Dr. Michael Simanga

He is on the doctoral faculty of the Union Institute and University where he also is director of the specialization  Martin Luther King Jr. Studies. He has taught African American Studies at Morehouse College and Georgia State University. His research interests are 20th-century Black radical movements, Social Justice movements, Human and Civil Rights, and art and culture as expressions of identity, resistance, and transformation. As an artist and cultural worker, he has produced more than 200 artistic projects and is the former Executive Director of the National Black Arts Festival.

His books include No One Can be at Peace without Freedom; Amiri Baraka and the Congress of African People and In the Shadow of the Son. He is also editor or co-editor of 44 on 44: forty-four African American Writers on the Election of Barack Obama; and Brilliant Fire! Amiri Baraka, Poetry, Plays and Politics for the People. Forthcoming books 2019-20 include: 400yrs the story of Black people in poems written from love; David Franklin: Black Power Entrepreneur; We Walk the Way of the New World: Essays on the Life and Work of Haki Madhubuti (Don L. Lee).

Michael Simanga is married to the poet Lita Hooper. They live in Atlanta with their four children and four grandchildren.