A Flying Spirit
Nwantantay 
Bwa Peoples of Ivory Coast


Comments about the MKE Poet

"A wonderful poet."

--Ruby Dee, Actress & Author

"I am glad to see ... that some of the old spirit of our people ... is still alive in (his) poetry."

--Gwendolyn Brooks, Poet

"Deeply rooted in the tradition of African American artistic expression, these lyrical poems [Reconnecting Memories] are provocative and revelatory.  They remind us that black poetry is not only a legitimate literary genre but that it is life as we have experienced it for generations and the challenges we still face.  Okantah leads us to the rediscovery in ourselves of a history we have always known."

--Naomi Long Madgett, Poet Laureate, City of Detroit

"The poems in Reconnecting Memories are taken from our ancestral tree.  Okantah explores what it means to be a black poet during hard times.  The brother writes like the elder he is.  There is wisdom in his words and a love for Africa in his heart.  These poems cry like the birds we once heard in Eric Dolphy's horn.  They are black and true."

--E. Ethelbert Miller, Poet & Editor, Beyond the Frontier: African American Poetry for the 21st Century

"Reconnecting Memories is a stirring collection of poems that highlight the communal links among people of the African Diaspora and addresses the pains and troubles of today's society.  Okantah's strong and poignant words will reverberate inside your head as he reminds us of our sorrowful past and of the ordeals of the present.  In the section, 'Poet's Lament,' his words have an urgency that exhorts society about its racism, injustices and contemporary issues.  When he speaks of love in the section, 'Black Love,' his poems are touching and bittersweet.  It is in the section, 'New Afreeka,' where he reconnects us to our roots and shows that the past holds promise for the future.  This collection of poetry is a must-have for those who appreciate well-crafted words that will reach deep into your heart, mind and soul."

--Memphis Vaughan, Jr., Editor, Journey to TimBookTu: An African American Poetic Odyssey & TimBookTu.com

"Readers of African-American literature will love Cheikh Anta Diop: Poem for the Living.  It is the first major epic poem based on the African-American experience.  Author and celebrated poet Mwatabu S. Okantah was largely inspired by the legacy of Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, distinguished Senegalese Historian, Writer, Physicist, Educator and Egyptologist who revolutionized African Studies with his monumental work, The African Origins of Civilization: Myth or Reality.  Okantah's epic explores ... history, art, spirituality and identity through one poet's journey to the American South and West Africa."

--James G. Spady, Philadelphia New Observer

"Though time will ultimately judge the standing of Cheikh Anta Diop: Poem for the Living, there can be little question that Mwatabu Okantah has created a work which exhibits the mastery of form and poetic technique seen in other great epic poems....the epic form usually incorporates a 'hero' or figure embodying national or cultural importance....Epic poems also often focus their hero's struggle on something or someone that symbolizes extraordinary value to a particular culture or people....Diop's search for identity, performed through a scholarly quest, precedes the poet's own quest for identity.  The poem is a creative expression and honoring of Diop's life and quest.  Thus, in Okantah's return to homeland and his rediscovery of an African Self, it is only logical that [he] recognize Cheikh Anta Diop as the appropriate hero outside of this poem dedicated to a journey of discovery.  Diop more than any other modern scholar emerges as an intellectual warrior in and of history.  A man who places before the African diaspora the food of knowledge needed to restore the vitality of the African Self."

--Leandre Jackson, Critic, "Inside An Epic: S=MC, Forces Beyond the Material"

"I have had the unbelievably good fortune to know and work with Mwatabu Okantah for over fifteen years.  He is an extraordinary poet and teacher.  I consider him a musical soul mate, and I have the greatest admiration for him as an artist and communicator.  He is a treasure."

--Merry Peckham, Cellist, Cavani String Quartet

"At the performance, a rapt crowd watched as the MKE Ensemble rocked and grooved through the gamut of black American music, from blues beats to ballads. 'Music is the healing of the nation,' sang Okantah during a funky salsa....During the performance ... Okantah's words rang truer and truer as he progressed through the music: 'This ain't hip-hop, but it's hip.'"

--Jaffer Batica, The Antioch Record

"Thank you for coming and bringing your spirit and the essence of joy
and love with you.  You were well received and left a very good impression....Your positive and creative energy helped me to make this a better place for those of us who are called to be the sustainers in places such as this."

--Sylvia Asante, Associate Dean
   Office of Intercultural Advancement
Gettysburg College

"Thanks for your message; your visit really brightened things up for me; I had a blast playing with you!  Many students in my class also mentioned the impact of your visit."

--Paul Austerlitz, Assistant Professor
Sunderman Conservatory of Music/Africana Studies
Gettysburg College