Molefi Kete Asante:
Bringing Africology to high schools

In 16 units and 57 chapters, Asante concentrates on what is significant to the African-American, and devotes the book to telling, he said, "the optimistic history of African-Americans based on the authentic voice of African-Americans. It shows an insight that is interior rather than exterior."

His first textbook, Classical Africa, written for ninth-graders, teaches the earliest civilizations were along the Nile in East Africa. "The longest lasting is the Ghana Empire," Asante said. The first book by an African-American to deal with the question of ancient Africa as a classical civilization, Classical Africa is also the first time "classical" and "Africa" have been used together, Asante said. "Civilizations of ancient Africa were the same as the ancient civilizations of Rome, China or India," he said. "The influence of classical African civilizations has been felt in African and North American civilizations as far as medicine, philosophy, geometry, archeology, astronomy and other subjects."

Asante, now a professor of Africology at Temple University, where he was head of African-American studies for 12 years, has written more than 40 books. Currently he is working on a high school textbook on contemporary Africa. "I enjoy writing textbooks because I know that they will have a definite influence on students," he said. "Textbooks are much more practical for bringing about change."

Asante has written more than 28 trade books, mostly on the concept of Africology, the Afrocentric study of African phenomena. "It is the study of African people as being agents and actors in history instead of being on the periphery of history," he said. Some of his trade books: The Afrocentric Idea, African American Culture, Historical and Cultural Atlas of African Americans, and Afrocentricity.

Asante said he has always had a great love for words and knowledge. "My grandfather and father were highly speculative and I am a lot like them," he said. "I've always been inquisitive. I wanted to write and bring about transformation in human lives." And so he has. In 1968, at age of 26, he received his doctoral degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was a full professor by 30. He created the first doctoral program in African-American studies in the world. He has spoken on more than 250 campuses and debated with black and white conservatives on issues such as Afrocentricity, multi-culturalism, ancient Egypt and education. His work on African culture and philosophy has been cited in several journals including the Journal of Black Studies, Newsweek, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the New York Times. He has been a consultant for several school districts for re-writing the curriculum.

He said teaching is the most rewarding profession he can think of: "You see the impact. Teaching is challenging. It keeps you fresh, young, new and dynamic. I most enjoy the intellectual interaction and engagement with my students."

Asante said he enjoys writing both trade and textbooks: "I like the free flow of my intellectual consciousness when writing trade books, but I like the discipline that comes into play when writing textbooks." With textbooks, he said, "you know you're writing for a certain audience and you have to be much more conscious of your audience."

He writes early in the morning and "every time during the day when I get a chance." He does research through the internet and his own personal library. "I see writing as my vocation and avocation. I prefer to be writing."

What's his secret to writing so many books? "I always have five different manuscripts in my computer that I'm working on at the same time," he said. "I review where I am from silent meditation and let the spirit say what I should work on."

Although he has also written more than 200 scholarly articles, he says he doesn't like deadlines and prefers to work at his own pace. He gives this advice for authors: "To be a good writer, you have to be a good reader. Look at how other authors turn a phrase, how they make an argument. It is when one has read deeply and thought deeply that one comes to his or her own projects focused."

— reported by Kim Pawlak, 1998