in

the academia, an elective. African diasporic styles, i.e. salsa, rumba, samba, bomba, West African styles, etc., are all foundational movements of the popular styles here and are represented

by the millions of American’s culture. Putting on Annual Original Works showcases, hosting master drum and dance workshops, and doing my work in the industry has created a culture that is

shifting to at least now ‘respect the technique’…and for that I am happy. Now, I am about to launch an online hub through Bopsidy.com that will, for the first time ever, be one location

where you can access these artists/teachers in whatever city/state they’re in and get all of this info from them directly. CAN YOU TELL US A STORY ABOUT A PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL WHO WAS

IMPACTED BY THE WORK YOU ARE DOING? I’m happy to say that I get to see the impact in real-time. When I began Africa in America’s Original Works Showcases in 2014, every year I would give

over 30 performing artists a chance to present, dance, or play in the showcases. This would put them on a platform to create whatever they wanted for themselves and to see, either through

social media or in-person, them flourishing gives me the energy that I need to keep fighting for visibility and accessibility for these artists. AS AN INSIDER, THIS MIGHT BE OBVIOUS TO YOU,

BUT I THINK IT’S INSTRUCTIVE TO ARTICULATE THIS FOR THE PUBLIC WHO MIGHT NOT HAVE THE SAME INSIDE KNOWLEDGE. CAN YOU SHARE THREE REASONS WITH OUR READERS ABOUT WHY IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT TO

HAVE DIVERSITY REPRESENTED IN ENTERTAINMENT AND ITS POTENTIAL EFFECTS ON OUR CULTURE? It’s important because visibility and self-worth are two of the main things people are struggling with

today. In Mandingue culture, the artists are called ‘djeli’ which in literal translation simply means blood. Like everyone needs blood to survive, we all need art in society. If artists

aren’t represented in the full array of colors, styles, cultures, expressions, interpretations, then we would be going against what is natural and what’s simply supposed to occur. There

would be a ‘blood clot’ and that could cause harm to the body. If we continue to go in the direction we are going, there will be a blood clot in American culture. CAN YOU RECOMMEND THREE

THINGS THE COMMUNITY/SOCIETY/THE INDUSTRY CAN DO TO HELP ADDRESS THE ROOT OF THE DIVERSITY ISSUES IN THE ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS? First thing is to always make sure you study and do your due

diligence with everything that you approach. Don’t come with a savior-complex but come with a humble heart that is wanting and needing to learn. The second thing is to always cultivate

spaces that represent differences and not just, what we would call in the South an “Amen corner”, for you. Always putting people around that co-sign what you say isn’t representing life, so

from the root it wouldn’t solve anything. HOW DO YOU DEFINE “LEADERSHIP”? CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT YOU MEAN OR GIVE AN EXAMPLE? Leadership is a position that requires someone to find and/or

birth, cultivate, and facilitate gifts in others. True leaders are successful when they understand that it’s not about them, but about the idea; and an idea can only be sustained by the

strength of the group of strong and gifted human beings. WHAT ARE YOUR “5 THINGS I WISH SOMEONE TOLD ME WHEN I FIRST STARTED” AND WHY? PLEASE SHARE A STORY OR EXAMPLE FOR EACH. To be honest,

my mom did an excellent job with telling me a lot early…some things I did not understand since I was so young lol…but the one thing that I wish people would be honest about is that you just

have to figure out things as you go along. There’s no book, no pamphlet for anything and things change all of the time. Just trust God. YOU ARE A PERSON OF ENORMOUS INFLUENCE. IF YOU COULD

INSPIRE A MOVEMENT THAT WOULD BRING THE MOST AMOUNT OF GOOD TO THE MOST AMOUNT OF PEOPLE, WHAT WOULD THAT BE? YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOUR IDEA CAN TRIGGER. :-) That’s a great question!

Hmmm…Polyrhythmic Life: Black culture is based on polyrhythms, which are individual rhythms happening at the same time. People from the outside will only be able to appreciate the ensemble

unless everyone is committed to playing and sticking to their part…no matter if you had a bad day, feel insecure, experience trauma personally, just stick to your part because that’s your

contribution to society. CAN YOU PLEASE GIVE US YOUR FAVORITE “LIFE LESSON QUOTE”? CAN YOU SHARE HOW THAT WAS RELEVANT TO YOU IN YOUR LIFE? Favorite quote of all time: “Without struggle,

there is no progress.” Fredrick Douglas Because it has seemed like I’ve had to always take the road less traveled, that quote has sustained me tremendously. IS THERE A PERSON IN THE WORLD,

OR IN THE US WHOM YOU WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A PRIVATE BREAKFAST OR LUNCH WITH, AND WHY? HE OR SHE MIGHT JUST SEE THIS, ESPECIALLY IF WE TAG THEM. :-) I would love to meet Denzel Washington. I

respect his gift and wisdom with how he’s navigated his career for such a long time. That would be amazing! HOW CAN OUR READERS FOLLOW YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA? People can show their love by

following @africainamerica on IG and Facebook. THIS WAS VERY MEANINGFUL, THANK YOU SO MUCH!