For "Post-Hip-Hop Generation," Prof Offers "360 Degrees of Blackness"

Photo credit: Courtesy M.K. Asante Jr. M.K. Asante Jr. recently wrapped up his latest project, a film on Kwanzaa narrated by and co-written with renowned poet Maya Angelou.

By Shauntel Lowe
Black College Wire

At 24, M.K. Asante Jr. already wears atop his dreadlocks the hats of award-winning film producer, author, journalist and poet. And he's adding another —- professor —- as he begins teaching creative writing, screenwriting and African American cinema at Morgan State University for the fall semester.

The producer of an award-winning 2005 documentary about the African diaspora, "500 Years Later," has joined Morgan State's English and Language Arts department alongside Chair Dolan Hubbard, who says the department is pushing for a "multi-genre approach" by incorporating screenwriting, journalism and literature into its "English department for the 21st century."

Photo credit: Clem Murray M.K. Asante Jr. "represents the blend of the hip-hop generation combined with a tremendous understanding of the black diaspora," says Dolan Hubbard, his Morgan State department chair.

"He represents the blend of the hip-hop generation combined with a tremendous understanding of the black diaspora. He would challenge our students to climb every mountain because he stands on top of the mountain as sign and symbol of what they can accomplish," he said.

Asante said he was excited about the opportunity to teach at a historically black university. "One of the main reasons why I want to teach film at a black institution is to demystify the film industry so that we can begin to create our own images and tell stories from our perspective," he said.

Many may aspire, but few ever accomplish all the young professor has, and even fewer do it so soon into their careers. In addition to "500 Years Later," which won a documentary award at the 2005 Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, Asante has published two poetry books, 2002's "Like Water Running Off My Back" and "Beautiful.And Ugly Too," released in 2005. Just a few weeks ago he wrapped up his latest project, a film on Kwanzaa narrated by and co-written with renowned poet Dr. Maya Angelou, which he says is "really about the best of what it means to be black."

Asante recently graduated from the UCLA School of Film and Television with a master's degree in screenwriting after completing undergraduate work at Lafayette University and the University of London.

Barely no longer a student himself, Asante said his youth will help him relate to his students, just as he was able to better relate to younger professors while doing graduate work at UCLA.

"Everything they're going through I've been through very recently. . . . Also, what they want to do, I'm also doing in a very real way, so that not only can we relate and kind of share a common ground, I can use that relatability. I can tell them how to get where they want to go," he said.

Taking up residence at the historically black Baltimore school keeps Zimbabwe-born but Philadelphia-raised Asante close to home geographically, but miles away from the sub-world of teenage rebellion he once haunted.

He was the first African American born in Zimbabwe following the Second Chimurenga, an uprising that led to Zimbabwe's independence, but he spent most of his life in Philadelphia.

"I am Philly," Asante said, as he spoke of how the city's artistic and cultural diversity shaped his talents.

"Philly, in terms of art, culture and music, is really one of the most significant places I've ever been. For it to be such a small place, it has produced so much in giving the world so much music and poetry and culture," he said.

But as a student growing up in the City of Brotherly Love, Asante did not always show the type of love for education one might expect from a future professor.

He was kicked out of school in eighth grade for writing graffiti on walls and put in private school.

"During that period of time, I really was rebelling against pretty much everything. I was skipping school, hanging out, not doing the right thing," he said.

The son of two prominent professors, Temple University's Molefi Kete Asante, creator of the Afrocentricity movement, which focuses on an Africa-centered history, and dance scholar Kariamu Welsh, Asante did not go unchecked by his parents.

"They were telling me all the right things" to do, "but I just wasn't listening," he said.

"It was just like static."

But one parental word of caution was clearly audible to the pseudo-thug: if he continued living the way he was, he would end up in jail or dead like many around him.

"That wasn't just talk when they were saying that. My brother was in jail at that point. When they said you'll end up in jail, it resonated."

Asante said visiting his brother, Daudi Jackson, who was in jail for violating probation after being sentenced for a minor crime, was one of the turning points in his life. He saw "the disheveled appearance and depression of the person he said "was always the smartest individual I had ever known, in terms of the pure brilliance and genius of his mind."

After moving to the Crefeld School, a small private academy dedicated to the arts, Asante found his love for writing and reading and finally began to take his education seriously. Since both of his parents were writers —- and avid readers —- Asante had easy access to hundreds of books and the wisdom of accomplished writers.

By the time Asante reached Lafayette University, his rebel days of high school were long over. The thrill of college freedom that distracts and overwhelms many undergrads did not faze him.

"I was very focused. I knew I wanted to be a writer. Everything that was happening in college, in terms of drinking and girls, I had already done many years ago. Eighth grade to 10th grade I was really out there. I had already acted a fool. By the time I got to college, I was ready to act serious, to be serious," he said.

Asante said he would write from 5 a.m. until midnight, taking only a few breaks for eating and drinking. He wrote his first novel, which was not published, his freshman year. At the end of his sophomore year, "Like Water Running Off My Back" came out and gave the young poet his first taste of book signings and interviews. While at the University of London, he worked on a screenplay for a film about Tupac Shakur's mother,former Black Panther Afeni Shakur, and fugitive political activist Assata Shakur.

He said it was important for students not to wait until after college to begin their careers.

"If I hadn't made a couple films, then I wouldn't be coming out of grad school and I would not be teaching at Morgan State," he said.

"It's important that while you're in school that you're doing what you want to do. If you want to do that stuff, do it and do it while you're in school."

Asante's father said he was excited about his son teaching at Morgan.

"As a professor, you always want to make sure that you never lose sight of the objective, which is to humanize the world. . . . He's been well-trained, he has a great sense of purpose and he has the kind of intellectual ability and the consciousness that will be very useful in his role," he said.

The younger Asante also urges this generation's college students, dubbed the "hip- hop generation," to redefine themselves. In the spring, he plans to teach a class about the "post-hip-hop generation," which will coincide with the release of his book on the same topic.

He said the term "post-hip-hop generation" is "a challenge of redefinition."

"Hip-hop is not a culture. It's maybe part of the black cultural experience. You're defining yourself by music. You're defining yourself by homophobia, misogyny, a materialistic form of music that degrades your women, and that's not very positive, and yes, you have positive rappers, but on the whole . . . that's the stuff on BET and radio. You're limited by calling yourself 'a hip-hop generation.' That limits your scope and definitely retards some of your success."

Shauntel Lowe is a student at the University of California, Los Angeles and an intern for the Black College Wire. She can be reached at [email protected].

Posted Sept. 5, 2006