H. R. G. Iya Orite Olasowo-Adefunmi

Seeds of Awakening: The Creation of Oyotunji African Kingdom (eBook, ePUB)

The First 25 Years 1970 - 1995

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

In 1970 the Kingdom of Oyotunji arose in the southern low country shadowed by plantations where once enslaved Africans harvested South Carolina gold rice and Gullah-Geechee lore resisted erasure. The seeds of awakening were being planted by Walter Eugene King and a dedicated group of African Americans amid the chaos of the civil rights struggle, the Black Power movement and anti-war protests, intending to restore cultural glory to African Americans. Through ancestor worship, rhythmic drumbeats, tribal marked faces, lively singing and earth shaking beneath bare dancing feet, the journey revealed in the book Seeds of Awakening: The Creation of Oyotunji African Kingdom is a story of a movement whose hiding in plain sight existence greatly influenced black identity and pride in 20th century America, and, as referenced in 2023 by the New York Times, Oyotunji is "Overlooked no more."

...I applaud Iya Orite Olasowo-Adefunmi for documenting the history of Orisha coming to the African American community by way of Oyotunji, and I salute her enthusiastic commitment to its development and growth, alongside her husband and the priests and priestesses who supported the idea from its inception. I also celebrate the role the ancestors had me, my family and our elders play in the profound birth of a historic landmark for African Americans and their history. May Sàngo always protect you and Oyotunji. Ase'o!
Oba Irawo Ernesto Pichardo
Priest of Sango, Miami, Florida

There is no more prolific demonstration of the presence and living history of the Yoruba presence in America than Oyotunji African Kingdom in Sheldon, SC. We commend HRG Iya Orite Olasowo-Adefunmi for being both an active contributor to and custodian of the development of Oba Oseijeman's African Restoration Movement in America.
High Chief Nathaniel B. Styles, Jr.,
The Nana Kwaku Ankobeahene II of Ghana and Otunba Folungbade of Yorubaland

...With an insider's standpoint and the vantage point of a seasoned elder looking back at the phenomenal feat that created the Kingdom, former Olori (Queen] of the founder of Oyotunji offers a never before reflection of the Seeds of Cultural and Political Revolution that led to the awakening of thousands of Africans in America. A must read!
Kamari Maxine Clarke, Ph.D,
Professor of Anthropology at the University of California Los Angeles,
author of Mapping Yoruba Networks: Power and Agency in the Making of Transnational Communities (Duke U Press, 2004).

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Archway Publishing
• Seitenzahl: 288
• Erscheinungstermin: 12. Juni 2024
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781665754996
• Artikelnr.: 72353409

Autorenporträt

H.R.G. Olori Iya Orite Olasowo-Adefunmi was the senior queen of Oyotunji African Kingdom located in Sheldon, South Carolina. The only authentic traditional African Kingdom in the continental United States, Oyotunji is a religious center for practitioners of the Yoruba culture in the United States and, as the Iya Orite ("mother heads throne"), Her Royal Grace (the proper address for a queen) is in essence a "queen mother," joining her husband Oba Oseijeman Adefunmi I as the chief father and mother figures respectively, in the United States for followers of the ancient West African traditions of the Yoruba. Their cultural practices are also related to Candoble which is popular in Brazil where the Queen and the Oba have travelled.
A native of Atlantic City, New Jersey, Olasowo-Adefunmi attended St. Augustine College as Sheila B. Brown in Raleigh, North Carolina where she became a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Previously, she enjoyed tenure with the Negro Ensemble Company in New York before destiny brought her to Oyotunji. Then in its infancy, Oyotunji would change her life forever as within several months Her Grace would become the fourth wife of His Highness Oba Adefunmi. In time, however, Olasowo-Adefunmi gained experience in both matters of state as well as skill as a traditional diviner, and it became increasingly apparent that soon she would ascend to the position of Principal Queen to the Oba (king), a title she has now held since 1990.
The practice of polygamy is traditional for the Yoruba and, twenty four years later, Her Grace is now talking about the institution - its benefits, its shortcomings, its practical place in society whether acknowledged or seen as clandestine affairs, and the richness of African cultures.
During her tenure, Her grace served as Chief of Protocol, and built Oyotunji's tourism department from the ground up, linking the Kingdom with the Beaufort Chamber of Commerce, scheduling television news crews and tour groups by the busloads from across the country for Oyotunji's many festivals, as well as documentary filmmakers such as Al Santana (for Voices of The Gods) and television programs such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, 1988 and Nickelodean. Additionally, Iya Orite achieved the highest position a Yoruba woman can attain by being initiated into the ancient cult of the Bokono (Ifa Priests) at Atendehu Hoca in Dahomey (the equivalent to reaching the level of cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church).
Her Royal Grace and the Department of Tourism of Oyotunji received Chief of the Year awards based on Reviews granted to the Kingdom 1988-1993.