Yale University and Yale Divinity School honor the Rev. Jame

Yale University and Yale Divinity School honor the Rev. Dr. James W. C. Pennington.

Yale University and Yale Divinity School honor the Rev. James W. C. Pennington. Rev. Alexander Crummell ’23 M.A.H. Both Black men studied theology at Yale in the mid-nineteenth century but were not allowed to register formally for classes or matriculate for degrees. Yale’s board of trustees recently conferred M.A. Privatim degrees on both men in recognition of their scholarship and their significant contributions to our community and country. The university is able to highlight the achievements of the Rev. Pennington and the Rev. Crummell at this event — and to underscore their painful struggles for racial equality and respect — because of the research conducted by the Yale and Slavery Working Group as well as the work of student and alumni organizations.

Michael Babatunde Olatunji

Nigerian Master drummer Michael Babatunde Olatunji (1927–2003), Morehouse Alum, a pioneer who reintroduced the African drum, is the master of Ngoma, a global icon must be recognized for his contributions to World music who. Baba Olatunji's Drums of Passion album (1959) paved the way not only for other releases of African music but in many ways the platform to recognize Africa and create an entire world music category.

Olatunji Drummers Celebrate Babatunde Olatunji!

Sikiru Adepoju, Grammy Award winner for World Music, is a master drummer, specifically the Talking Drum of Nigeria; He and his brothers Saminu and Lasisi were taught drumming very early by their father, Chief Ayanleke Adepoju, whose very name, Ayan, means "descended from drummers."

Sanga of the Valley

Sanga of the Valley, spent 25 years with Babatunde Olatunji and became Baba's student and one of his lead djembe players. He worked with artists such as Carlos Santana, Nina Simone, The Grateful Dead, the Neville Brothers, and Stanley Jordan.

Val Serrant

Val Serrant, a Trinidad-Tobago native, now resides in California and is a founding member of Oakland’s Afrika Heartbeat and Co-Producer with Grammy-Award Winner *Sikiru Adepoju, of their CD: IJINLE ILU {“Original Drumming”} …recorded in Ghana, West Afrika, and Alameda, California. Val currently teaches “From Drum To Steeldrum” in schools, especially throughout California & other States. Val's ongoing project, Keep Arts In Schools (KAISO)

Michael Babatunde Olatunji

Dr. Akinsola Akiwowo

Brother to Baba Olatunji, Nigerian Scholar, Akinsola Akiwowo, Ph.D., (1922–2014). Morehouse Alum, Emeritus introduced the two Yoruba concepts asuwada eniyan and ifogbontayese (translated respectively as `human society' and `the science or art of remaking the world') were first made public to the Nigerian academic community with the publication of my inaugural lecture, `Ajobi and Ajogbe: Variations on the Theme of Association (Akiwowo, 1983). Apart from his considerable influence in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Ife, Professor Akiwowo is the founder and leader of the Alada Study Circle (ASC) of the same University of which Rowland Abiodun (Department of Fine Arts), Olufemi Morakinyo (Department of Mental Health). and the present writer (Department of Philosophy) are active foundation members. Emancipation of Thought was delivered on August 18 August 1988, at Oduduwa Hall, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. In his honor, Baba Olatunji recorded a song titled "Akiwowo" because his cousin was a trainman/conductor in Lagos.

2023 Speaker's You-Tube Videos

Georgia Dunston, Ph.D

Dr. Dunston, professor emerita, is the founding and former director of the National Human Genome Center (NHGC) at Howard University (HU). She served as the genomics program director and advisor to Dr. James Lindesay, principal investigator of the NIH Director Transformative Research Award grant application. With over 35 years of experience in academia, having served for nearly a decade as chairman of the Department of Microbiology, HU College of Medicine, and more than a decade as a director of the NIH-funded Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Human Immunogenetics research laboratory.

Dwight N. Hopkins, Ph.D.

Among other texts, Dr. Hopkins has authored, Down, Up & Over: slave religion and Black Theology, Shoes That Fit Our Feet: sources for a constructive black theology, and Black Theology USA and South Africa: politics, culture, and Religion. Hopkins holds the Alexander Campbell Professor Chair at the University of Chicago and teaches classes on the humanities and wealth. He works with young people establishing educational technology startups in his practical commitments. He founded and managed a 14-country network centered on youth/student education and women’s advocacy. The countries included Hawaii, Fiji, Japan, Australia, India, England, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Cuba, Jamaica, Brazil, and the USA.

Baba James Small

Professor James Small is a scholar-activist, dynamic speaker, and organizational consultant. He is also CEO of Sanaa Lodge Enterprise, Ghana, Ltd.; CEO & President of African-American Management Company, Ghana, Ltd.; International Vice President of Organization of Afro-American Unity (O.A.A.U.), Priest of Oya, Babalorisha, Ifa Tradition, and past President of the Eastern Region of the Association for the study of Classical African Civilization (ASCAC).

T Owens Moore, Ph.D.

Dr. Moore, Howard/Morehouse Alum, is the President & Chief Education Officer (CEO) of Melanin Institute of Hue-man Technology™ (MIHT) and has been a trained Biomedical Research Scientist and Physiological psychologist, distinguished scholar, educator, and a college professor for more than 25 years. His specialty courses are in the fields of Neuroscience and African-Centered Psychology. Dr. Moore is a Full Professor & Chairperson of the Department of Psychology

at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, GA.,

and the author of Pigment Power, Why Darkness Matter, and several books that can be found at the link below.

www.drtmoore.com

Mwalimu K. Bomani Baruti, Ph.D

Dr. Baruti, Morehouse Alum, author of IWA, Message to the Warriors, Identity, and other books, explained that a sociological examination of Black people and systems is to be studied through an Afrikan-centered lens. Dr. Baruti believes that definitions are central to any intelligent, worthwhile explanation of society and how it works, especially as they relate to those who live in it without a clear, self-given, collective identity.

Professor Tony Burroughs

Tony Burroughs has been on the genealogy scene for over thirty-five years. You may have seen him on Oprah's Roots on PBS with Henry Louis Gates or Smokey Robinson on Who Do You Think You Are? Or on the Discovery Channel, starring in the Real Family of Jesus. He is very popular on the genealogy circuit. He speaks at the National Genealogical Society, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Roots Tech, and many genealogical societies and libraries around the country.. He is the best-selling author of Black Roots: A Beginner’s Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree published by Simon & Schuster.

Ra Un Nefer Amen, Ph.D.

Dr. Amen also known as Shekum Ur Shekem, founded the Ausar Auset Society, a Pan-African spiritual organization in 1973 based in Brooklyn, New York, with chapters in several major cities in the United States and international branches in London, England, Toronto, Canada, Bermuda, and Trinidad & Tobago. The organization provides Afrocentric-based spiritual training to the African American community. Ra Un Nefer Amen is a world-renowned bestselling author, best known for the Metu Neter Series (1-7).

Bunmi Oyinsan, Ph.D

Dr. Oyinsan is the Co-founder at Lekki Peninsula College (LPC)/Lekki Peninsula Affordable Schools (LPAS), and the Sankofa Pan African Series was created as a medium to share the unpopular but relevant history of the African people. In contrast to today's account brought to the limelight, it highlights Africa's role.

DeReef Jamison, Ph.D.

Dr. DeReef Jamison was raised in Washington D.C. and received his Ph.D. in African American Studies from Temple University. His research attempts to demonstrate the connections between Africana intellectual history and social science that are often seen as disconnected. In particular, he examines how historical figures in the

African intellectual tradition explores the notion of cultural consciousness. His research interests include Africana intellectual history, the intellectual history and diasporic connections of Africana psychology, and the psychology of race and racism. His article "Fanon Revisited" can be downloaded above at ACAH Downloads

IACT COURSES

Independent Study Certificate Programs

Africa Centered Ancestral Healing

IACT offers specialized holistic training based on Africa Centered Thought to compliment general mental health treatment plans that encourage a natural sustainable framework for Black families.

Africa Centered Ancestral Healing

ACAH is a specialization program that is created to equip mental health professionals with approaches to help Black families and individuals

identify purpose based on their lineages and genetics through a holistic approach.

Standing on his Shoulders

Africa Centered Ancestral Healing

The Illumination Research Group (TIRG)

Dr. James W.C. Pennington, my gggrandfather, is the first known Black student to attend Yale University School of Divinity. He was an abolitionist, writer, comrade to the Underground Railroad and Amistad Case, and an ordained minister. He purchased our family's freedom, and after the Civil War, he served congregations in Natchez, Mississippi; Portland, Maine; and Jacksonville, Florida, where he died.

Orisade Awodola, IACT Founder

The Illumination Research Group (TIRG)

Join the Journey

The Illumination Research Group (TIRG)

TIRG is created to provide research that supports Africa Centered healing modalities in the fields of genetics and behavior for African American educators, mental health practitioners, undergraduate and graduate students pursuing careers in STEAM and Black Psychology.

Community Events-Workshops

Join the Journey

The Institute of African-Centered Thought serves as a catalyst to empower its participants and learners through education, conferences, seminars, summits and debates.

Join the Journey

🌳🌳🌳

YOU are invited to partake in the ACAH Journey! Contact us with any questions about our programs, courses, events,

or any other inquiries.

AC Ancestral Healing Video Series

Become a Member Today!

🌳🌳🌳

"Color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality,"

James Baldwin

Click Here

Where identity and Purpose meet!

ACAH CONFERENCE 2023: Healing Rhythms/Genetic Genealogy/African Spirituality

AFRICA-Centered ANCESTRAL HEALING

A Tribute to Abolitionist, Dr. James W. C. Pennington and Tribute to Babatunde Olatunji, and Schola

Yale University and Yale Divinity School honor the Rev. Jame

Michael Babatunde Olatunji

Olatunji Drummers Celebrate Babatunde Olatunji!

Sanga of the Valley

Val Serrant

Michael Babatunde Olatunji

Dr. Akinsola Akiwowo

WHO ARE YOU? Win an African Ancestry DNA Kit!

ACAH Downloads

2023 Speaker's You-Tube Videos

Georgia Dunston, Ph.D

Dwight N. Hopkins, Ph.D.

Baba James Small

T Owens Moore, Ph.D.

Mwalimu K. Bomani Baruti, Ph.D

Professor Tony Burroughs

Ra Un Nefer Amen, Ph.D.

Bunmi Oyinsan, Ph.D

DeReef Jamison, Ph.D.

ACAH CONFERENCE program 2023

Empowerment quote Gallery

A Decade of AH Conference Previous Distinguished Speakers!

IACT COURSES

Independent Study Certificate Programs

Africa Centered Ancestral Healing

Africa Centered Ancestral Healing

Africa Centered Ancestral Healing

Africa Centered Ancestral Healing

Africa Centered Ancestral Healing

Standing on his Shoulders

Africa Centered Ancestral Healing

The Illumination Research Group (TIRG)

The Illumination Research Group (TIRG)

Join the Journey

The Illumination Research Group (TIRG)

Community Events-Workshops

Join the Journey

Join the Journey

Join the Journey

Join the Journey

Join the Journey

"Mastery of Language affords remarkable Power," Frantz Fanon

Patreon Channel

General Inquiry Contact

Subscribe

About Us

Orisade I. Awodola

Jamilla Wasson Pehan

Orisade I. Awodola

Angela Davis

Jamilla Wasson Pehan

Orisade I. Awodola

Charmaine Givens

Jamilla Wasson Pehan

Jamilla Wasson Pehan

Jamilla Wasson Pehan

Jamilla Wasson Pehan

Jamilla Wasson Pehan

This website uses cookies.