Filmmaker M.K. Asante Jr. (Molefi K. Asante Jr.) - Courtesy Photo

By Bobby Marvin
Special to the AFRO

(December 11, 2008) - Halie Gerima’s 1993 film Sankofa was a story that gave audiences across the world a transparent explanation for why racial identity and history was so important.

During a special viewing of the film, this was realized by a young boy as he stood by in awe. Too young to fully understand the film’s message, little M.K. Asante was drawn by the impact it had on adults surrounding the room. What had them so fixated, he wasn’t too sure of, but really he didn’t need a translator for emotions. No, this was something that struck him hard as well, with a feeling that would eventually lead him to a life of purpose and passion through art.

Through a turbulent time of political and social unrest, filmmaker M.K. Asante Jr. (Molefi K. Asante Jr.) was born in Zimbabwe and raised in North Philadelphia, Pa. Son of scholar Molefi K. Asante Sr. and dance choreographer Kariamu Welsh, Asante grew up with a keen African-American identity and pride.

He attended Lafayette College and studied film and Africana literature and studies abroad at the University of London for a year. He later earned his MFA in film from UCLA. Wanting to share and work with individuals of similar cultural and artistic interests, Asante opted to teach creative writing and film at Morgan State University where he became the youngest faculty member in 2006.

“I felt like I went to UCLA, got all this knowledge about filmmaking and wanted to kind of come back and share it with my community and empower other young people who are like me to go out and tell their stories and tell the stories that are important to them,” said Asante.

Now at 26, Asante have much to boast about. In addition to being a college professor, he is an author of two collections of poetry (Like Water Running Off My Back and Beautiful. And Ugly Too), along with the 2008 release of his first non-fiction book, It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop.

He also has experienced tremendous success as a producer and writer for the critically acclaimed 2005 documentary 500 Years Later and was the winner of several awards, including best documentary honors from the Harlem International Film Festival and the Bridgetown Film Festival. A story told through the travel of five continents with a Pan-African approach, 500 Years Later confronts the painful wounds of slavery through conversational healing.

This is the work that Asante lives to make. Contrary to the infectious stereotypes of African Americans often portrayed in film and television, Asante seeks to unveil the untold stories and address the unspoken truths.

“I think a lot of us have bought into the myth that all we want to see is negative recycled material, but I don’t think that’s true. And in my experience it hasn’t been true,” said Asante. “The Black people who’ve seen my films and the people who continue to see and the growing audience, they love seeing positive images of themselves.”

Asante’s latest film, The Black Candle is celebratory of the African-American holiday Kwanzaa. Narrated by poet Maya Angelou and filmed partially in Baltimore and Philadelphia, this film chronicles the history of the African-centered holiday. The documentary took two years to film and features Amiri Baraka, Jim Brown, Chuck D and Kwanzaa founder Dr. Maulana Karenga. This film was viewed as a necessity to Asante -- an opportunity to honor his past and heritage.

Assante and poet Maya Angelou

“The idea was going back to the model: If you make an observation then you have an obligation,” said Asante. “I ask myself how come there is no film that celebrates the African-American experience through the prism of Kwanzaa and it wasn’t a film that did that. So I felt like I had to do it.”

As of now, Asante is touring the country and abroad showing his film to youth like himself some 20 years ago. But the boy that once searched about a room full of adults in wonder has transcended. Not quite full circle, he is still maturing as an artist, but as a man, he knows his path only leads back through the passages of his people.