Louis Alemayehu is a writer, educator, administrator, poet, father, grandfather, great grandfather, performer, and activist of African and Native American heritage. He emerged as a poet during the Black Arts Movement in the early 1970s with mentoring from poet & essayist Haki Mahdubuti and his spiritual mother, the Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer winning poet, Gwendolyn Brooks. He is a cofounder of the Minneapolis-based Native Arts Circle and also of the award-winning poetry/jazz ensemble Ancestor Energy, which connects music with spoken word for healing. His honors include Intermedia Arts’ Diverse Visions Award, the Minnesota Spoken Word Association’s Urban Griot award., and a Leadership in Neighborhoods award from Saint Paul Companies. He was recognized by the Headwaters Foundation for life-long commitment to social justice and the Process Work Institute of  Portland Oregon & Zurich Switzerland recognized him as its first World Work Elder.