David Makadi, Illustration ’25, FIT’s first international Social Justice Center Scholar, on his dream of becoming an animator
I grew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I lost my dad when I was six and my mom 10 years later. I started drawing when I was 10 or 11, and I went to a high school for the arts.
African parents only see being a doctor or lawyer as valuable; they think an artist is someone who paints walls. After high school, to remain an artist, I decided to go to South Africa. My stepbrother helped me get a plane ticket to travel from Kinshasa to Lubumbashi, on the border of Zambia. I rode a bus the rest of the way to South Africa, praying not to get arrested. I declared myself a refugee in South Africa—their human rights laws protect you—and went to stay with my brother in Johannesburg. I thought everything would be easy once I got there, but it wasn’t. Anyone who is not a citizen is put in a very difficult situation—I felt like I was living in hiding. I worked in security because I couldn’t get a decent job. I’d make extra money by making bracelets out of river reeds and sketching portraits by the waterfront.
In 2010, my cousin told me about animation. It pays well, and there are so many opportunities. I bought a computer but couldn’t get very far with web tutorials. I went to school in Cape Town for three years and did freelance animation. I had dreams of working in big studios in America. It became my mission to get here.
I posted my work on Instagram, and a guy in Los Angeles messaged me and started sending me short animation assignments. A Stanford professor was one of his clients, and she hired me for projects like a video about vaccines. One project had a budget to bring an international animator to America. You don’t know how difficult it is to get an American visa! I had to return to Congo, pick up a passport and a Zambian visa, and go to Zambia for an interview at the U.S. embassy.
In 2022, I was in America for eight days, trying to get someone’s attention to sponsor my visa so I could stay longer. We couldn’t get an opportunity, but the Stanford professor had a connection with Dan Shefelman [chair of Illustration and Interactive Media at FIT]. Dan recommended that I apply to FIT. But FIT hadn’t heard of the schools I went to. I had to photograph kids studying at my high school so they could confirm it was actually a school. That wasn’t enough proof, so I emailed the minister of education, but people in the Congo government don’t check their email. My sister had to go there in person.
Once I was accepted into FIT, Dan helped me get the Social Justice Center scholarship, which pays my tuition. I’ve been working as a lab monitor at FIT to pay my expenses. I also freelance. I did a 30-second animation for Adult Swim. I used to watch Cartoon Network, and seeing these guys email me, I thought maybe they made a mistake. Also, a filmmaker from Brooklyn hired me to come up with visuals for her documentary about women having kids or choosing not to.
Coming into FIT, I thought I was going to chill because I already knew everything. But there’s a difference between knowing how to draw and knowing how to do it according to industry standards. Also, I’d never been in a situation where you are with 10 people from different backgrounds. My work gets critiqued from lots of different perspectives.
In my high school, one classroom would have 75 to 120 students—it was very noisy. Even in South Africa, I got into situations where I could draw better than my instructor. Here at FIT, I’m learning from the best of the best.
And the SJC Scholars give me a sense of community. They organize lunches and check in over email. We shelter each other.
There are a lot of talented kids in Africa who probably won’t get the help I got. Someday I plan to return to Congo to create a kind of library where people can learn animation. —As told to Jonathan Vatner
The Social Justice Center at FIT creates pathways for BIPOC individuals to thrive in the creative industries. Social Justice Center Scholars benefit from a tuition scholarship, mentorship, and special programming.