Curtis King (director)

Curtis King (born 1951) is the founder and President of The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL), an arts organization founded in Dallas, Texas in 1977. In addition to serving as chief executive of the organization, King has written and directed numerous live productions for audiences in Dallas and throughout the United States, including "I Remember..." the 1993 Kennedy Center gala celebration commemorating the 30th anniversary of the March on Washington. King is responsible for writing, directing, and producing many of TBAAL's most well known series including Symphony with the Divas, The Christmas/Kwanza Celebration, The Juneteenth Jam, and the Emmy award winning Black Music and the Civil Rights Movement Concert. King received the Larry Leon Hamlin Producer's Award from the National Black Theatre Festival in 2001. In 2017, King founded the Riverfront Jazz Festival in Dallas, and serves as the producer of this annual event.

Early Life and Education
King was born on December 20, 1951, in Coldwater, Mississippi. He graduated from Tate County High School (a segregated high school) in 1969, and went on to attend Jackson State University where he was mentored by poet and writer Margaret Walker. King earned his master's degree in theater from Texas Christian University in 1974, and worked for the Mayor's Council on Youth Opportunity in Fort Worth and the Sojourner Truth Theater Company prior to founding TBAAL.