Kuumba Series

Askia M. Toure is one of the pioneers of the Black Arts/Black Aesthetics movement and the Africana Studies movement. Toure', a modern renaissance man, is also a political activist, having served with the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee's Atlanta Project; and is a co-author of SNCC's "Black Power Position Paper" (featured in the New York Times)s, which influenced the movement of the Civil Rights Movement towards the Black Power revolution.

In 1967-68, in both the San Francisco Black community, and at San Francisco State University, Mr. Toure taught African history in the first Africana Studies program located at a majority university. Among his fellow professors were celebrated writers, Amiri Baraka and Sonia Sanchez, guided by the eminent educator, Dr. Nathan Hare, who later became department head, when a department was established. Additionally, as an educational activist, Mr. Toure' was an organizer of the historic Nile Valley Conference (which spearheaded the movement to restore the Nile Valley as the source
of Western Civilization) at Morehouse College in 1984, and was a co-founder of the Atlanta Chapter of the Assoc. for the Study of Classical African Civilizations in 1986.

In the field of literature, Mr. Toure' is a co-founding Architect of the eminent Black Arts Movement which revolutionized African American literature with the creation of an ethnic-based Aesthetic. An internationally published poet, he is featured in a host of anthologies, and is the author of five books, including "From the Pyramids to the Projects," winner of the 1989 American Book Award for Literature. Internationally, his work is published in reviews in France, Italy, India, and in the Peoples Republic of China. In 1996, Askia Toure' was awarded the prestigeous Gwendolyn Brooks Lifetime Achievement award from theGwendolyn Brooks Institute in Chicago. His most recent volume, "Dawnsong!" was awarded the distinguished Stephen Henderson Poetry award from the African-American Literature and Culture Society, an affiliate of the American Literature Assoc. Currently, Mr. Toure' is completing a number of projects linked to his continuing in the above related fields, including an independent film, "Double Dutch: A Gathering of Women," whose director won "Best Director" at the 2003 Roxbury Film Festival (the screenplay was written by Mr. Toure', based upon his earlier play); and, working with Boston composers in creating a Libretto from his
epic poem, "From the Pyramids to the Projects, From the Projects to the Stars." Additionally, Askia Toure' is appearing in a forthcoming BAM documentary.

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