About Us

Principal Advisor

DR. JOHN HENRIK CLARKE

Dr. John Henrik Clarke • our beloved Principal Advisor – transitioned to the ancestors on July 16, 1998. A professor in the Department of Black and Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York City, he retired from Hunter in 1984, after 20 years of service, but continued to teach as an adjunct professor until 1987.
Born on January 1, 1915, in Union Springs, Alabama, Dr. Clarke, who never received a college degree, became the
founding president of the African Heritage Studies Association, an organization of world renowned scholars whose aim is to rescue and reconstruct the documentation of African history and culture. For over a half a century, Dr. Clarke dedicated himself to the interpretation and academic preservation of the historical and cultural legacy of African people.

A prolific writer, he was the author and editor of more than 20 books and wrote over 50 articles. Even though he had been legally blind since the mid-80’s, Dr. Clarke wrote and read daily with the aid of a computerized reading machine which was purchased by a number of friends, colleagues and former students. After acquiring the reading machine in 1990, Dr. Clarke completed seven books. His more recent publications were New Dimensions of African History, African People in World History, and Malcolm X: The Man & His Times. His most ambitious work was Africa at the Crossroads: Notes for an African World Revolution, a collection of political essays and commentary.
Dr. Clarke described himself “first and foremost” as a Nationalist and a Pan-Africanist. In the final words which he wrote before transitioning to the ancestors, Dr. Clarke declared:“my feet have felt the sands of many nations, I have drunk the water of many springs. I am old, older than the pyramids, I am older than the race that oppresses me. I will live on … I will out-live oppression. I will out-live oppressors.” “DETERMINATION”

Senior Advisor to ADACI Senegal

BOUBACAR JOSEPH NDIAYE

Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye • Senior Advisor to ADACI Senegal – was the Chief Curator of the House of Slaves (Maison des Esclaves) and its Door of No Return on Goree Island, Senegal. The House of Slaves is a museum and memorial dedicated to the memorialization of the final exit point of many enslaved Afri-cans from the Continent during the Atlantic Slave Trade. Largely through the work of Ndiaye, the House of Slaves was reconstructed and opened as a museum in 1962 where he was appointed curator. The Maison des Esclaves is a central part of the Goree Island UNESCO World Heritage site, named in 1978, and a major attraction for tourist, especially those descended from enslaved Africans – in particular, African Americans – who have made the Museum a focal point of pilgrimages seeking to reconnect with their African heritage. Ndiaye was born October 15, 1922 in Rufisque, Senegal into a family of Gorean origin, and completed his primary education on Goree. He continued his education at the Professional School Pinet-Laprade Dakar, and later worked as a composer-typographer until he was conscripted into the French Army in 1943, where he participated in the liberation of France with the French First Army and was awarded the Distinguished War Cross, Officer of the National Order of the Lion, and Knight of the National Order of Merit of Senegal for a distinguished military career. Mr. Ndiaye, who transitioned to the Ancestors in 2009, remains one of the most renowned Senegalese figures in the world due to his impassioned advocacy of the historical significance of Goree Island and its impact on the commodification of captured African people.

Cultural Advisor

HAILE GERIMA

Haile Gerima • Cultural Advisor – is an independent filmmaker and professor of film at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Born and raised in Ethiopia, Gerima emigrated to the United States in 1967. Following in the footsteps of his father, a dramatist and playwright.

Gerima studied acting in Chicago before entering the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Televi0sion, where his exposure to Latin American films inspired him to mine his own cultural legacy. After completing his thesis film, Bush Mama (1975), Gerima received international acclaim with Harvest: 3000 Years (1976), an Ethiopian drama that won the Grand Prize at the Locarno film festival. After the award-winning Ashes & Embers (1982) and the documentaries Wilmington 10—U.S.A 10,000 (1978) and After Winter: Sterling Brown (1985), Gerima filmed his epic, Sankofa (1993). This formally ambitious tale of a plantation slave revolt was ignored by U.S. distributors, but Gerima tapped into African American communities, and booked sold-out screenings in independent theaters around the country. In 1996, Gerima founded the Sankofa Video and Bookstore in Washington, DC., a cultural and intellectual space that offers opportunities for self-expression, interaction, discussion and analysis through comm- unity events such asfilm screenings, book signings, scho-lar forums and artist showcases. Gerima continues to distribute and promote his own films, including his most recent festival success, Teza (2008), which won the Jury and Best Screenplay awards at the Venice Film Festival. He also lectures and conducts workshops in alternative screenwriting and directing both within the U.S. and internationally.

Co-Founder and Director of International Affairs

EURICA HUGGINS AXUM

Ms. Eurica Huggins Axum– ADACI Co-Founder and Director of International Affairs.  Ms. Huggins Axum is an international exchange and policy facilitator expert and with over 25 years of experience in building global communication platforms for government and commercial clients worldwide. She is currently the Director of the Donald M. Payne International Development Fellowship Program at Howard University- a program sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development.  She has also directed U.S. Department of State professional exchange programs for the Institute of International Education (IIE) for more than 20 years and has served in multiple positions that included Assistant Director for Programming for the U.S. Department of State, International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and Unit Director for the Professional and Global Exchanges.  She also designed and administered short-term IVLP professional exchange programs for hundreds of up-and-coming leaders from around the world on a variety of themes. Ms. Huggins Axum has led the development of several U.S. Department of State and White House special initiatives for Africa and other world regions.  At Partners for International Education and Training, she developed U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) short-term professional training programs for participants from Africa.  Due to her expertise, she has served on the boards of the National Council of International Visitors (now Global Ties U.S.) and the Center for Black Culture and International Understanding, U.S Board. As a cultural leader, her significant community activities include serving as Co-Founder for the African Diaspora Ancestral Commemoration Institute (ADACI), and Public Relations Officer for KanKouran West African Dance Company.   She is also a docent at the Smithsonian Museum of African Art.  Ms. Huggins Axum has been invited by foreign governments and the private sector to participate in several international educational and cultural exchange programs that included a Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs project on Zumbi and the Afro-Brazilian culture, and the Presidential Delegation for the FESMAN World Festival of Black Arts and Culture in Senegal.  She has also given presentations on diverse topics related to Africa and the African diaspora, women’s empowerment, as well as diversity and social justice issues, at numerous programs in the U.S and internationally including Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal. She has a Master’s Degree in International Management from the University of Maryland University College and a Bachelor’s degree in International Marketing from the City University of New York. Ms. Huggins Axum is the recipient of several community service awards including the National Award for Excellence in Programming from the National Council for International Visitors, and in 2019, she received the Distinguished 400 Award from the 400 Years of African American History Congressional Commission.

Co-Founder and Director of Legal Affairs

PAULA WRIGHT COLEMAN

Paula Wright Coleman • Co-Founder and Director of Legal Affairs – A proud Mother and Grandmother, Ms. Coleman grew up in Atlanta, GA and is a founding member of ADACI; undergraduate degree from Howard University and law degree from the University of Pittsburgh; retired federal government attorney; former company member with African Heritage Dancers & Drummers, and KanKouran West African Dance Company; docent at the Smithsonian Museum of African Art; coordinator of the children’s reading program at Sankofa Video and Books; member of the UNIA-ACL and managing editor for Garvey’s Voice – the official magazine of the Government of the UNIA-ACL. She has traveled to West Africa, Kemet, Brazil, Cuba, Caribbean, American Samoa.

Co-Founder, Emeritus

MWANGAZA MICHAEL-BANDELE, PH.D

Mwangaza Michael-Bandele, Ph.D • Co-Founder and Founding Member Emeritus –Earned her BA in African American Studies and Secondary Education and the MA in African History from Howard University. Ms. Michael-Bandele has developed courses in African Studies for public and private school systems and published several works on the impact of culture on academic achievement. She was an Associate Director at the American

for Teacher Education, and was involved with a national research project concerned with the development of culturally responsive teacher education curricula materials and has produced video learning materials and teleconferences on the impact of culture on teaching and learning. She is a founding member of KanKouran West African Dance Company. A mother of two, and a grandMother, Ms. Michael-Bandele has traveled to Ghana on sveral occasions, as well as Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Kenya, and conducted field work in Zimbabwe. Recently, she completed a Doctor of Philosophy in African Diaspora History at Morgan State Univer-sity.Black Culture and International Understanding.

Director of Marketing

(AZA ZHENGA) DONNA MARIA SMITH

(Aza Zhenga) Donna Maria Smith • Director of Marketing and Web Content Manager – is a native of the South Carolina Lowcountry; a descendent of traditional Sweet Grass Basket Makers; an accomplished poet who weaves words the way her grandparents weaved their famous baskets; a graduate of Clemson University’s College of Engineering and Science; a project manager with the USHUD; author of ‘Self Acceptance – Poems by donnamariasmith featuring ‘He Go Trippin’; recipient of the prestigious 2009 ACHIEVERS Award, presented by Africa’s International Media Summit; and has studied in various cities in Egypt, toured the northern countryside of Ethiopia, and visited Caribbean countries. She is the proud mother of Amari.

Director of Membership

BINTI RENAA M. SOL

Binti Renaa M. Sol • Director of Membership, and Associate for Events Design– Binti Renaa M. Sol ,is ADACIs Associate for Events Design. Is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylania and retired from the hospitality industry in Washington, DC. Ms. Sol is a talented tailor and designer of fashions, textiles and interior designs. A skilled barber and natural hair braider. She has served customers and artists from Philly, NYC, the Washington, DC metro areas and the West coast. Including tailoring dance costumes for premier African dance companies of Washington, DC. ie. The African Heritage Dancers and Drummers and the Kankouran West African Dance Company’s Children’s Company. The African design aesthetic has been the impetus for her designs and continues to be the driving force For her creations. And she is dedicated to the perpetuity of African culture’s, designs ,textiles, music, arts, dance And more. She has traveled throughout the Caribbean in Trinidad, Jamaica, The Bahamas, The Virgin Islands Mexico and Aruba

Director of Domestic and International Programs

IYA MOTILEWA OSUNNIYI (TENDAI PAULA JOHNSON)

Iya Motilewa Osunniyi (Tendai Paula Johnson) • Director of Domestic and International Programs – Tendai (Paula) Johnson is currently serving as Senior Program Associate/Consultant with ASSOCIATES FOR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INC., Red Oak, Georgia, an educational management and consulting firm, providing formative and summative evaluations of federal grants and providing management and support training.

Her former HBCU experiences include Special Assistant to the President for Grants Management and Support at Shaw University, Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Research, Testing and Title III programs at Fayetteville State University, Special Assistant to the Chancellor with responsibilities for institutional effectiveness and assessment, Director of Institutional Research at Coppin State University and adjunct professor in the department of history at Morgan State University.

Other professional experiences include work in both public and private sectors. For numerous years Ms. Johnson worked as a corporate middle-level manager where she provided services to both vocational education and K-16 academic institutions. She has an extensive grant writing and management background that includes both national and international responsibilities and experiences. She is the former chair of the International Advisory Committee at Fayetteville State University.

A former graduate student (ABD) from the Morgan State University Department of History, Ms. Johnson’s concentration and area of interest is African and African Diaspora Studies. A graduate of Southern Illinois University and the University of Minnesota respectively, her MA in The History of African People prepared her for the rigors of the various professional positions she has held.

Her extensive international travel has provided her with rich and rewarding experiences to live, study and work in other cultures. Ms. Johnson is a critical thinker and motivated manager dedicated to the success and growth of historically Black colleges and universities. An initiated Priest of Osun, her education background in African and African Diaspora Studies coupled with extensive international travel have supported her commitment to the uplift of African people world -wide. Mother and grandmother are her greatest challenge and reward.

Director of Aesthetics and Creative Services

DIETRA MONTAGUE

Dietra Montague • Director of Aesthetics and Creative Services – An independent artist who has lived and studied the arts and crafts of North and West Africa, Central and South America, Mexico and Europe. Her passion was ignited as she began traveling in her late teens, first to Mexico where she visited all the finest arts and crafts centers, and then to Morocco where she lived and worked for two and one-half years, studying a wide diversity of subjects from gem identification to jewelry construction and weaving. Later in her travels, she studied bead technique, jewelry designing, basket weaving and textiles, and also traveled to Egypt, where she spent three months studying the music, art, dance, language, and customs of that country.

Ms. Montague’s altars have been installed in exhibits at the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis, Maryland, and at the Smithsonian Museums of African Art and American History and the Smithsonian’s Center for African-American Studies. She is also a recipient of a number of individual fellowship awards from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She is the Mother of a son, Aton, and grandmother of two.

Director of Operations

GLO IVOIRE

Glo Ivoire • Director of Operations – A native of Pittsburgh, PA, she earned her undergraduate degree from Northeastern University in Civil Engineering and Criminal Justice, and received an M.A. in African and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Colorado, as well as an M.A. in International Economics from George Washington University, where she has completed her work towards a doctorate. A participant in Crossroads Africa, she has lived and worked in Ghana, and has traveled extensively throughout West and Southern Africa to such countries as Senegal, the Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Malawi, and Mozambique. She is a consultant on international issues, political campaigns, and event planning and special events. She presently consults with Julianne Malveaux’s organization, Last Word Productions, and is pursuing an MBA in International Finance at Michigan State University in Flint, MI.

Director of Public Relations

KARLA M. WYNN DIOUF

Karla M Wynn (Diouf), Director, Public Relations, is a writer, editor, workshop facilitator, and adult educator with extensive proficiency as a career and workforce development professional with six industry-designated certifications.  She worked in urban and suburban settings providing career services to a variety of job seekers with diverse backgrounds including: urban youth, emerging and mid-level professionals, members of the immigrant community, retirees seeking encore careers, people with disabilities, military veterans, and justice-involved individuals returning to the labor force.  An occasional performing artist in African Dance and Drum, as well as, Choral Music with the Metropolitan Bahá’í Washington Chorale, she is also a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, who shared her professional expertise with youth and young adults in Namibia, Africa which included helping them implement a UNICEF-sponsored Health Project “My Future is My Choice: A Youth Health Development Programme” and design small business enterprise plans. She traveled to Hawaii, Sénégal, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, the Bahamas, and Israel. The native New Yorker received a Masters’ Degree in Spiritual and Pastoral Care from Loyola University, Maryland; graduated with a Political Science Degree, from Hampton University; and is member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Ms. Wynn, is married to Cheikhou S. Diouf, is involved with several small businesses, and holds full-time staff and adjunct faculty positions at two Maryland Community Colleges.

MARGARET DAVIS

Margaret Davis • Chief Financial Officer – native Washingtonian, undergraduate and graduate from Howard University in Nutrition Education and pursed business and accounting studies at the University of the District ofColumbia. Retired from the Rehabilitation Services Administration/Randolph-Sheppard Vending Facility Program training Business Education to legally blind participants – presently an accountant for Adams Morgan Animal Hospital.

Membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Sigma Xi and Beta Kappa Chi (national scientific honor societies). Former company and board member of KanKouran West African Dance Company. Docent at the Smithsonian Museum of African Art and a retired artist.

Youth Advisor

Jameelah Morris

Jameelah Morris • Youth Advisor – graduated from Tufts University in 2013 with a B.A. in International Relations and Spanish, where she was Co-President of the Pan-African Alliance and helped to lead the implementation of the Africana Studies program at Tufts. A native Washingtonian, she grew up in KanKouran West African Dance Company and ADACI, both inspirations behind her continued international and community work.

Jameelah currently works at Root Cause, managing the City Strategy component for the company’s work with the Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA), an organization focused on building and sustaining local BMA fields in cities across the U.S to improve the life outcomes of Black men and boys. In her role, she was a co-author of the 2015 report, The Promise of Place: Cities Advancing Black Male Achievement, which scores 50 cities according to their visible level of engagement and committed action on behalf of Black men and boys. Additionally, she organizes city convenings, disseminates assessments and other capacity building supports for leaders and organizations in CBMA’s member network. Ms. Morris also leads the Social Innovation Accelerator’s operations and program implementation, cultivating external relationships and col- laborating with funders and leading stakeholders in the Black Male Achievement field. Prior to working at Root Cause, Jameelah sustained a long-term career with the international nonprofit organization Amigos de Las Américas (AMIGOS), leading and supporting projects in Honduras and Nicaragua. She is currently the Co-President of the Boston Chapter of AMIGOS.

Psycho-Spiritual Advisor

KEVIN WASHINGTON (MWATA KAIRI), PH.D

Kevin Washington (Mwata Kairi), Ph.D • Psycho-Spiritual Advisor – Father Kevin Washington, a priest in the African-American Catholic Congregation’s Imani Temple National Cathedral, is a licensed psychologist as well as an academician, an ordained minister, a dynamic speaker, author, life/relationship coach and percussionist who has served as a behavioral consultant for Essence Magazine Entertainment Television (BET) News, and many other national and international international organizations. His life is devoted to assisting people to step into their divine right to be and to become more powerful. Not only does he work in healing the psycho-spiritual wounds that are present within Black male-female relationships, he continues to develop healing paradigms for Afrikan Spiritual illumination beyond Persistent Enslavement Systemic Trauma (PEST). His method involves elevating spirit through providing transformational experiences found in spiritual alignment rituals/ activities in therapy, workshops, retreats and lectures. He also researches and writes about PEST, Cultural Trauma and the healing components of Ubuntu Psychology.

Currently a Professor in the Department of Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies at Howard University in Washington, DC, Dr. Washington received a bache- lor’s degree in Psychology from Grambling State University and a master’s degree in Educational Psychology as well as a doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from Texas A & M University. He has served as Clinical Coordinator, and Consulting Psychologist for several mental health agencies and a foster care agency such as the Center for Life Enrichment and Helping Children Grow, Inc.

Additionally, he has taught at several universities and colleges including Grambling State University, Morgan State University, University of the District of Columbia, University of Nebraska, Trinity College, San Francisco State University and Rollins College. Currently, he is a Psychology Professor at Valencia College and a practicing psychologist for The Center for Optimal Life, his mental health practice, in Florida.

As a Fulbright-Hays scholar Dr. Washington researched the impact of socializing institutions on the healing or restructuring of post-apartheid South Afrika. Additionally, he researched traditional healing systems in South Afrika and Ghana, West Afrika. This work has been expanded to include research in Barbados and other Caribbean Islands. He is developing therapy (healing) paradigms for working with ethnically and culturally diverse populations with an emphasis on Afrikan American families, relationships, and men. The major thrust of the paradigms is to ensure that methods of healing are consistent with the essence and desires of diverse populations. His Afrikan-Centered therapeutic model has been implemented in the Prosocial Family Therapy Project that provided in-home family therapy in Washington, DC. He has published a book entitled The Resurrection of Black: Empowering Black Relationships to Succeed, and is set to release Get Up, Stand Up: A Message for Elevating the Warrior Spirit in Black Males and To Heal a People: Illuminating the Divine Afrikan Spirit in the near future.

Senior Advisor

MAUREEN O. VANTERPOOL, PH.D

Maureen O. Vanterpool, Ph.D • Senior Advisor – has an enduring personal interest in the stories of freedom seekers and those who helped them, as well as the places where they found refuge a-long the Underground Railroad (UGRR). She has visited numerous sites in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York and she hopes to visit sites in other states. She is a friend of the Little Beaver Historical Society, which operates the Greersburg Academy Museum in Darlington, PA, a site reportedly associated with the UGRR.

Several structures in that community are identified as UGRR stations. She is working toward helping the Society to join the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program. Dr. Vanterpool has dedicated her professional life to educating others. She retired from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA, where she served as a Professor of Organizational Leadership. In that role, she contributed to development of over 1,000 leaders across the Pittsburgh region. Currently, she is a Leadership Development Consultant who works with leaders of nonprofit organizations. She is a native of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands who grew up in Brooklyn, New York. She earned a B.A. in Philosophy at Howard University and later she returned to St. Thomas. There, she served as a teacher and as a school administrator, while pursuing an M.A. in Education at the University of the Virgin Islands. Subsequently, she earned a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership at The Ohio State University. She plans to expand her professional pursuits to include educational projects that draw lessons in leadership for the present and the future, from the rich history of the UGRR.

Historical and Memorial Advisor

C.R. GIBBS

C.R. Gibbs • Historical and Memorial Advisor – is the author/co-author of six books and a frequent national and international lecturer on an array of historical topics. He has appeared several times on the History Channel, French and Belgian television, and he wrote, researched, and a 13-part companion series to the acclaimed PBS series, “The Civil War” for WHUT-TV, the Howard University television station.The Smithsonian Institution’s Anacostia Museum features Mr. Gibbs among its scholars at the museum’s Online Academy website. He is also a D.C. Humanities Council scholar. In 1989, he founded the African History & Culture Lecture Series whose scholars continue to provide free presentations at libraries, churches, and other locations in the Washington-Baltimore area.

In 1997, he led 26 people across the African continent. He won the 2008 Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation in Public Education, given annually by the Mayor of the District of Columbia. In 2009, the Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Braintrust honored Mr. Gibbs for his more than three decades of articles, exhibits, and presentations on the military heritage of African and African Americans. In 2011, he provided historical commentary for WUSA-TV, Channel 9’s coverage of the dedication of the King Memorial. In February 2013, he also appeared in the PBS documentary, “Meet Me At Equality” on the 1963 March on Washington. That same year, Mr. Gibbs also spoke at the annual observance of International Emancipation Day in Toronto, Canada. In 2014, Mr. Gibbs was a featured speaker at the National Civil War Project, a joint event sponsored by Arena Stage & George Washington University. Also last year, Mr. Gibbs was chosen one the 50 most influential people in the city by the Washington Informer newspaper.

Cultural Advisor

HAILE GERIMA

Haile Gerima • Cultural Advisor – is an independent filmmaker and professor of film at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Born and raised in Ethiopia, Gerima emigrated to the United States in 1967. Following in the footsteps of his father, a dramatist and playwright.

Gerima studied acting in Chicago before entering the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Televi0sion, where his exposure to Latin American films inspired him to mine his own cultural legacy. After completing his thesis film, Bush Mama (1975), Gerima received international acclaim with Harvest: 3000 Years (1976), an Ethiopian drama that won the Grand Prize at the Locarno film festival. After the award-winning Ashes & Embers (1982) and the documentaries Wilmington 10—U.S.A 10,000 (1978) and After Winter: Sterling Brown (1985), Gerima filmed his epic, Sankofa (1993). This formally ambitious tale of a plantation slave revolt was ignored by U.S. distributors, but Gerima tapped into African American communities, and booked sold-out screenings in independent theaters around the country. In 1996, Gerima founded the Sankofa Video and Bookstore in Washington, DC., a cultural and intellectual space that offers opportunities for self-expression, interaction, discussion and analysis through comm- unity events such asfilm screenings, book signings, scho-lar forums and artist showcases. Gerima continues to distribute and promote his own films, including his most recent festival success, Teza (2008), which won the Jury and Best Screenplay awards at the Venice Film Festival. He also lectures and conducts workshops in alternative screenwriting and directing both within the U.S. and internationally.

International Advisor

BABALAWO ADEJUWONLO A. EKUNDAYO

Babalawo Adejuwonlo A. Ekundayo • International Advisor – Priest of Orunmila, Ifalogist, Teacher, Medical Doctor and Community Organizer – Born in Lagos, Nigeria, West Africa to Titilola and Ade-yemi Ekundayo, Baba Ade, as he is affectionately known, followed in the educational footsteps of his father, Ade-yemi. Both are western-trained medical doctors.

Baba Ade has practiced family medicine, while his father, now deceased, was a surgeon. He is the younger of the two boys born to their Mother, Titi. Area residents will know Baba Ade through his brother, Olu Ekundayo, a well known community organizer and activist in Baltimore city. Baba Ade is happily married to Sister Mary Phillip of Delta state. The couple has three wonderful children, Olubemiga (named for his uncle Olu). Oludemiladelade, and baby Iyalode, the newest member who came into the family last September. Baba has been educated in the ten major religions of the world including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Sufism, which his father insisted he master before being taught the wisdom and mysteries of Ifa. A community organizer, Baba has been either the founder, director, publicist and overall organizer of many community organizations too numerous to name, including the Hawa Burka Foundation and Society, The Widows of Zarifa Trust, the Peoples’ Democratic Institute, and founding member of ADACI-Nigeria. With his brother, Olu, he has co-authored a manuscript awaitingpublication, Spirituality and Mental Health: An Ifa Overview.

Senior Cultural Advisor

MELVIN DEAL

Melvin Deal • Senior Cultural Advisor – is the Founding Director and Executive Artistic Director of the African Heritage Dancers and Drummers, the oldest continuously operating dance company of its kind in the Washington, DC area.

Mr. Deal, a veteran artist of more than fifty-five years, has worked tirelessly in researching African cultural manifestations to be used in the building of Self-Esteem and addressing the presence of Violence, Delinquency and Dysfunctional lifestyles and abuse in African-American communities. An accomplish-ed, Dancer, Musician, Choreographer, Researcher and Director, Mr. Deal is a graduate of Howard University, with a BA degree in Fine Arts & Education. He has studied at Ghana University, University of Nigeria at Ibadan, and at numerous cultural institutions nationally and abroad in the African Diaspora. The recipient of many prestigious awards, among which include: The Washington Post’s “Living Legends” Award, 1980; “Washingtonian of the Year, 1981;, “Mayor’s Arts Award, 1981″; Baltimore’s”Great Blacks In Wax Award”, 1995; and the ADACI “Standing on the Shoulders of Our Ancestors Award”, 1999, Mr. Deal performs and teaches regularly in the African Heritage Dance Center and in many elementary and secondary school systems in the greater Washington, DC area. A consummate scholar of African dance, music, and culture, he conducts classes, seminars, master classes and lecture demonstrations for colleges, universities and provides special cultural input to motivational programs sponsored by the Robins Research Institute, National Association of Social Workers, National Association of Black Psychologists, Boys & Girl Scouts of America, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Criminal Justice, and many others. A community artist of uncommon perseverance, Mr. Deal is a consummate “Performance Artist”, focusing his revealing and insightful presentations on issues of healing and spiritual renewal in the African diaspora community.

Memorial Design Architect

KWASI ADDAI COOK

Kwasi Addai Cook • Memorial Design Architect – is passionate that good architecture and urban design can revitalize and strengthen our communities. An honors graduate of Morgan State University with a B.S. degree in Architecture and Built Environment Studies, his design concepts show a thoughtful connection to African principles and history. His student work for a community center in a converted rail depot was featured in the Montgomery Gazette. He keeps his pulse on recent development projects in the Washington, DC area, and the effects of gentrification on our communities. He is also a contributor to the blog Heart | Soul | Design, which explores design in architecture, fashion, nature, and the arts. His mission is to create places where we can thrive as an African community economically, socially, and aesthetically.

President - ADACI Brazil

Ms. Edna Thomaz Rodrigues

Ms. Edna Thomaz Rodrigues • President – Edna Thomaz is an Afro-Brazilian social activist, and long term ADACI Washington, DC partner.  She served as a fellow with Howard University studying under the mentorship of world-renowned scholar, author, civil rights activist and political scientist, Dr. Ron Walters, as well as The National Urban Coalition. Ms. Rodrigues is one of the key individuals who has been in the forefront of the Afro-Brazilian consciousness movement for more than 20 years.

President ADACI Nigeria

Babalawo Fakunle Oyesanya

Babalawo Fakunle Oyesanya • President ADACI Nigeria – Hails from Ogun State, Nigeria. Graduated from Yaba College of Technology in 1989 where he studied Fine Arts. He is a practicing Artist as well as a practicing Ifa Priest with the title of “Erinmi Awo”. He was a former President of Orunmila Youngster International,

ex-PRO, International Council for Ifa Religion, a member of the World Ifa Festival Committee 2005, Ile-Ife, Nigeria,     a member of Ethics and Scripture Committee (International Council of Ifa Religion), a member of Editorial Board “Eleri Ipin” magazine and Registrar, Ifa International Training Institute, Lagos, Nigeria. Fakunle is married with children. He has written some books (unpublished) in Ifa about historical expositions from the beginning of time and certain inherent messages in Ifa. Members are: Gbolahan Okemuyiwa – Vice President • Joseph O. Bolanle Oga – Secretary General • Olufunmilola Aina Thomas – Treasurer • Olakayode Akintoye Salako – Publicity Secretary • Adeshola Benson – Welfare Officer • Miss Ebunoluwa Mariam Oloyede – Assistant Secretary.

General Manager - ADACI Senegal

Omar Seck Ndiaye

Omar Seck Ndiaye, • General Manager – Mr. Ndiaye is an International consultant in communication – media and management of organizations. He is the founder of radio Oxyjeunes and he has been the head of radio department of panos institute west Africa and the coordinator for youth media programs in Plan International Sénégal. He works as consultant with international Institutions such as the European Union; Radio France International. Yaya Coly, • Administrative Director ­– Yaya is a cultural leader and has helped establish ADACI Senegal affiliates in the Casamance and the Gambia.  He has worked on educational programs the bring about awareness of HIV/AIDS. He is also an archivist and works to preserve Senegalese culture among the youth. Members are: • Sira Konate – Organization and Followed Activities • Seynabou Gueye – Assistant for Organization and Followed Activities • Amadou Diop – Health and Environment Committee • Mansata Niassy – Assistant for Health and Environment Committee • Awa Malick Diop – Finance Committee • Astou Badji – Assistant for Finance Committee • Djiby Sarr – Culture Committee • Babacar Mane – Assistant of Culture Committee • Ndeye Mareme Sow – Gender Committee • Bineta Dieme – Assistant for Gender Committee • El Hadji Fall – NICT/            Communication Committee • Famara Niassy – Assistant for NICT/Communication Committee • Malick Niassy – Search and Training Committee • Helene Malou – Assistant for Search and Training Committee.

President - ADACI Cameroon

Rev. Lucas Tassi Ntang

Rev. Lucas Tassi Ntang, • President –  is a human rights and humanitarian action expert. He endeavors to reconnect people with their environment and give them a chance to live better.  Since 2017, Rev. Lucas has supported the ADACI vision in Cameroon by hosting community programs that honor the memory of our able ancestors and create a space for re-connection with the African diaspora.  His main goal is to revive the culture of our people, particularly the future generations, through education.

Artist

Nana Malaya Rucker-Oparabea

Nana Malaya Rucker-Oparabea • Accomplished actress, dancer, songstress, storyteller, poet and writer, and director/choreographer.  A performer since early childhood, Nana Malaya was one of the youngest members of August Wilson’s first professional theater company, The Black Horizons Theater, where she eventually became a choreographer for the Pulitzer prize-winning playwright.  As founder of The Nubian Dance Theater, her experiences with the company have provided her with the opportunity to perform at many major venues, such as The Historic Lincoln Theatre, the Anacostia Museum, and the Smithsonian Museum of African Art.  Referred to as “The Dancing Diplomat”, her performance career has carried her to many places around the world including Barbados, Jamaica, Ghana, Japan, Scotland, and Hawaii.

Master Drummer

Bill “Babalu” Caudle

Bill “Babalu” Caudle • Master Drummer Extraordinaire – a multi-talented musician, he has drummed with most of the African and diaspora drumming ensembles up and down the East Coast for decades. A native of Washington, DC, Caudle served as lead djembe drummer for Baba Melvin Deal’s African Heritage Dancers and Drummers for more than 20 years. He is one of the more experienced drummers who participates in the Sunday circle of drummers and dancers at Malcolm X Park in the Meridian Hills area of Northwest Washington, DC. The circle, which this year celebrates its 50th year in existence, is believed to have officially started in response to the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965; Caudle became a fixture there and has drummed there since the early 1970s. A major drum talent, Caudle is unique in that he is considered to be a drummer’s drummer as well as a dancer’s drummer. It is rare to be considered both, but Caudle, who himself is an accomplished dancer, is able to move in two worlds – that of the dancer as well as the drummer. A deeply spiritual person, he considers African drumming to be one of the highest art forms and views drumming as a healing medium when shown the proper respect and deference.

Graphic Artist, Photographer, and Videographer

Zama Cook

Zama Cook • Graphic Artist, Photographer, and Videographer – having honed his skills for over 40 years, he is the former Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Garvey’s Voice magazine, and the former Minister of Information of the Government of the UNIA-ACL.

Artist

Kombo Omolara (Ancestor)

Kombo Omolara (Ancestor) • multi-talented Drummer, Dancer, Photographer, and Videographer – native of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, he is the founder of the Yacouba Mask Society, dedicated to the preservation of stilt dancing.

Artist

Mary E. Greer Mudiku

Mary E. Greer Mudiku – is best known in the Washington, D.C. and east coast areas for her very detailed pen and ink drawings in a stippling technique which readily identifies her style. Designer of the ADACI logo, she is also an accomplished painter, poet, and art therapist, and an entrepreneur who has started her own company, The Season of Rebirth. Born in Greenville, Mississippi and reared in Memphis,Tennessee, where she now resides, she completed her BFA degree at Memphis State University and later studied at the Memphis Academy of Art, subsequently receiving her Master’s degree in painting at Howard University. Ms. Mudiku also served as an art therapist in the youth facility at the D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility.

Master Drummer and Educator

Sidiki Paul Lancaster

Sidiki Paul Lancaster • Master Drummer and Educator and performing African Percussionist/Historian/Folklorist –  aligning African Diaspora traditions with comparable experiences unique to African-American heritage, he is a facilitator of Rites of Passage/ Boys 2 Men mentoring programs, traditional African healing arts, and ceremonial /ritual traditions. He has apprenticed with legendary artists Katherine Dunham, Pearl Primus, Abdoulaye Camara, and Djimo Kouyate, and has studied/performed with multiple African Master Percussionists including Mor Thiam, Ibrahima Camara, Zak Diouf, and Soulimane Diop, (Senegal), Ladji Camara, (Guinea), Babatunde Michael Olatunji,(Nigeria), Chief Bey, (NYC), Baba Ishangi Rizak, Nana Yao Opare Dinizulu, (Ghana). He has studied/mentored with such great scholars as Chancellor Williams, John Henrik Clarke, Asa Hilliard, Leonard Jeffries, and Yosef Ben-Jochannan.

Author and Engineer

Brother Bruce • Author and Engineer

Brother Bruce • Author and Engineer –  “The ancestors” to many mean “the people who have gone on before” – basically those individuals who have cut the literal “high grass” for future generations. “Brother Bruce”, as his friends refer to him, “back in the day” realized that those individuals, even though they might not reference him specifically, were the reason he chose Howard University’s innovative School of Architecture as the school to advance his education.  Getting “knee-deep” in work, school and social activities proved a tad much in those early days of the sixties for this New Jersey native, but by the eighties, “brother bruce” was completing three majors simultaneously (his “triple majors”) at the University of Maryland and the District of Columbia.  While still needing just one course, Studio 10, for his Bachelors’ of Architecture (BA) at Maryland, his completing two engineering degrees at the District of Columbia (Construction Engineering Technology and Architectural Engineering Technology) fostered and kindled his graphic regimen that opened up completely new, dormant vistas of insight and creativity.  Today, “brother bruce” relishes in the excitement of being able to confide in that “Ancestor Spirit” and create untold digital imagery relating to his beliefs in his ancestors.  He believes that this is his assignment while on this plane of existence.  In addition to his artistic pursuits, Brotha Bruce is the author of the classic The Adinkra Dictionary:  A Visual Primer on the Language of Adinkra which was published in 1998.

Ancestral Master Drummer

Joseph Soh Ngwa

Joseph Soh Ngwa • Ancestral Master Drummer – born in Cameroon, West Africa, is known for his high skill and knowledge concerning the djembe and other African percussion instruments, particularly the talking drum. He is also a specialist in the healing power of the African drum, and is a practitioner of the divine spiritual arts

of African percussion. Master Ngwa’s skills are very much in demand and he is involved with a diverse range of projects, such as films, video recordings, and museum consultancies. He offers workshops and performances exploring the various musical and oral traditions in Africa. A highly sought after percussionist,

he performs and teaches widely with many groups throughout the U.S. and other countries, and is a senior member of the drumming corps for two prominent Washington, DC-based African dance companies: African Heritage Drummers & Dancers and KanKouran West African Dance Company.

Technical Assistant & Lighting Technician

Maia Tendai Nfang Njikam

Maia Tendai Nfang Njikam, Technical Assistant & Lighting Technician – ADACI Youth Maia, born May 2006 to Fochive Njikam of Cameroon, Africa and Khanya Johnson (Njikam) of WDC, is a 14yr old young lady of distinction. Placing at end of 11th grade, Maia is a rising high-school sophomore at T.R.U.E. Academy Homeschool in Fayettevile, NC. Participating in Gifted Education with an EP (education plan), Maia was identified as a gifted student in kindergarten, and she has excelled in academics; enjoying Language Arts and Science most in school. She has received numerous awards and acknowledgements throughout her academic career, including ‘A’ honor roll her entire elementary and middle school years, citizenship awards, and accelerated reading awards, to name a few. She ran for class historian in elementary school; as well, she participated in GOTR (Girls On The Run) for two years completing 1mile fun runs, and two 5k runs. Maia attended Darnell Cookman School of the Medical Arts Middle-High school in Jacksonville, Fl, a nationally ranked school, where she began to foster her love for the sciences. At the same time, Maia began to flourish in the fine arts, excelling primarily with drawing, painting, and photography. With a passion for both liberal and fine arts; Maia’s attention to detail served her well in online courses Cartooning and Marine Biology I where she became more sure in her desires to be a Marine Biologist and an Artist. With a love for the environment and family, Maia is the gardening partner to her Grandmother Mama Tendai, whom she affectionately refers to as “Nana”, showing off their green thumbs with a vegetable and herb garden. Maia is following in the footsteps of her Ancestors, following Ifa, she is a “little priestess” praying to Oludumare for her continued success and that of her family and friends. She lives up to her name…. Maia means lovely, which she truly is!