User:Akilihight

Akili Damone Hight (born June 13, 1971) is an American poet, screenwriter, novelist and information technologist.

The only child of Theresa and Benjamin Hight; Akili was born in Los Angeles, California during the height of the black power movement. He was given his name (which means "intelligent" in Swahili) by his father's brother, Babatu Hight (previously Edward Hight). Theresa knew that she wanted her son to have a unique name that carried significance, but shortly after his birth still had not made a decision (these were the days before ultrasound, and she had no idea if he would be a boy or girl). When Babatu came to visit her, she asked him for suggestions. The first name that rolled off his tongue was "Akili", and Theresa stopped him right there. She instantly knew that this was the name for her son.

From day one, Theresa was determined that her son would be different. He would not fall into the socio-economic trap that many of the men in her family. Instead of going to prison, he would become the first person in his family to graduate from a university. In pursuit of this goal, she invested all of her time and energy into fulfilling his namesake.

Early Years

Benjamin Hight served as a technical seargent in the U.S. Air Force. In 1972, he was stationed to Clark Airforce base in the Philipines. Akili and Theresa joined him shortly.

For the next two years, Akili would call the Philippines his home.