Langston Jamaal Hawkins was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland.  He graduated from Chapel Hill High School and received a BA in Communication from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  He is the great-grandson of Hannah and Ruth of the Hannah Ruth Foundation.  He is currently employed as a Production Assistant for Encore Productions and enjoys photography, creating videos (Created Memories), and is the Strayhorn historian.  Langston is a member of Phi Beta Sigma.