The Noble Elder
 Cihongo
Chokwe Peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Profile

Mwatabu S. Okantah holds the BA degree in English and African Studies from Kent State University (1976) and the MA in Creative Writing from the City College of New York (1982).  Currently, he is an Assistant Professor and Poet in Residence in the Department of Pan-African Studies at Kent State University.  A fomer Director of the Center of Pan-African Culture, Mr. Okantah has appeared as performance poet and motivational speaker in various locations throughout the US and West Africa.

As a performer, he has worked in a variety of musical situations, including time as Griot for the Iroko African Drum & Dance Society and in an ongoing collaboration with the Cavani String Quartet  entitled, "Collage: Poetry and Music."  He has been the leader of his own performance group, the Muntu Kuntu Energy Ensemble, since 1989.  Honors include selection to the 5th Edition of Who's Who Among Teachers in America, a 1999 Kent State University Teaching Council Outstanding Teaching Award, inclusion in the International Who's Who in Poetry and selection in Outstanding Writers of the 20th Century by the International Biographical Centre.  In 1994, Okantah served as a "Special Guest" guide for Sankofa Tours in Senegal and Ghana.  In 1988, he was named a Rotary International Group Study Exchange Fellow in Nigeria.  Mr. Okantah has also taught at Union College, The Livingston College of Rutgers University, Cleveland State University and Lakeland Community College.