Institute of African Centered Thought

Where identity and Purpose meet!
10th Annual Conference is in honor of Dr. James W. C. Pennington and a Tribute to Babatunde Olatunji and Akinsola Akiwowo
Institute of African Centered Thought
10th Annual Conference is in honor of Dr. James W. C. Pennington and a Tribute to Babatunde Olatunji and Akinsola Akiwowo
Thursday, November 9 to November 12 at the Sheraton 4-Point near Sea-Tac Airport, Seattle. Tickets at Eventbrite July 1, 2023
Sikiru Adepoju, Grammy Award winner for World Music, is a master drummer, specifically the Talking Drum of Nigeria , Adepoju comes from a musical family from Eruwa in western 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." While still in his teens, Sikiru toured with and recorded several albums with the Inter-Reformers Band, the band of one of the pioneers of Afro-beat, Nigerian Juju artist Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey and Babatunde Olatunji
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, 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)
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.
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.
Please share why you want to know your African DNA Lineage below and win an African Ancestry DNA Kit. Winners will be notified on July 15 via email. Results revealed at Conference. You must purchase a Conference ticket to participate. Tickets go on sale at Eventbrite on June 26, 2023 One kit per family. Three Kits are Available.
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.
Download Book Press Release
by Orisade Awodola, published by Palmetto Publishers
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.
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.
Dr. Baruti, Morehouse Alum, author of IWA, Message to the Warriors, Identity, etc....positions 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.
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.
Dr. Hopkins, among other texts, 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. In his practical commitments, he works with young people establishing educational technology startups. 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.
The 2023 Ancestral Healing Conference Program will be available on July 15
Ashley McGirt-Adair, LICSW, specializing in Racial Trauma, is the founder and President of the WA Therapy Fund and is hosting its Conference at Green River College in Auburn, Washington, on July 21. See the link below.
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.
Ancestral Healing 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.
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
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.
The Institute of African-Centered Thought serves as a catalyst to empower its participants and learners through education, conferences, seminars, summits and debates.
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YOU are invited to partake in the African Centered Ancestral Healing Journey!
Contact us with any questions about
our programs, courses, events, or
any other inquiries.
AC Ancestral Healing Video Series
Become a Member Today!
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"Color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality,"
James Baldwin
The AC Ancestral Healing Video Series will provide holistic resources and discuss mental wellness and education at our roundtables based on Africa Centered Thought with individuals willing to share their experiences. If you want to share your story or have comments, please email us at our General Contact below. Thanks
1911 NW Campus DR Suite 206, Federal Way, WA 98023 Email Us at iact0119@gmail.com
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