M.K. Asante, Jr. is an and award-winning author and filmmaker who the Philadelphia Inquirer calls "a rare, remarkable talent that brings to mind the great artists of the Harlem Renaissance."

Asante wrote and produced the internationally-acclaimed film 500 Years Later, winner of Best Documentary at the Pan African Film Festival; Best Documentary at the Bridgetown Film Festival; Best Film at the Black Berlin Film Festival; Best International Documentary at the Harlem International Film Festival; and the Breaking the Chains award from UNESCO.

Praised by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Charles Fuller as "one of the most important writers of his generation," Asante is the author of the award-winning books Like Water Running Off My Back, Beautiful. And Ugly Too and It's Bigger than Hip-Hop.

Asante is a professor in the Department of English and Language Arts at Morgan State University.