Molefi Kete Asante
Encyclopedia
Molefi Kete Asante is an African-American scholar
, historian, and philosopher. He is a leading figure in the fields of African American studies
, African Studies
and Communication Studies
. He is currently Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Temple University
, where he founded the first PhD
program in African American Studies
. Asante is widely known for his writings on Afrocentricity, a school of thought that has influenced the fields of sociology
, intercultural communication
, critical theory
, political science
, African history, and social work
. He is the author of more than 66 books and the founding editor of the Journal of Black Studies
.
, the fourth of sixteen children. His father, Arthur Lee Smith, worked in a peanut warehouse and then on the Georgia Southern Railroad
; his mother worked as a domestic.
During the summers Asante would return to Georgia to work in the tobacco and cotton fields in order to earn tuition for school. He was influenced to pursue his education by an aunt, Georgia Smith, who gave him his first book: a collection of short stories by Charles Dickens
.
movement, joining the Fisk University
student march there in Nashville. After graduation, he initially enrolled in Southwestern Christian College
of Terrell, Texas, another historically black institution with Church of Christ roots, where he met a Nigeria
n named Essien Essien, whose character and intelligence inspired Smith to learn more about Africa.
The first member of his family to graduate from college, Smith received his B.A.
from Oklahoma Christian College
(now University) in 1964, going on to earn his M.A.
from Pepperdine University
in 1965 with a thesis on black Church of Christ preacher Marshall Keeble
. Smith earned his Ph.D.
from UCLA
in 1968 in communication studies
. He was appointed a full professor and head of the Department of Communication at the age of 30 at SUNY Buffalo
.
Shortly before assuming his new position in 1976, Asante chose to make a legal name change because he considered "Arthur Lee Smith" a slave name
.
in 1976. His work in intercultural communication
made him a leading trainer of doctoral students in the field. Asante has directed more than one hundred Ph.D. dissertations.
Asante wrote his first study of the black movement, Rhetoric of Black Revolution, in 1969. Subsequently, he wrote Transracial Communication, to explain how race complicates human interaction in American society. Soon Asante changed his focus to African American and African culture in communication with attention to the nature of African American oratorical style.
Asante wrote Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change (1980) to announce a break with the past where African Americans saw themselves on the margins of Europe without a concept of historical centrality. He then wrote on the conflict between white hegemonic culture and the oppressed African culture and on the lack of victorious consciousness among Africans, a theme found in his principal philosophical work, The Afrocentric Idea (1987). Additional works on Afrocentric theory included Kemet, Afrocentricity and Knowledge (1990), and An Afrocentric Manifesto (2007).
The Utne Reader
identified him as one of the 100 leading thinkers in America, writing:
Asante proposed the first doctoral program in African American Studies
to the administration at Temple University
in 1986. This program was approved, and the first class entered the doctorate
in 1988. More than five hundred applicants had sought admission to the graduate program. Temple became known as the leader among the African American Studies departments and held its leadership for ten years before a doctoral program was introduced at the University of Massachusetts
in 1997. Students from the Temple program are found in every continent, many nations, and many direct African American Studies programs at major universities.
, culture
, and history
. Afrocentricity sought to place Africans in the center of their own narratives and to reclaim the teaching of African American
history from the margins of Europe.
Asante’s book The Afrocentric Idea was a more intellectual book about Afrocentricity than the earlier popular book. After the second edition of The Afrocentric Idea was released in 1998, Asante appeared on a number of television programs such as The Today Show
, 60 Minutes
, and the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour to discuss the idea.
According to Asante's Afrocentric Manifesto, an Afrocentric project requires a minimum of five characteristics: (1) an interest in a psychological location, (2) a commitment to finding the African subject place, (3) the defense of African cultural elements, (4) a commitment to lexical refinement, and (5) a commitment to correct the dislocations in the history of Africa (Asante, An Afrocentric Manifesto.
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
, historian, and philosopher. He is a leading figure in the fields of African American studies
African American studies
African American studies is a subset of Black studies or Africana studies. It is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of African Americans...
, African Studies
African studies
African studies is the study of Africa, especially the cultures and societies of Africa .The field includes the study of:Culture of Africa, History of Africa , Anthropology of Africa , Politics of Africa, Economy of Africa African studies is the study of Africa, especially the cultures and...
and Communication Studies
Communication studies
Communication Studies is an academic field that deals with processes of communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols over distances in space and time. Hence, communication studies encompasses a wide range of topics and contexts ranging from face-to-face conversation to speeches to mass...
. He is currently Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
, where he founded the first PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
program in African American Studies
African American studies
African American studies is a subset of Black studies or Africana studies. It is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of African Americans...
. Asante is widely known for his writings on Afrocentricity, a school of thought that has influenced the fields of sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, intercultural communication
Intercultural communication
Intercultural communication is a form of global communication. It is used to describe the wide range of communication problems that naturally appear within an organization made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. Intercultural communication is...
, critical theory
Critical theory
Critical theory is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism...
, political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, African history, and social work
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
. He is the author of more than 66 books and the founding editor of the Journal of Black Studies
Journal of Black Studies
Journal of Black Studies is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the fields of social sciences and ethnic studies concerning African-American culture. The journal's editors-in-chief are Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama...
.
Early life
Asante (born Arthur Lee Smith Jr.) was born in Valdosta, GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, the fourth of sixteen children. His father, Arthur Lee Smith, worked in a peanut warehouse and then on the Georgia Southern Railroad
Georgia Southern Railroad
The Georgia Southern Railroad was formed in 1875 to assume the operations of the bankrupt Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad. The Georgia Southern was in turn absorbed by the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad in 1880....
; his mother worked as a domestic.
During the summers Asante would return to Georgia to work in the tobacco and cotton fields in order to earn tuition for school. He was influenced to pursue his education by an aunt, Georgia Smith, who gave him his first book: a collection of short stories by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
.
Education
As an adolescent, Smith attended Nashville Christian Institute, a Church of Christ-founded boarding school for black students, in Nashville, Tennessee, from which he earned his high school diploma in 1960. While still in his high school years, he became involved with the civil rightsCivil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
movement, joining the Fisk University
Fisk University
Fisk University is an historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...
student march there in Nashville. After graduation, he initially enrolled in Southwestern Christian College
Southwestern Christian College
Southwestern Christian College is a historically black college in Terrell, Texas, 30 miles east of Dallas. SwCC is operated by the Churches of Christ.-Academics:...
of Terrell, Texas, another historically black institution with Church of Christ roots, where he met a Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n named Essien Essien, whose character and intelligence inspired Smith to learn more about Africa.
The first member of his family to graduate from college, Smith received his B.A.
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Oklahoma Christian College
Oklahoma Christian University
Oklahoma Christian University is a private comprehensive coeducational Christian liberal arts university founded in 1950 by members of the churches of Christ. OC is located on a campus in Oklahoma City. Enrollment for the fall 2011 semester numbered 2,194, which included 1,854 undergraduate and...
(now University) in 1964, going on to earn his M.A.
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...
in 1965 with a thesis on black Church of Christ preacher Marshall Keeble
Marshall Keeble
Marshall Keeble was an African-American preacher of the Churches of Christ, whose successful career notably bridged a racial divide in an important American religious movement prior to the American Civil Rights Movement...
. Smith earned his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
in 1968 in communication studies
Communication studies
Communication Studies is an academic field that deals with processes of communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols over distances in space and time. Hence, communication studies encompasses a wide range of topics and contexts ranging from face-to-face conversation to speeches to mass...
. He was appointed a full professor and head of the Department of Communication at the age of 30 at SUNY Buffalo
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, also commonly known as the University at Buffalo or UB, is a public research university and a "University Center" in the State University of New York system. The university was founded by Millard Fillmore in 1846. UB has multiple campuses...
.
Shortly before assuming his new position in 1976, Asante chose to make a legal name change because he considered "Arthur Lee Smith" a slave name
Slave name
A slave name is a name given to a person who is or has been enslaved or a name inherited from enslaved ancestors. Modern use of the term applies mostly to African-Americans and West Indians who are descended from slaves, and are thereby capable of having a "slave name".-Ancient Rome:In Rome, slaves...
.
Career
At SUNY Buffalo, Asante advanced the ideas of international and intercultural communication publishing, with colleagues, the first book in the field, Handbook of Intercultural Communication. Asante was elected president of the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and ResearchSociety for Intercultural Education, Training and Research
The Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research was founded in 1974 as an interdisciplinary network for trainers and researchers in the area of intercultural and cross-cultural communication....
in 1976. His work in intercultural communication
Intercultural communication
Intercultural communication is a form of global communication. It is used to describe the wide range of communication problems that naturally appear within an organization made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. Intercultural communication is...
made him a leading trainer of doctoral students in the field. Asante has directed more than one hundred Ph.D. dissertations.
Asante wrote his first study of the black movement, Rhetoric of Black Revolution, in 1969. Subsequently, he wrote Transracial Communication, to explain how race complicates human interaction in American society. Soon Asante changed his focus to African American and African culture in communication with attention to the nature of African American oratorical style.
Asante wrote Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change (1980) to announce a break with the past where African Americans saw themselves on the margins of Europe without a concept of historical centrality. He then wrote on the conflict between white hegemonic culture and the oppressed African culture and on the lack of victorious consciousness among Africans, a theme found in his principal philosophical work, The Afrocentric Idea (1987). Additional works on Afrocentric theory included Kemet, Afrocentricity and Knowledge (1990), and An Afrocentric Manifesto (2007).
The Utne Reader
Utne Reader
Utne Reader is an American bimonthly magazine. The magazine collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment from generally alternative media sources, including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music and DVDs...
identified him as one of the 100 leading thinkers in America, writing:
“Asante is a genial, determined, and energetic cultural liberationist whose many books, including Afrocentricity and The Afrocentric Idea, articulate a powerful African-oriented pathway of thought, action, and cultural self-confidence for black Americans.”
Asante proposed the first doctoral program in African American Studies
African American studies
African American studies is a subset of Black studies or Africana studies. It is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of African Americans...
to the administration at Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
in 1986. This program was approved, and the first class entered the doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in 1988. More than five hundred applicants had sought admission to the graduate program. Temple became known as the leader among the African American Studies departments and held its leadership for ten years before a doctoral program was introduced at the University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts
This article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...
in 1997. Students from the Temple program are found in every continent, many nations, and many direct African American Studies programs at major universities.
Afrocentricity
Asante published the book Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change in 1980. This book initiated a discourse around the issue of African agency and subject place in historical and cultural phenomena. Asante maintained in the book that Africans had been moved off-center in terms on most questions of identityIdentity (social science)
Identity is a term used to describe a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations . The term is used more specifically in psychology and sociology, and is given a great deal of attention in social psychology...
, culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. Afrocentricity sought to place Africans in the center of their own narratives and to reclaim the teaching of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
history from the margins of Europe.
Asante’s book The Afrocentric Idea was a more intellectual book about Afrocentricity than the earlier popular book. After the second edition of The Afrocentric Idea was released in 1998, Asante appeared on a number of television programs such as The Today Show
The Today Show
Today is an iconic American morning news and talk show airing every morning on NBC. Debuting on January 14, 1952, it was the first of its genre on American television and in the world. The show is also the fourth-longest running American television series...
, 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, and the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour to discuss the idea.
According to Asante's Afrocentric Manifesto, an Afrocentric project requires a minimum of five characteristics: (1) an interest in a psychological location, (2) a commitment to finding the African subject place, (3) the defense of African cultural elements, (4) a commitment to lexical refinement, and (5) a commitment to correct the dislocations in the history of Africa (Asante, An Afrocentric Manifesto.
Selected bibliography
- African American History: A Journey of Liberation (Peoples Publishing Group, 2001, 1995)
- Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change (African American Images/Africa World Press, 2003, 1988)
- An Afrocentric Manifesto: Toward an African Renaissance (Polity Press, 2007) ISBN 978-0745641034
- As I Run Toward Africa: A Memoir (Paradigm Publishers, 2011) ISBN 978-1-61205-098-0
- Cheikh Anta Diop: An Intellectual Portrait (University of Sankore Press, 2007)
- Classical Africa (National Press Books, 1994)
- Contemporary Black Thought: Alternative Analyses in Social and Behavioral Science (Sage, 1980)
- Contemporary Public Communication: Applications (Harper & Row, 1977)
- Culture and Customs of Egypt (Greenwood Press, 2002)
- Egypt vs. Greece and the American Academy (African American Images, 2002)
- Encyclopedia of African Religion (Sage, 2009)
- Encyclopedia of Black Studies (Sage, 2004) ISBN 978-0761927624
- Erasing Racism: The Survival of the American Nation (Prometheus, 2009, 2003)
- Handbook of Black Studies (Sage, 2006) ISBN 978-0761928409
- Handbook of Intercultural Communication (Sage, 1979)
- Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication (Sage, 1989)
- Kemet, Afrocentricity, and Knowledge (Africa World Press, 1990)
- Language, Communication, and Rhetoric in Black America (Harper & Row, 1972)
- Malcolm X as Cultural Hero and Other Afrocentric Essays (Africa World Press, 1993)
- Mass Communication: Principles and Practices (Macmillan, 1979)
- Maulana Karenga: An Intellectual Portrait (Polity Press, 2009)
- 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia (Prometheus, 2002)
- Race, Rhetoric, and Identity: The Architecton of Soul (Humanity Books, 2005)
- Rhetoric of Black Revolution (Allyn & Bacon, 1969)
- Rooming in the Master's House: Power and Privilege in the Rise of Black Conservatism (Paradigm Publishers, 2010)
- Socio-Cultural Conflict between African American and Korean American (University Press of America, 2000)
- Spear Masters: An Introduction to African Religion (University Press of America, 2007) ISBN 978-0761835745
- The African American Atlas: Black History and Culture (Macmillan, 1998)
- The Afrocentric Idea (Temple University Press, 1998, 1987)
- The Book of African Names (Africa World Press, 1991)
- The Egyptian Philosophers: Ancient African Voices from Imhotep to Akhenaten (African American Images, 2000)
- The Global Intercultural Communication Reader (Routledge, 2008)
- The History of Africa: The Quest for Eternal Harmony (Routledge, 2007)
- The Painful Demise of Eurocentrism: An Afrocentric Response to Critics (Africa World Press, 1999) ISBN 978-0865437432
- The Scream of Blood: Desettlerism in Southern Africa (Sungai Books, 1998)
- Thunder and Silence: The Mass Media in Africa (Africa World Press, 1992)
- Transcultural Realities: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Cross-Cultural Relations (Sage, 2001)
- Transracial Communication (Prentice-Hall, 1973) ISBN 978-0139295058
Film list
- Motherland (film)Motherland (film)Motherland is a 2010 independent documentary film directed and written by Owen 'Alik Shahadah. Motherland is the sequel to the multiaward winning film 500 Years Later.- Synopsis:...
(2010) - The Black CandleThe Black CandleThe Black Candle is a 2008 documentary film about Kwanzaa directed by M. K. Asante and narrated by Maya Angelou.-Synopsis:The Black Candle uses Kwanzaa as a vehicle to explore and celebrate the African-American experience....
(2008) - 500 Years Later500 Years Later500 Years Later is the title of an independent documentary film directed by Owen 'Alik Shahadah, written by M. K. Asante, Jr. released in 2005. It won five international film festival awards in the category of Best Documentary...
(2005) - Faces of Evil (2000)