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Molefi Asante Jr. ’04, a double major in Africana Studies and English from Philadelphia, Pa., had his collection of about 25 poems, Like Water Running Off My Back, published this month by Africa World Press.
“The poems in Like Water Running Off My Back are driven by a music heard in the deep recesses of our collective African-American memory,” says Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Fuller. “What is remarkable about them is their energy, their focus, their truth – and they emerge from a generation many of us believed had been lost. Bravo! Asante Jr. is a writer to watch.”
“This well conceived, beautifully written book of poetry by Molefi K. Asante, Jr. is incredible,” says Wendy Day of The Rap Coalition. “He molds words like soft clay, illustrating his thoughts and ideas on everything from culture, to hip-hop, to life. This first book is a must-have for any thinking human being…like knowledge running through my brain.”
Readings are scheduled next month in Chester, Pa.; West London, England; and Kingston, Jamaica. Asante has given readings at Temple University, Pearl of Africa, and Club Enterprise in Philadelphia; United African Movement and the Schomburg Institute in Harlem, N.Y.; Kay’s Kafe in the Bronx, N.Y.; and Lafayette.
He will be guest poet at the 14th annual Cheikh Anta Diop Conference Oct. 10-11 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Asante recently received Lafayette’s Jean Corrie Poetry Prize, awarded annually to students who submit the best poetry in a contest conducted by the Academy of American poets.
Competition judge Beth Seetch, lecturer in English and coordinator of the College Writing Program, says Asante’s winning poem “demonstrates an eagerness to play with words and imagery while at the same time taking language seriously. By ‘seriously,’ I mean that this poet’s playfulness leads him to explore the richness of our American language, to find out more about its history and how it works, and then to use that complexity in his poems.”
Asante, who also has been published in the poetry anthology Letters From The Soul, traveled to Aswan, Egypt, to attend the annual ANKH conference in 2000 as a featured poet and speaker.
“Some of the ideas discussed in Africana Studies classes not only inspired me to dig deeper into those issues myself, but also inspired some of my poetry, both published and unpublished,” he says. “In terms of ideas and thoughts, the major helped my poetry.”
Born in Harare, Zimbabwe, but raised in Philadelphia, Asante says he decided to pursue the major “because while growing up and throughout high school, you don’t learn about Africa in-depth, and when you start to find out things on your own, you learn all of these great things, and you want to study it more.”
Asante, who says he wants to make his own contribution to Africa, is concentrating on Egypt within the Africana Studies major.
This spring, he conducted an independent study with Ghana native Kofi Opoku, visiting assistant professor of religion, on the African origins of hip-hop music in America. Asante is working on a book about the relationship between the hip-hop MC and the West African griot.
“Dr. Opoku is probably the smartest person I’ve ever met. All of the professors in Africana Studies are great. They know so much and are willing to talk more about anything at any time. Also, many are from the continent, so they can give a first-hand account,” he says.
Asante will study at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies in the spring. He is leading a trip to Egypt for college students next summer. He has been studying in Egypt for the last six years under the tutelage of Egyptologist and African scholars, learning about ancient Egyptian civilization and deciphering hieroglyphics on tombs. Last year, he was a featured speaker on ancient Egyptian mythology at the tenth annual ANKH conference in Aswan, Egypt.
A graduate of Crefeld School, Asante is a member of Association of Black Collegians and Brothers of Lafayette. He received Most Valuable Player honors on this spring’s intramural recreational league championship five-on-five basketball team. He also has begun work on his first novel.
Molefi Asante ’04, author of Like Water Running Off My Back, a collection of more than 20 poems, conducted an independent study with Kofi Opoku, professor of religious studies, on African origins of hip-hop music in America.