The Heart Behind the Work
Meet Dr. Asantewa Sunni-Ali
Dr. Asantewa Sunni-Ali is a scholar, educator, performing artist, playwright, director, and producer whose work explores the intersections of Black history, childhood, performance, agency, and liberation.
She is an Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Kent State University, where she teaches courses examining Black history, art, culture, and representation. Her academic training includes an AAS in Theatre Management, a BA in Africana Studies, an MA in African American Studies, and a PhD in Theatre for Youth.
In 2016, she founded Seedz of Revolution as a research-based multimedia platform exploring how people of African descent experience, perform, and create liberation within their communities. What began as a creative extension of her scholarship has since evolved into a nonprofit organization encompassing research, storytelling, education, and cultural engagement.
As founder, she guides Seedz's creative and intellectual direction, drawing on her experience in research, production, performance, and community collaboration.
From the (Research) Field to the People
My research explores the intersections of Black childhood, performance, agency, and liberation. Grounded in qualitative, decolonizing, Indigenous, and culturally rooted approaches, my scholarship seeks to produce knowledge that is meaningful and accountable to the communities whose experiences inform it.
Influenced by Linda Tuhiwai Smith's work on decolonizing methodologies, I approach research as a relationship carrying responsibilities beyond the collection and interpretation of information.
My scholarship moves across academic publications, documentary film, podcast production, photography, interactive workshops, theatre, and performance. These forms allow research to reach different audiences while creating opportunities for dialogue, reflection, and community engagement.
Art as Witness, Art as Map
Raised by activist-musician parents, I grew up surrounded by art that stirred the soul and sparked transformation. From my first experience attending a Broadway play exploring race and class, I felt called not only to witness powerful stories but to create stories of my own.
My creative practice spans theatre, documentary film, and performance, drawing from lived experience, a commitment to justice, and a belief in art's capacity to foster human connection. I approach storytelling as a means of engaging collective memory, examining the present, and imagining possibilities beyond it.
Whether devising theatre or producing film, I value both the creative process and the finished work as opportunities for dialogue and reflection. My projects explore the relationships between artists, participants, and audiences while examining the ideas and conditions that shape our lives.
As a playwright, director, filmmaker, and performer, I work across traditional and experimental forms to engage marginalized perspectives, encourage cross-cultural exchange, and invite audiences into deeper reflection.
Pedagogy in Practice
For nearly two decades, I have taught and mentored students from early childhood through graduate education. My teaching experience spans Africana Studies, theatre, film, performance, and communications, as well as youth arts programming, school productions, and community-based educational initiatives.
My approach to education centers critical inquiry, cultural relevance, and the relationship between knowledge and lived experience. Rather than positioning the educator as the sole source of knowledge, I view teaching as a collaborative process through which students investigate ideas, examine their assumptions, and develop their own understanding.
I create learning environments that are responsive, participatory, and grounded in cultural affirmation. Through discussion, creative exploration, and reflective practice, students develop tools to interpret the world and consider their capacity to shape it.
For me, education is not simply the transmission of information. It is an ongoing process of inquiry, exchange, and transformation.