Love TaShia Asanti was born on September 23, 1961 in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up in Los Angeles, she was exposed to the area’s poverty and struggle, but her family had successful careers. Her father was a Christian priest and her mother was a teacher and artist with an interest in the New Thought Movement. Living in a creative and spiritually-minded household stimulated her, and she started writing poetry when she was seven years old. Her aunt was campaign manager for US President Jimmy Carter, which inspired a passion for activism and a dream to one day to be the first black woman president of the United States. 

After majoring in journalism at UCLA, Love then embarked on a lifelong career in activism. Originally focusing on Black liberation, her focus later expanded to championing civil and human rights within the Black, women’s, and LGBTQ+ communities, including those who identified as same-gender loving, bisexual, and transgender. Love also began a prolific career in writing and journalism. She contributed significantly for publications including the Lesbian News magazine (where she was their first African American columnist), as well as editing Gay Black Female Magazine and the Denver Urban Spectrum newspaper, a widely recognized mainstream publication and one of the nation’s top 10 black newspapers. Here, Love utilized her platform to shed light on the experiences of Black individuals within the LGBTQ+ community. To date, she has published seven novels and contributed to over a thousand articles, essays, poems, and short stories. 

Love helped to produce the first-ever At the Beach LA/Los Angeles Black Pride Conference (now L.A. Black Pride). Featuring a lineup of over 40 speakers, the historic conference focused on community building, wellness, media activism, and HIV/AIDS awareness. She also partnered with President Clinton’s race relations initiative to address the profound effects of racism on America’s social and economic landscape. Through these collaborative efforts, Love aimed to foster understanding, unity, and meaningful change within the community. This was further reinforced by her appearance on the reality television show “Mad, Mad House” in 2004, which amplified her message of acceptance, peace, and love to a global audience, inspiring young people worldwide.  In 2011 she returned to UCLA in their Writers Program after being awarded the Seed Scholarship by the International Black Writers and Artists organization. 

Love is a Yoruba/Ifa priestess, a West African spiritual tradition which inspired the founding of her Ile Ori Ogbe Egun temple in Denver, Colorado, and the Institute for Transformative Education & Collective Healing. Her commitment to spiritual leadership and community empowerment has so far led to the initiation of 152 Yoruba priests and the establishment of temples across the United States and abroad.

Her accolades include the Audre Lorde Black Quill Award, the Kathleen Morris Award for Best Contemporary Fiction by a Woman of Color, and the Denver Pan African Film Festival’s Community Activist Award.

Love lives with her wife, Pepper, and partner, Jacquelyn, in Marina Del Rey, California. She continues her multifaceted work, including projects, teaching, healing practices, and stage performances, with a steadfast commitment to social justice and collective healing. Her legacy as an activist, journalist, spiritual leader, and educator continues to inspire generations to come.