Mwatabu S. Okantah (born August 18, 1952 in Newark, New Jersey, United States) is an American poet, essayist, professor, and vocalist.
He has said of his name change during the 1970s: "I made this decision after having been introduced to Richard Wright's Native Son, and The Autobiography of Malcolm X during the spring of my freshman year at the university.
I changed my name because my study of the African experience in America affected me - quite to my surprise - on a very profound and personal level.”[1] His chosen surname, Okantah, means "breaker of rock" in the Ga language of Ghana.
He is currently a Professor, Poet in Residence, and the Interim Chair of the Department of Pan-African Studies at Kent State University,[2] and also serves as the Director of that university's Ghana Study Abroad Program.
He is the lead vocalist with the Muntu Kuntu Energy Ensemble and has performed frequently with the Cavani String Quartet and with Vince Robinson and the Jazz Poets of Cleveland, Ohio.