Beyond
the Global Divide:
2nd International Youth Summit
April 21— April 27, 2005
Council of Elders
From April 21-27, 2005, young people attending the International Youth Summit will have the opportunity to develop cross generational bonds with distinguished indigenous elders from around the world. We honor here the elders who form the Summit’s Elder Council to lead future leaders on the path of peace. (Continue to check in as elders are being added daily--as they confirm their attendance )
Presiding Elders in Spirit...
Mr. Makua and Auntie Poe Poe were elders from the first Beyond the Global Divide in 2002. In 2004 they made their transition to the ancestral realm. We know they are with us in Spirit.
Baba Hale Makua
Big Island, Hawaii (Posthumously)
"Those who are coming, who are standing in our fututre, we have to prepare a place for them." Hale Makua
Mr. Makua, a member of the Worldwide Indigenous Science Network, was a native Hawaiian. He was born in the year of the Tiger at the home of his grandparents, on the mountain slope of Hualalai, at a sacred site called "Pukaleheu". His destiny was connected to this humble beginning. After a career in service in the Marine Corp he retired and returned to meet his destiny, "...making the choice to teach and carry on the traditional family responsibilities." He joined the ranks of elder in the Elder Council of his tribal tradition.
For anyone who spent and time with Mr. Makua, his message of love, the Spirit of Aloha, is clear. "Your head or your heart, where do you want to live? The head, he said, is where seperation begins. The heart is the place of cooperation, of wholeness. In your heart you know you can do it (what you have come to do). In your head you become intellectual, you begin to doubt." So where do you want to live?"
His "charge" to the BGD participants can be read from the home page, Meassage form Baba Makua.
Stephanie Mahilani White-Poepoe
Maui, Hawaii (Posthumously)
She is the Granddaughter of Anne Kane and Henry Lester White; Great Grand-daughter of High Chief Kamuelana Nailiili Kane of Iao, Maui, Hawaii; Great Great Grand-daughter of Hoomili Meai Na Kekaulike, and; the (4) Greats Granddaughter of the High Chief of Kekaulike of Maui.
Being born into Alii blood (Royalty), Auntie Poepoe was sent to be raised and taught in the Traditional ways of the Hawaiian people under the directions of Elders:
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Wahine Aukai who taught the La au lapa au (the healing methods using Hawaiian herbs);
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Kanakaole Iolani Luahini of Kona taught the Ole (chants/protocols, and plue (prayers);
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Joseph Hoopai, taught the Lua (art of Hawaiian combat) almost like the martial arts that are taught today using your mind, body and spirit;
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Rachael Mahuiki of Kauai taught Hooponopono (meditation) by using the art of spiritual healing through the bible interpretations, how to interpret dreams and Ho ai lona Kilo, the reading of the stars. By using the bible and understanding how it ties into your everyday life, gave Auntie Poepoe the spirituality that she carries on today in all of her work.
Auntie Poepoe is a family group counselor; genealogist and social services counselor; a KUPUNA for the Youth Program that helps oversee low-income children of Maui; and mediator. She helps terminally ill patients using the La au la pa au and teaches the healing arts as well as how the old ways of making medicine ties into today’s way of life.
Auntie Poepoe also helps the people island wide in genealogy to reclaim their rightful title to lands handed down by their Kupuanas. Sheserves as a mediator and interpreter during court hearings. She is a songwriter, composer and interpreter of Hawaiian songs into English for Entertainment Leiohu Ryder of Maui.
Auntie Poepoe says: “I dedicate my time once a month to the people of Maui by helping the elders with their elements by doing Laau la pa au at a family residence. Through this I have taugh four Haumanas (students) the technique and arts of helping others…”
In the Spirit of Aloha the BGD family says, "Mahalo Auntie Poe Poe and Baba Makua, for all that you left for us to aspire toward."
Mary Elizabeth Hargrow, Ph.D
Los Angeles, California
Dr. Mary Elizabeth Hargrow grew up in a small town in Southwest Georgia where her favorite activity was ‘going for a walk in the woods.’ She began her professional career as an elementary school teacher on the San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona, and subsequently taught culturally, ethnically, and economically diverse children in the Los Angeles City Schools and at Fernald – UCLA’s Psychology Clinic School. From the beginning, Dr. Hargrow stood out as an unusually gifted teacher.
In the early 1980’s Dr. Hargrow completed a course in alternative healing which expanded her consciousness about human possibilities and increased her awareness of a longing to pursue ancient knowledge from traditional healers/doctors. In 1996 she met Maam Adji Fatou Seck, Elder Greywolf, Dr. Erick Gbodossou and subsequently received teachings from each of them, and continue to do so. (Maam Adji Fatou Seck has made her transition.) She later met and is in the process of also learning from Baba Credo Matwa of South Africa, Chris Leith of the Dakota Nation, Audri Scott Williams and others. Within the past two years she has participated as a teacher/learner with traditional healers/doctors in South Africa and Cameroon regarding HIV and Aids. She has conducted international symposia and think-tanks for The Association of Black Psychologists, and currently serves as the Immediate Past President and chair of the Committee on International Relations.
Dr. Hargrow holds a doctoral degree with a specialty in counseling psychology, from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), a psychology license for practice in clinical psychology, a school psychology credential, and several teaching credentials in the state of California. She has an independent practice in psychology in Los Angeles.
Virginia Rathele Mutwa
Johannesburg, South Africa
Virginia Rathele Mutwa is a traditional healer, Sangoma, and is the wife of and personal assistant to Baba Credo Mutwa. Her healing practice includes her knowledge of the medicinal plants and herbs of South Africa, her knowledge of the healing practices of her lineage and healing through music, dance and ceremony. She was a former nurse who left her career as a nurse to learn and practice using herbal healing remedies. She has an HIV Clinic and center for AIDS orphanes.
Dr. Sekagya
Kampala, Uganda
Dr. Sekagya Yahaya. H. received his BDS in dental surgery from Makerere University Medical School in Kampala, Uganda in 1992, after which he apprenticed in herbal medicine for 5 years with herbalits from Congo and Uganda. Dr. Sekagya is currently theRepresentativeDirector of PROMETRA (Promotion of Traditional Medicine) International (Eastern, Central, and Southern African), and President of PROMETRA - Uganda. Dr. Sekagya brings with him vast experience and information from extensive travel and training regarding natural medicine, traditional healing, and spiritual practice.
Dr. Apela Colorado
Maui, Hawaii
Dr. Colorado took her doctorial training at Harvard and Brandeis universities. She cofounded the Worldwide Indigenous Science network in 1989. The Network brings together master scientists from the Native community with leading Western scientists to form strong linkages between the systems of knowledge and to build on these understanding through collaborative, eco-centered projects. This work led to the forumlation of the Traditional Knowledge Program at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in 1993, and the Indigenous Mind Program at Naropa University in Oakland, CA.
Tom Blue Wolf
Jasper, GA
Born on the Poarch Creek Reservation in southern Alabama, Tom Blue Wolf is a member of the Star Clan, Y’ufalla Band, of the Lower Creek, Eastern Muscogee. He is Tribal Ambassador and Faith Keeper for the Muscogee Nation, a ceremonial leader, naturopath, artist, author, musician, and lecturer.
For more than thirty years Tom has been a living demonstration and active educator on a way of life that promotes a sustainable future for the earth. He is the Founder and President of EarthKeepers & Company, a non-profit organization focused on environmental integrity, community relations, tribal values, global peace, and educating people of all ages on the importance of our relationship with Mother Earth and one another.
EarthKeepers believes that “heart-centered” consciousness is the key to our successful future and that people all over the world are reconnecting to such a reality at this time. In celebrating this awakening, EarthKeepers operates in a wide variety of arenas that support this message and honor the “grand ceremony of life.”
Most recently, EarthKeepers produced A Thousand Years of Peace—A Ceremonial Suite in 9 Movements, hosted by Zoo Atlanta in the Coca-Cola World Studio. A Thousand Years of Peace is the enactment of the vision of peace as depicted through a cross-cultural progression of nine movements toward the ancient and eternal dream of peace. With the use of captivating lighting and sound technical effects, audiences become participants in a “theatrical emergence.”
In his capacity as public speaker, along with his role as a conflict resolution mediator, tom addresses a variety of audiences, from government agencies to scientific conferences. He has served as indigenous advisor and liaison for the Annual Healing Touch International Conference held in Denver, Colorado. This conference resulted in forming The Indigenous Earth Healers Council and The World Council of Elders sanctioned by the United Nations and involving indigenous leaders from around the world.
As Tribal Ambassador and Peace Maker of the Lower Creek, Eastern Muscogee, Tom travels extensively lecturing and conducting workshops
Black Star
San Francisco, California
Black Star is Aztec Indian, Chichimec, Iroquois and of European blood. She is a healer, facilitator and mentor to young leaders from around the world. She has been both a member of the Council of Women and elder to the Youth Leadership Council at the Foundation for Spiritual Democracy.
Black Star has worked for a number of years in the field of AIDS prevention both as an outreach worker and pre and post counselor. She is the founder and visionary leader of the “Holder’s of Healing”, and organized the First Annual Summer Solstice Gathering for Women and Girl’s in June 2002 in San Francisco. The intention of this yearly gathering is to create the space for the healing of Mother Earth and women of all generations. By bringing generations together; grandmothers, mothers, and children we weave the web that connects us all for our one Mother, creating the peace that is essential for survival.
Black Star is a Spirit Healer and works with the medicines of laughter, the music of the sacred flute, Grandmother Moon and Grandfather Sun. She takes all of her life experiences and speaks from a deep place within, encouraging others to also come from that place so that the healing work can begin. She believes that her role at the Summit is to help take youth to that place. From this place, we are able to find our own peace and if we create peace for ourselves and for those around us, we will create peace in the world. It doesn’t matter where we come from or who we are, as children things are dropped on us and these things affect how we carry ourselves and how we make decisions. The young people are being called to carry a heavy load right now, to walk a road that many choose not to walk and they need their spirits to be strong to do this work. There is much destruction happening to Mother Earth at this time and world leaders are taking us blindly into this destruction, we need the youth to be strong and not allow this to happen. Black Star is committed to creating the space for this healing of Mother Earth and of ourselves to happen.
Lycurgus Muldrow, PhD
Atlanta, GA
Dr. Lycurgus L. Muldrow , founder and Director of the Institute for Divine Wisdom, has a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and is an expert in body, mind, spirit connection. Dr. Muldrow is also the Pastor of Deeper Deminsions Teaching ministries. He is a certified human behavior consultant, hypnotist and has fifteen years experience in teaching spirituality. He apprenticed one-on-one under a Native American spiritual healer for three years, and was ordained by the Unity of Faith Federation. As a result of his diverse spiritual background he is recognized as a leader in more than one spiritual tradition. Lycurgus receives written messages directly from Spirit, and these messages have been compiled in four extensive volumes called the Pattern of Ascension. He also has authored the book The Common Sense Guide for Spirituality, and numerous other pamphlets and articles on personal growth and spirituality.
Baba Chikuyu Babtu
Atlanta, GA
Baba Chikuyu is a 70 year old ordained minister with the First African Presbyterian Church in Georgia. He is also a ritualized elder of the School for Spiritual Awakening at the Institute for Divine Wisdom.
Baba Chikuyu was educated in the Detroit public school system.Much later in life he earned advanced degrees in counseling, and religious education. He was awarded the Doctor of Divinity at the Faith Collage in Birmingham, Alabama 1987-1989. He answered the call to preach the message of liberation theology to African Americans in the Baptist Church, and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
Baba Chikuyu has been a political and social activist for equality and justice for over 40 years. He was elected and appointed to various political offices at local, federal and country levels.
Baba Chikuyu was also involved as an athletic coach for youth and an educator at grade school and collage levels. His employment history included stints as a very successful professional salesman who earned many awards as an employee and business owner.
Now, Baba Chikuyu’s journey on the road of life has led him to the Road of Oneness. Here he has traveled with, been mentored by and spiritually inspired by various indigenous priests, priestess, shamans, and other spiritualists. He has two wonderful community-based support groups, loving family members, and a loving life partner queen.
“The unexpected invitation to participate as an elder on the International Youth Summit: Beyond the Global Divide, promises to be the high point on the ever upward journey to Oneness. Thanks and praises to the Most High Spirit!”
Reed Evans-Wright
Atlanta, GA
My favorite motto is “I live my life in a manner to set the highest example for others to follow.” At this point in my life I know I have an absolute conscious connection to my Source and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am here for the Creator.
In order for my divine Self to express itself freely for the good of all, I must keep my mind, body temple, and Spirit in optimum condition. I received my foundation in these areas from two main mentors. The first one raised me in McGehee, Arkansas; she was my loving maternal grandmother Mary Magdalene (“ Muh Deah”) Evans. From her I learned spiritual laws of living which still sustain me today.
Muh Deah also taught me the art of picking cotton! So well that in 1948 (I was 15) I won the Arkansas cotton-picking contest against more than 200 adults when I picked 257 pounds in two hours! (Unheard of, even for seasoned grown ups.) To this day I still tend to excel at whatever I do. Beginning when I was 6, my grandmother imparted to me the powerful essence of the first Psalm, leading to my much later ordination as a minister with Unity Church (Seattle, WA), and later Chaplain of the Rosicrusian Order of King County (the largest county in that state).
As a member of Challenges Unlimited, I was on the team that made the Guiness Book of World Records three times for walking on the world’s hottest and longest fires (250 feet long, 1705 degrees); I even stood on my head in the fire four times. Other events we practiced to arrest and release unconscious emotional fears included walking on beds of broken glass, breaking bricks with bare hands, and bending three-eighths-inch steel in the pit of the throat. My other mentor, the Rev. Minor Coleman, modeled physical fitness for me.
His setting of neighborhood running records when he was 50 years old inspired me to run competitively; after the age of 45 I ran many marathons (26.2 miles) in Greece and several U.S. cities. In recent years I was a Professor at Evergreen State College ( Olympia , WA ), teaching African rituals, cultural awareness, and U.S history (1492-present).
I earned degrees in human growth and development and in metaphysics. In these areas I have conducted workshops/seminars/lectures, led retreats, officiated weddings, and funerals/memorials. As an adolescent therapist I counseled adjudicated youngsters and troubled families for 23 years. Teen retreats were often the setting for group therapy sessions.
Since 2000 I have embraced the Living Food lifestyle, for which I am a passionate advocate, lecturer and consultant. In addition, I teach Hatha yoga and am currently very active in power yoga, kickboxing, walking, running, and meditation.
When I am 150 years old, I still plan to be living my life in a manner to set the highest example. . .
Mary Ann Buris
Nairobi, Kenya
Mary Ann Burris was born in Texas , the child of grandparents from four different parts of the world. Her blood is mixed, and her life experiences are of many-hued, many-cultured. Mary Ann has always been drawn to ritual and to the world behind the eyelids, beyond the visible, where our ancestors dwell. She has also walked for years in the world of international upstate New York where she was drawn to the Onondaga community and worked in theatre at night.
Called by the wisdom of accepting many truths at once that she found in some ancient Chinese texts, Mary Ann returned to graduate school to learn more about ancient Asia, eventually living in China for many years, and working in other countries of Asia. From China , Mary Ann moved
to Kenya , where she has lived since 1996. She has worked for universities , in refugee centers, for the Ford Foundation, and has recently started a trust dedicated to the positive links between cultural belief, practice, and knowledge and the attainment of health. Mary Ann is now a research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and an adjunct faculty member of the Indigenous Mind Program at the Naropa Institute in Oakland , California . She has been a proud servant of the Worldwide Indigenous Science Network's Council of Elders program.
Mary Ann has long been interested in indigenous healing traditions. She
studied traditional Chinese medicine in Xian in 1981 and continues to work with elders, healers, and plants wherever she finds herself. She is
currently the Executive Director of TICAH (Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health) in Kenya , which links Asian and African traditional healing systems by bringing them to the forefront of HIV/AIDS treatment. She is honored to have been included in this Council-- as a mother, daughter, grand-daughter, sister, and often-quiet weaver behind the screen.
Edward Fai Fominyen
Yaounde, Cameroon
Fai FOMINYEN NGU Edward, to be known and called by the Young Leaders as NGAMFON. I am a professional healer who specializes as a Herbalist, Diviner and Traditional Priest with 45 years experience , that is from 1960 to 2005. I initiated traditional healers unity in Cameroon in June 1969 and head several National and International Traditional Healers Organizations. Married with 5 children plus one adopted child = 6 children and 3 grand children.Received several traditional honors. Organized, Presented papers, participated and attendded Workshops, Serminars and Conferences around theglobe on Herbalism, African Traditional Medicine, African Religion and Spirituality, HIV/AIDS etc etc etc.
Elizabeth A. Neal
Atlanta, GAElizabeth is a high technology recruitment consultant. She ias also a producer of a vibrational sound CD, Mother to Child. She creates products that are creative and ment to affect healing through the senses...thus her company, Vibrational Transformations. Elizabeth has been an important member of the Elder Council for BGD since its beginning. She is also a student of spirituality and a healer.
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Nana Yaa Brayie
Atlanta, GA
I was in the Original Plan, which is still the only plan at play in the universe. Of course, I did not remember all this until recently, as I began to reawaken in consciousness, upon agreeing to the custom-made initiation Spirit designed for me in this incarnation.
The tortuous journey of my spiritual initiation has been truly remarkable. In the mid-1940’s I was born the daughter of Alabama sharecroppers, the granddaughter of some enslaved Africans, and the great-granddaughter of some of their slave masters. Although the spiritual and physical repercussions of this ancestry threatened to destroy me attimes, I managed to turn the battles into motivation as the Supreme Cause to Excel in School. Everybody said that education was the way out of the labor and lack, the rape and rage, the shortages and shootings of my painful childhood. And I believed them, desperately!
Unable to remember when I could not read, I often overlearned my lessons. When my stern father ordered lights out early every night to save on the bill (when we finally got electricity!), I sometimes stole his flashlight, smuggled it under my covers and continued to study until all hours. This determination, along with my dedicated support team and my natural propensity for academics, earned me a full academic scholarship to college. Hallelujah!
With a bachelor’s degree (Stillman College, Tuscaloosa, AL) and a Master’s degree (Mercer University, Macon, GA) I taught language arts for thirty-two years in several of Georgia’s high schools and colleges. Though officially retired now, I still enjoy speaking/lecturing, drama/theater, nature, and world travel for study of indigenous cultures.
Throughout my life my most enlightened qualities have been an enduring spirit of compassion, caring, and sharing. Continuing my life journey in service as an elder in the Institute for Divine Wisdom’s “School for Spiritual Awakening Through Initiation by Spirit” is the most importantthing I have done in this incarnation. Today, the principal part of my joy is being able to finally remember and do the work that is commensurate with my Purpose for coming to earth. This genuine joy makes my disastrous, earlier struggles of initiation worth it all. For some time now my daily prayer of gratitude ends with “Here am I, O Lord; send me.”
Janet Windwalker Jones
Florida
Janet Windwalker Jones, M.Ed., NCC, LPC retired from the DoD Air Force in December 1998. Since then she has donated her time, energy, and expertise to a wide variety of projects that support the infusion of Indigenous spiritual and healing practices, social justice, and multiculturalism into the very fabric of our churches, schools, prisons, communities and human services institutions and occupations. She is Clan Mother to the Long Hair Clan of the Southern Cherokee Tribe and Affiliated Bands of Texas. Ms. Jones holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education and a Master of Education Degree in Counseling and Psychotherapy from the University of New Hampshire. She is grandmother/spirit guide to five of her own grandchildren, and to more than two dozen other great/grand nieces, nephews and adopted family members.
Baba Ojiji Ti Emi (Dr. Richard Puls)
Atlanta, GA
Dr. Richard Puls, Baba Ojiji, is a retired psychologist from the Atlanta school system. He is the founder of the African American Mutual Support Associates, Inc., and the Omenala Griot Afrocentric Teaching Museum. He is also a former Monk and author of two books.
Charles Finch lll, M.D.
Georgia, USA
Dr. Charles Finch is the director of international health at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. He is also the author of Echoes of the Old Dark Land and The Star of Deep Beginnings. Dr. Finch is always on the cutting edge with his research and publications. Recently his work involves linking the indigenous sciences and traditional spirituality of Africans and Native Americans, as well as an exploration of the re-emergence of the "Cosmic Feminine" in human affairs. In addition to a hectic lecture schedule, he periodically tours Senegal periodically to introduce interested persons to the study of West African traditional medicine. He was one of the organizers of the Senegalese ndepp healing ceremony in America, Cumba Lamba USA.
Karen Hunter Watson
(Oné Maya Many Spirits)
Efua Mantebea
Atlanta, GA
Karen is a native of Illinois who currently resides in East Point, GA. She received her first call to the ministry when she was 12 years old. Karen is now a minister, ordained by Divine Spirit. She is the mother of two sons, Dennis and Gene and the grandmother of six.
ONÉ Many Spirits began being used as a "channel" for Divine Spirit in 1982. Her guardian angel, Justine, began channeling through her in January of 1992. Since then she has become the channel for her other guardian angels and spirit guides.
Karen is the founder and president of ONENESS IN LOVE UNIVERSAL MINISTRIES, INC., a nonprofit teaching ministry. She is a spiritual guidance counselor, motivational speaker, teacher and workshop leader.
Her book A Light to See By was published in January 1998. She is currently working on her next three books.
BarbaraO
Dayton, Ohio
BarbaraO has a spiritual presence, an aura that is magnetic. A mid-career professional woman and a gifted actress absorbed in her craft, she has trained and worked hard and well and lived and dreamed even harder and more generously. Not only is O focused on her own dream of being a filmmaker, she has labored to realize the dreams of others; those African-American independents whose projects her talent has helped to illuminate.
BarbaraO does good work because she loves good work. Anyone who has seen O on screen or in person knows that she possesses unbound energy and creativity. As Yellow Mary in Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust (1992); Diary of an African Nun (1977); Haile Gerima’s Bush Mama (1976); Saundra Sharp’s Back Inside Herself (1984); Zeinabu Davis’ A Powerful Thing (1991); Patrice Mallard’s Mute Love (2000); Ron Mulvihill’s Maangamizi (2002) and Aralee Stranges’ This Train (2004), O continues developing a people’s art which empowers, enlightens and rejuvenates. Her work on network television includes Lavern & Shirley, Wonder Woman, Divorce Court , and co-starring as the wife of Muhammad Ali in the NBC mini-series Freedom Road .
Encouraged by independent producers, Ms. O was on the production team of Journal, the first national television series created by, for and about women where she also represented the United Nations as associate producer of Dateline Copenhagen, asatellite telecast of the International Women’s Conference in Denmark . She worked as assistant camerawoman on NBC’s Women in Sports and the film Passing Through; and was instrumental in the successful grass-roots distribution of Haile Gerima’s Sankofa.
Her driving desire to make a difference in the lives of youths by sharing what she has learned, O directed street-theatre in Watts and was Artistic Director of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Youth Performance Camp in Atlanta .
President/CEO of SisterShip—a wholistic health research and education organization, founded specifically to expand the consciousness of individuals, families and communities to live wellness lifestyles; a graduate of Antioch University, O holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Urban Planning and Film Production.
Frankly, O just knows things you cannot be taught except by a life that seems archetypal: small-mountain girl transplanted to middle-America; wed at sixteen; three times a mother; twice divorced; twice the graduate and often a teacher then politically awakened; professionally engaged-personally committed; spiritually directed.
To directing she brings formidable actor’s gifts, almost hypnotic powers of persuasion, and ability to focus technique onto the nub of the piece. Her instinctive grasp of the wholeness beyond the parts comes from a fierce determination to integrate her understanding of media, Ancient African culture and Universal Laws.
Flanked by an awesome team of expert consultants and production personnel, O is equipped by experience with a voice that is passionate, healing and ever her own to accomplish her role as filmmaker. Currently, she is producing the feature documentary Ma’am Fatou Seck ; a cinematic exploration of “the culture of Spirit”.
BarbaraO is a filmmaker, actress and healer. She is the founder and spiritual vision keeper for SisterShip and conducts numerous healing opportunities for communities worldwide.
Acklyn Lynch, PhD
Washington, DC
Dr. Lynch is magic to all who have had the opportunity to study with him, hear his lectures or attend his historic gatherings: "Wild Women Don't Wear No Blues" Acklyn is culture, and his love of culture and history takes him deep into the research of his people throughout the African Diaspora. He is from Port of Spain, Trinidad and recently told me of his current research to visit every country in the Caribbean to assess the pulse and spirit of the Caribbean from interviews with the people, people from every walk of life.
He is an associate professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County in Africana Sudies; author of the book, Nightmare Overhanging Darkly, and the author and speaker on numerous topics including: Merging the Spirit: Caribbean American Intercultural Relations 2000 & Beyond; Environmental Challenges: Walking on Cracked Eggs; Infectious Rhythms of African Music; Liberal Arts Education: The Road Less Traveled...
He is an inspiration to every artist, culturalist and lover of our human family in all of its expressions. He accepts only excellence, and for him, we all rise to the occasion to find the genious within.
Sandra Rattley
Washington, DC
Sandra Rattley launched the Africa Learning Channel (ALC) for WorldSpace Foundation in 1999, and currently serves as the Executive Producer of this 24-hour satellite radio, digital service, which provides an estimated 60 million listeners in 51 African countries with programming to inform choices in HIV/AIDS prevention, health care and sustainable development.
Prior to her tenure at WorldSpace, Sandy was the Director of Communications for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and previously served as Executive Director of the Program Strategies Board at National Public Radio, responsible for strategic planning andprogram acquisition and development; as well as NPR's Vice President of Cultural Programming from 1993-1996. Some of her notable accomplishments as an Executive at NPR include instituting educational outreach, founding NPR's Special Projects Unit, and conceiving and conducting a ground-breaking national research study of public radio's African American audience.
Sandy is also an award-winning producer and documentarian. She received two Peabody Awards for two twenty-six part radio series: Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions, hostedby Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, and Making the Music, hosted by trumpeter, jazz aficionado and educator, Wynton Marsalis. She served as Executive Producer for both series. She created and managed NPR's Hothouse project, designed as an incubator for new and experimental national programming beginning in 1972, birthing new programs, such as Heat hosted by John Hockenberry.
Rattley's international activities are broad, with project-partners that include the African National Congress of South Africa, Amnesty International, the Women's Health Project, and The Committee for the Eradication of Chronic Poverty. She served as spokesperson for the first national US tour of former South African President, Nelson Mandela in 1991, and served as press agent for Winnie Mandela during her US visits. Also included in her accolades, Sandy founded the Paul Robeson Fund for Radio for the Association of Community Foundations; and served as Director for the Satellite Program Development Fund from 1983-1987, disbursing over $3 million to independent producers and public radio stations. The SPDF was a pre-cursor to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Radio Fund. She has provided program development, strategic planning, audience research and fundraising support to recent clients such as the Rockefeller Foundation and World Music Productions.
Rattley began her radio career at WHUR-FM, Howard University Radio in Washington , DC as Reporter, News Director and talk show host. As an independent producer and staff for WHUR and NPR, she has reported and produced numerous documentaries on cultural, political and social developmental issues in Africa , South America , the Caribbean , and the Middle East , as well as the US . She hosted a weekly show on WPFW-FM and served on the Board of Directors for Pacifica Foundation. She is also a contributor to ESSENCE magazine.
For over ten years, Sandy has spent considerable time in Africa on a genealogical quest. As a member of the Quanders, one of the oldest documented African families in the Americas , she has followed her lineage to Cape Coast , Ghana and re-established ties with ancestral families there.
Aroha Teriaki & Paraone Tai Tin
New Zealand Healers
Te Aroha Teriaki and Paraone Tai Tin are traditional Maori healers and wisdom holders from New Zealand. Te Aroha and Paraone travel and work together as their traditional Maori teachings activate a male and female balance. Their work (as complementary male and female energy workers) is a modern-day examples of how the masculine and feminine energy can work together in creation. To this end Te Aroha and Paraone together have developed the Traditional Maori Healing programs at Wellpark College of Natural Therapies, in New Zealand.
To understand the energy and essence of a traditional Maori, one must understand his/her ancestry, people and life journey: Te Aroha is a descendant of the Ngati Wairere and Ngati Haua people and she was exposed to their ways of healing from the time she was a toddler. During school years, Te Aroha spent a considerable time with her maternal grandmother. Her grandmother was well known by her tribe as a catalyst to a new era, and was held in high regard for her ability and knowledge of their traditional healing practices. Currently Te Aroha practices and teaches traditional Maori healing as learned from her ancestors, tribal people, Hohepa De La Mere (her mentor) and the waananga (a school of traditional esoteric learning).
In addition to Te Aroha attending waananga (traditional school), shehas been trained in the western schools and has a diploma in Adult Teaching. Te Aroha’s true passion now is to regenerate a revival amongst her people to appreciate a traditional Maori world view in all things. To this end, next year Te Aroha will be teaching full time as the Head of the Faculty for Maori at Wellpark College of Natural Therapies.
Paraone Tai Tin shares an equal teaching role twith Te Aroha at Wellpark and he also has a rich cultural heritage. Paraone descends from the Ngati Hine tribe, and also has a tribal connection to the Tuwharetoa and Samoan people. From an early age, Paraone’s family and people have nurtured his understanding and knowledge of the Maori language and their tribal ways, and have endorsed his steadfast desires to stand in a place that is honored by their elders. Paraone has a passion to teach, promote and live his life based on the structures, practices and values of the traditional Maori world view within the context of today. He has a Teaching Diploma and Degree in Maori Studies. He also has been awarded The Tohu Matauranga by the Ministry of Education, which can only be endorsed by his tribal affiliation.
Paraone teaches through the medium of the Maori language, and extensively promotes Mauri Toa, which are Maori pastime games. In addition, Paraone has studied a traditional form of Maori weaponry and graduated to a Pou Waru level of qualification, in which he seeks absolute balance to this knowledge, art and practice.
Allen Pittman
Mr. Pittman's experience, knowledge & background is intense, as well as extensive. He has studied various Martial Arts systems spanning the globe from highly skilled teachers, such as: Hsing I Chuan, Ba Gua Zhang, Tai Chi Chuan, Fencing, “old-school” wrestling of England, Judo, & Bando.
Guardsmanship experience with the H.H. Dalai Lama, & Drepung Monastery. Interested in Combat Behaviors, Allen also spent some time in the interesting study of ancient Western battle-strategy & Hoplology.
Warrior as Healer, Allen has also studied Physical Therapy, Osteopathy, Tibetan Medicine, & Unani Medicine including Herbology & Aromatherapy. Allen has also learned and taught how to empowerthe body and mind through the interesting art Yoga, both of the Hatha and Nidra styles.
Fania Davis, Attorney at Law, PhD
Oakland, CA
Fania E. Davis was born in Birmingham , Alabama , and came of age in the fifties and sixties, during the great social ferment of the Civil Rights era. Her family lived in a district called Dynamite Hill because of the frequent bombings targeting black families who dared move into the previously all-white neighborhood. The murder of close childhood friends Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robinson in the 1963 Birmingham Sunday School bombing by the Ku Klux Klan stoked inner fires of a passionate commitment to fundamental social change.
For the next two and one-half decades, she followed the way of the warrior as activist in the civil rights, Black power, Black students’, women’s, prisoners’, anti-apartheid and socialist movements. For almost twenty-five years she has been a trial lawyer, specializing in employment discrimination litigation, with a subspecialty in academic discrimination.
Through a series of synchronistic events beginning in the mid-nineties, Ms. Davis entered a Ph.D. program in indigenous studies in a San Francisco university and apprenticed with His Holiness Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, a Zulu chief traditional healer in South Africa .
In 2003, Ms. Davis returned to full-time lawyering after completing the Ph.D. program. In the search for healing alternatives to adversarial justice, currently she teaches and speaks about indigenous peacemaking and restorative justice, she has delivered a sermon on the subject, and is presently engaged with local community activists in introducing restorative approaches to reduce youth violence in Oakland and with international activists in launching indigenous-based peacemaking initiatives in war torn West Africa . She is also working together with South Africans and South Americans to develop restorative justice processes to heal the wounds of war in Colombia . Currently, she is developing a project to research, write, and lecture internationally about African indigenous justice processes and their contemporary relevance.
The mother of two adult daughters and three grandchildren, Ms. Davis lives in Oakland , California .
Audri Scott Williams
Atlanta, GA
Audri Scott Williams is the co-founder of the Spirit of Truth Foundation, an author, public speaker, intuitive counselor, Dean of Instruction for the School for Spiritual Awakening at the Institute for Divine Wisdom. She is also the Vision Keeper of the Beyond the Global Divide International Young Leaders Peace Summit. Audri is a bridger, particularly between ancient/earth based teachings and modern thought (she holds a Masters of Liberal Arts in Indigenous Mind from Naropa University). Her work consistantly brings together young and old, traditional and nontraditional, art & culture and public policy.
She is the publisher of this on-line magazine, NOWTIME On Line and the producer of theatrical performances, video documentaries and musical CDs and has received numerous awards and recognition for her contributions to the communities she serves.
Linda James Myers
Linda James Myers, author of Blessed Assurance: Deep Thought and Meditations in the Tradition and Wisdom of Our Ancestors (2004), also holds the position of Associate Professor, Departments of African-American and African Studies and Psychology Teaching and Research at Ohio State University.
Myers specializes in psychology and culture, healing practices and psychotherapeutic processes, and moral and identity development. Nationally known for her work in the development of optimal theory, Dr. Myers is the author of numerous articles, a book, Understanding an Afrocentric World View: Introduction to a Optimal Psychology; and also served as co-editor of Mental Health and Ethnic Minorities.
She proposes a model of human functioning consistent with insights from the wisdom tradition of African deep thought, modern physics, and Eastern philosophies. The application of that model to a broad range of issues from health and education to business ethics comprises her current research interests.
She is a past president of the Association of Black Psychologists, and received their highest honor for excellence in research and scholarship, being named 1992 Distinguished Psychologist.
Professor Myers received the Bethune/Woodson Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Development of Promotion of Black Studies from the National Council of Black Studies in 1994. She was recipient of the O.S.U. College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award in 1996.
Jon A. Ware, Sr.
Jon Ware is the owner of WareTech Studio in Maryland and has been a practicing musician for 39 years. Jon's interest in music started in the 7th grade, when he began playing trumpet. By the time he reached high school, Jon had become the high school band manager, VP, and President of the Band. He continued his musical pursuit by studying and minoring in music at Florida State University where he also majored in Chemistry. Jon went on to take graduate courses in music composition at Catholic University in Washington , DC . It was during his college years that Jon became an all-around musician, changing from brass to percussion. Jon began his professional music career when he joined with Van McCoy as his touring percussionist, where they ushered in the age of "Disco" with the hit " The Hustle".
Jon's early interest in avant-garde musical techniques also helped to define his personal style, which very often blends contemporary and traditional harmonies and a conventional orchestral palette, along with the texture of ethnic instruments and electronic sounds. Jon's music also includes a unique blend of progressive dance styles with ornate jazz improvisation. His fresh approach to older styles also been described as sophisticated and ryththmic, unpredictable and exciting.
Jon has played with many Jazz bands in the Baltimore/Washington, DC area and he has also ambitiously mentored numerous children in stage, theatre and jazz. He is extremely gratified that many of the children he has mentored have moved on to study and/or collaborate with Horace Silver, Ellis Marsalis, Alicia Keys, and The Roots Band (Live accompaniment for famed Rapper Jay-Z). Jon has also prepared many students for the compelling ACT-SO ("Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics") competition produced annually in the Spring by the NAACP. ACT-SO is a major youth initiative of the NAACP which was founded in 1978, by renowned author and journalist, Vernon Jarrett, ACT-SO provides a forum through which African-American youth demonstrate academic, artistic and scientific prowess and expertise, thereby gaining the same recognition often only reserved for entertainers and athletes.
Discography:
- Sound Score for the Off Broadway Play "Uprising" 1994 - Movie Sound Score for "Middle Passage and Roots” Aired On ShowTime Cable TV. 1996 - "KIT" CD release 2000 (Tracks Used in TV production in Europe and South America ) - Sound Score for Spiritual Documentary "ASE' " 2004 - "Follow The Rhythm" CD release 2005
Jon is also an environmental scientist and has spent the majority of his career as an environmental scientist cleaning up waterways, particularly those that have been compromised by chemical waste. He has a Masters Degree in Chemistry from Drexel University .
Walt "Wali" Neil
Wali is an 'artist of the spirit'. Mentors like Tom Pannell, Ed Colston and Bill Agnew introduced him to the most challenging profession on earth ... 'being an African American artist in America!Despite discouraging advice from teachers, guidance counselors and family members, Wali continued to travel from state to state seeking out kindred spirits which led to teaching positions in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and Atlanta, Georgia, and two trips to Africa where he received the name 'Wali'.
Today Wali is a saught after visual and musical performing artist known throughout.
Tonya Freeman
Atlanta, GA
Tonya Freeman is an Inner Growth Consultant with over 30 years of experience in women’s spirituality. She currently serves as a Senior Research Associate in Human Development with the Whindleton Institute, with emphasis on Women’s Empowerment and Women’s Mysteries.
Raised in the Village of Harlem, New York – Ms Freeman is the daughter of Marjorie Catherine Whindleton and James Alexander Freeman. She’s espoused to William H. Pinder III, and is mother to Shanti Michelle Slade.
Utilizing her early parochial education, plus her love of reading and research – Ms Freeman excelled as a self-taught individual with a mind always open to learning, sharing and new experiences. These factors along with her winsome personality have placed her in demand as a seminar/workshop leader and as a motivational speaker to those who have had the opportunity to meet and hear her.
Ms. Freeman has had the opportunity to address African American Women Greet The New Millennium – Queens, NY ( for 3 years ), Caribbean Women’s Group at Hunter College – NYC, Feminine Rites Of Passage Programs (held respectively by Ladies Of Color and The Shrine Of Ma’at) Queens, NY University Of The Streets – NYC, Sam Matthew’s Weekly Metaphysical Group – Smyrna, GA, and the Phoenix and Dragon Bookstore – Sandy Springs, GA.
Currently, she serves as a Sacred Feminine Consultant, Workshop Facilitator, Spiritual Advisor, and Energy Practitioner at Synchronicity in Roswell, GA
In 1996, Ms Freeman (a.k.a. Monifa Y’aa Bey) was the host and Associate Producer of Let’s Talk, a weekly cable show for Queens Public Television in New York City.
She’s the founder of Whindleton Institute, which was created in honor and memory of her mother and dedicated to the task of empowering women through knowledge. She edits and publishes a print and online edition of Spiral Dance News. In addition, Ms. Freeman moderates an online women’s forum entitled, The Art Of Femininity.
Ordained as an inter-faith minister through the Universal Life Church, Ms. Freeman holds doctorate degrees in Divinity, Metaphysics, and Motivation. She’s a Master Numerologist, an alternative Intrinsic Energy Healer, a Reiki Master, Karuna Ki Master, and an AtMu-Ra Harmonic Infusion Practitioner.
Shaul (Tony Williams)
USA
About 6 years ago Shaul went through a life changing experience. As a result of this experience Shaul gained a deep and lasting connection with the Crystal and Mineral Kingdom. Shaul has given permission to serve humanity in this life time using the gift of Crystals and Minerals.
Dr. Brenda Wintgen
South Africa
Brenda was the first woman in the Transvaal to qualify as a Range Officer and started a club newspaper. Anchor Diamonds collapsed and Brenda and her family relocated to Bloemhof, where she became fascinated by the stone artifacts her husband was excavating from the diamonddiferous gravels. Her interest stimulated, she started reading up on archaelogy. She then broadened her studies to include minerology, geology, sociology, indigenous medicinal plants, para-psychology, theology and paganism, prehistoric and historic trade links across and to and from Africa.
In 1978, Brenda met Professor Barry Fell, founder of the Epigraphic Society in Boston (USA). During this time she travelled extensively both in Africa and abroad. After her husband's death in 1984, Brenda became a SATOUR guide, qualified for the entire Cape, and later became a specialist guide in Pretoria.
In 1998, she heard of the Mashigo Institute for the Interpretation of Symbols where she completed a study course and got so caught up in her new knowledge that she went on to obtain her Master's Degree. By combining her years of self-study and research with the methodology of the advanced courses of Ntethology and Mashigology, she was awarded her PhD for her interpretation of 30 South African rock engravings-a first in the field!
Julia Jones
USA
I am the mother of 5 children, 6 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. I raised my children, at a very early age, as a single parent. We lived in some of the hardcore neighborhoods we call the ghetto, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I am very grateful for that experience.
I have been on a spiritual quest for some 30 years, as a Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist. I attended the Institute for Divine Wisdome in 2002 for one year, which enhanced my search for the truth about myself. At this time I am a serious devotee of Nichirin Daishonin's teachings of Buddhism. I have been in study, practice and chanting for over a year, working through fundamental darkness in my life and creating value, not only in my life but for others as well.
*Mama J, as she is affectionate called, brings a sense of laughter to the summit as our only elder stand up comic.
Dr. Bob Burdette, DC
USA
I am an Angelic Healer from the Atlanta area and I have been writing a true account of my life and some of the Angelic adventures I have had during my on-going research while practicing Chiropractic. It is a healing story of great magnitude that is poignant and calls upon all the hopes of every living person who is searching for an answer to any of life’s dilemmas. There are three books that have been written and each has a unique message. The 1st book chronicles my early childhood memories, highlights of my teen years, most all of my war experiences, the college years including my antiwar activities at UNC Chapel Hill, my three and one half years with chronic diarrhea from Agent Orange exposure, depression from the recurring dreams of wild combat that attacked me with frequency, and the incredible spiritual awakening that followed that year of hell. It includes letters to my dying father that I wrote while serving in Vietnam (1968-1969), which were the total completion of our seemingly life long separation and ultimate healing. The basic thesis of these letters is from the heart as I was trying to repair the rifts that tore my family apart in my early child life. I also included the text of a live tape which I recorded as I sat in a bunker at Khe Sanh, watching with horror, as my fellow Marines and friends were killed before my eyes, some in my arms.
During the year that I had been in Vietnam my Grandmother had been in a coma and only came out once…long enough to tell my older sister that she had made a deal with God to keep me alive in Vietnam. She told my sister that she refused to leave her body until I had gotten home safely and she heard my voice. She said I had something very important to do and that I required being saved at all costs. Miraculously I lived through a year of watching nearly every unit I was with get destroyed, while I unbelievably survived. Upon my return home, my sister shared with me what my precious Grandmother had done and I immediately rushed to the nursing home to thank her and she died in my arms…I had unwittingly completed the agreement that she had made for my safe return and she died instantly.
The 2 nd book resulted after I soul searched for many years and was blessed with a new and wonderful way of communicating. I became clairaudient, clairsentient, and clairvoyant. As a result, I have developed a prayer treatment for the total removal of all dark: Contracts, agreements, promises, pledges, influences, emotions and conditioning made across all time. The Angels have informed me that I have developed the most complete transformational technology for the human condition in history. The development and implementation of this system, which is a cleansing treatment series, is in the end of the 3rd book. This is free to all who wish to enlighten them selves and help in the preservation of our home, the Earth.
Additional Elders:
Lessie Pat Randall (USA); Alolodi Amshatar Monroe (USA); Jennie Trotter (USA); Gloria Elder (USA); Nancy Bennett (USA); Vision Bear (USA); Dog Wolf (USA)