Mwatabu S. Okantah holds the BA 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. He also serves as Director of the DPAS Study Abroad in Ghana Program. He has taught at Union College, The Livingston College of Rutgers University, Cleveland State University and Lakeland Community College.

Okantah is the author of Afreeka Brass (1983), Collage(1984), Legacy: for Martin & Malcolm (1987), Cheikh Anta Diop: Poem for the Living—published as a limited trilingual edition in English, French and Wolof (1997) and Reconnecting Memories: Dreams No Longer Deferred (2004). Work has been anthologized in The Poet’s Bookshelf: Contemporary Poets On Books That Shaped Their Art, Vol. 2 (2007), Gwendolyn Brooks and Working Writers (2007), Beyond the Frontier: African-American Poetry for the 21st Century (2002), Journey to TimBookTu (2001), The Second Set, Vol. 2 (1996) and Soul Looks Back In Wonder (1994). Chatter House Press released his latest book of poetry, Muntu Kuntu Energy: New and Selected Poetry in 2013.