By Sherehe Hollins – Contributing Writer
MK Asante is a brilliant writer, storyteller, filmmaker, artist and professor whose journey towards finding his voice and purpose is revealed through his best-selling memoir, Buck. Through Buck, Asante courageously reveals some of the life challenges that shaped him during his formative years – such as coming of age in the inner city in a family faced with crisis – and learning how to transform painful circumstances into powerful life lessons.
Asante visited San Diego, Sunday April 12th through Wednesday April 15th to inspire attendees of diverse generations, ethnicities, and cultures with a unifying message of perseverance. Asante, who studied at the University of London, earned a BA from Lafayette College and an MFA from UCLA, is a tenured professor of creative writing and film at Morgan State University, who has toured in over 40 countries, and lectured at hundreds of colleges and universities.
Mesa College Professors Starla Lewis and Thekima Mayasa coordinated Asante’s San Diego presentations so that San Diego youth could see their brilliance and potential reflected in a young man who has learned to defy statistics and stereotypes. At the age of 32, Asante is the author of four books, an award winning filmmaker and Sundance Feature Film Fellow for the movie adaptation of Buck.
Asante’s powerful storytelling uplifted the San Diego community by helping attendees understand the power of their own voices. The presentations, which took place at the World Beat Center, San Diego Mesa College and the Jacobs Center, also included one professional development, writing workshop where professors and students had the chance to connect by reflecting upon and collectively sharing pieces of their life stories.
Asante’s presentations attracted over 600 attendees who were deeply moved and engaged by his poetic, and unapologetically honest way of illustrating the human spirit’s ability to rise above seemingly impossible circumstances. In the words of the attendees the presentations were, “fabulous”, “amazing”, “enlightening”, “hopeful”, and “real”.
A 13-year-old attendee expressed her desire to write after having experienced Asante’s charismatic reading of his memoir, a story, which begins with Asante at age 13. Asante’s San Diego presentations affirmed for attendees that when someone is brave enough to tell their story, and share it with the world, they possess the power to heal and transforms themselves, while inspiring others to do the same.
For more information on MK Asante visit, http://mkasante.com
