M.K. Asante, Jr.

M.K. Asante, Jr. is an award-winning author, filmmaker, and professor who the Philadelphia Inquirer calls "a rare, remarkable talent that brings to mind the great artists of the Harlem Renaissance."

The author of three celebrated books, Asante is the recipient of the 2009 Langston Hughes Award. His latest book, It's Bigger Than Hip Hop, was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "An empowering book that moves you to action and to question status quo America."

His other books are the award-winning poetry collections, Beautiful. And Ugly Too and Like Water Running Off My Back, winner of the Academy of American Poets Jean Corrie Prize.

An acclaimed filmmaker, Asante directed and produced The Black Candle, a film he co-wrote with Maya Angelou who also narrates the film. The Black Candle, which Time magazine called "fit for a poet," won Best Documentary at the 2009 Africa World Documentary Film Festival.

Asante also wrote and produced the film 500 Years Later, winner of five international film festival awards as well as the Breaking the Chains award from the United Nations.

Asante studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, earned his BA from Lafayette College, and an MFA from the UCLA School of Film and Television.

Born in Zimbabwe and raised in Philadelphia, Asante has presented his work in Africa, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and throughout the United States. He has been featured on numerous TV and radio programs including the CBS Early Show, NPR, Tom Joyner Morning Show and Chuck D's On The Real. Asante’s essays on music, politics, and culture have been published in USA Today, Black Arts Quarterly and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Asante is a professor of creative writing and film in the Department of English and Language Arts at Morgan State University.