Shaping the Future Shaping the Future digital FINAL X | Page 54

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p and coming artist, Khalil J.
McKnight was born in New Orleans,
Louisiana on July 20, 2005. His family
includes his parents, Sean McKnight
and Deirdre Tillis and his older sister,
Ki McKnight. Khalil’s father is currently
incarcerated but that has not stopped
him from continuing a connection with
him and he credits his father for his
artistic
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abilities. Around the time of Khalil’s birth, dev-
astating Hurricane Katrina, destroyed the city
of New Orleans and surrounding areas, caused
his family to evacuate to Kentwood, where they
ended up living for a couple years.
His relatives lived nearby in Amite, where he
would spend his weekends with his grandpar-
ents. Being raised by a single mother, Deirdre,
worked multiple jobs to provide for her two
children, and for Khalil, it became hard not hav-
ing another male in the house. However, he re-
mained grateful for everything his mother and
sister do for him. He is especially fond of the
video games they bought for him that he enjoys
playing in his free time.
In elementary school, Khalil found his pas-
sion for drawing. Despite his initial unenthusi-
astic feelings towards his art, his friends en-
couraged him to continue sharing his craft. He
began watching YouTube videos that refined his
talents, following their steps one by one. During
the weekends, Khalil would do nothing but draw
whatever he could. He especially liked drawing
his favorite characters from cartoons. So much
so, that to this day, he still has them in his col-
lection. Khalil’s other interests at the time in-
cluded running track and being in the Beta Club.
Eventually, the club members encouraged him
and his friends to work harder in school and
participate more in his community.
As Khalil continued to draw cartoons and
variations of other people’s work, he desired to
create something original, something he
could really see himself in. He started
watching tutorials on how to draw people.
At his new school, his art teacher, Mrs. Mac, saw potential in him and signed him up for Talented Arts.
This program is designed to provide experiences that enable talented students to further develop as artists.
The program requires an interview and although he was nervous about it, he did well and eventually got ac-
cepted. At this point, Khalil thought he had reached his dream but his mother encouraged him to do more.
One of her ideas was to start designing shirts so that he could make money for his future. It was trial and
error for him. People began ordering shirts so fast that he started to blow through them. During this time,
Khalil experienced the death of his aunt who had cared greatly for him and his sister. Despite it being hard
on him, it encouraged him to push himself harder and he made a promise to himself to never stop painting.
Around school, Khalil started to become wellknown for his paintings instead of drawings but he was fine with
that. He even got paid to paint his math teachers house. Other teachers started ordering paintings and Khalil
began to see support from his church’s members, friends, and even other well-known artists as well. “My
mom got a notification one day about a boy named Cairo commenting on a post from a well known magazine
named AROA. I was extremely excited to hear that they responded to the comment. I’m about to become a teen,
my father is still incarcerated, I still live with all females, and I’m excited for what the future holds for me and
what God will bless this young African-American boy with next.” -Khalil McKnight
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