Mo Yaa akoma Asumang was born in Kassel on June 13 1963 to a German mother and a Ghanaian father. From 1985 to 1990, she studied visual communication at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Kassel, and between 1992 and 1994, she studied classical singing at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. She started working as an announcer, and in 1996, she was discovered as a TV host and actress. From 1997 until 2000, Asumang hosted the popular TV show "Liebe Sünde". In 2004, she founded her company MA Motion Filmproduktion GmbH. As a dubbing actor, Asumang lend her voice to characters from "Emergency Room" and "Star Trek: Voyager". On screen, she guest-starred in the TV shows "Die Straßen von Berlin" and "Am liebsten Marlene", and also appeared in supporting roles in "Paul und Clara - Liebe vergeht nie" (1999, TV), the comedy "Suck My Dick" (2001) and, as the US Secretary of State, in Roman Polanski's "The Ghost Writer" (2010).

In her work as a journalist and filmmaker, Asumang often dealt with topics such as racism and integration. This interest was triggered by lyrics in a song written by Neo-Nazi band "White Aryan Rebels", who sang: "This bullet is for you, Mo Asumang". Shocked by this indirect death threat, Asumang began a filmic exploration of her identity as a German with dark skin color. The result was the documentary "Roots Germania", which received a nomination at the 2008 Grimme Award.

In her follow-up "Road to Rainbow – Willkommen in Südafrika", Asumang investigates how far South Africa's promise of equality fulfilled itself after the end of Apartheid.

Asumang garnered a lot of attention with her next documentary "Die Arier", in which she confronts racists all over the world and questions them about their beliefs. "Die Arier" went on to win awards at the Phoenix Film Festival, the 2014 Filmkunstfest Schwerin and the Film Festival Türkei / Deutschland. It was released theatrically in Germany in late 2014.