“(CNN) — As a disruptive teenager, M.K. Asante was expelled from school on more than one occasion.
Yet today, as an award-winning writer, filmmaker and professor, he’s welcomed back in classrooms around the world.
A master storyteller, Zimbabwe-born Asante is a major creative force. He’s written a number of books, as well as three movies, including 2008’s “The Black Candle,” which was narrated by American poet Maya Angelou.
Only 29 years old, Asante has also embarked on a mission to make art more accessible to younger generations.
As a tenured professor of creative writing and film at Morgan State University in Baltimore, he leads classrooms of students, many of whom are close to him in age, using language they can understand.
“When I come into school, I keep it real with my students,” Asante says. “I use examples that they understand, we talk about things that are relevant in contemporary society,” he adds. . .”
