Monday, June 13, 2016

African Gardening For Life: Repatriation Project


Arugba Sango on the way to the river

A story inside a story that is not a story that is being told in a short story of a story.


Gullah/Geechee Souls and Sea Island Cotton
by Gullah/Geechee Nation


I can easily hear the voices saying, "What kinda cotton pickin' thing is this?" as they see the images of me in the short rows of cotton during "Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Awareness Month."  However, just as the stock market does, I value Sea Island cotton. I value it because of the blood, sweat, and tears that helped nourish it at its roots here in the Gullah/Geechee Nation.  As I walked the grounds of McLeod Plantation on James Island, SC, I could feel the ancestral energies welcoming me back once again.  I felt them walk us into the the yard where I had poured libations as the sun rose and GAWD smile pun we one mawnin.  Hunnuh coulda feel um yonda uneat de oak een de shade.

We walked on as the staff of McLeod chatted with me about this first "Cotton Day" that they ever held.  Sea Island cotton had not been grown here for nearly a century.   They were so happy to see me back on the grounds once again. For years I put was a "Friend of McLeod" that fought to save this sacred historic space so that generations of people could come and see the big house and cabins that our ancestors built and to hear ourstory at a place that became a part of the "Freedmen's Bureau."  As I listened to them, I continued to do as I always do as I walk these grounds, I tuned in with my soul.   I could feel how my ancestors wanted people to know that what they are seeing is not the way it was.  There weren't any Gullah/Geechees standing out there in the field now.  In fact, there weren't any people of African descent.   There weren't any until I got there and brought the thousands of my ancestors back in there with me.

As I listened to what was taking place in this demonstration patch, I was led straight over to a particular plant and a staff member was shocked to see that the one that I first pointed to actually had four points and not three like the other boils had.  He said, "That's like finding a four leaf clover!"  I nodded because I had found several of those in the past and in fact had found two at one time together in a park decades ago.  I took this four pointed Sea Island cotton boil as a good sign!  As I reached for it, I felt a touch at that moment like an ancestor patted me and walked on.

Queen Quet with Sea Island Cotton on James Island, SC
Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) holds the first Sea Island cotton boil found with four points on the boil during "Cotton Day" at McLeod on James Island, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation.

As we walked out of the cotton field and over to the indigo dying area, I kept looking at the magnitude of what my Gullah/Geechee ancestors built and how there are so many that do not value all that they brought to the world, especially this part that was once called the "New World."   I pray that a new world emerges and restores into the minds of folks the true story of the legacy of people of African descent that built not only the infrastructure of the United States, but that of the entire Gullah/Geechee Nation from brick to brick to the tabby structures, from enslavement cabins to the big houses and are still building the buildings that are threatening to displace more people today.  I pray that they recognize the valuable commodity that the intellectual property of our Gullah/Geechee ancestors was and how it was exploited for others to live well.  I pray that they realize that we will not live and be well until we embrace the totality of ourstory as Gullah/Geechee souls that were even more valuable on the markets of others than the cotton was.  So, if cotton was once king, wha hunnuh tink webe?   Aaah, hunnuh chillun, webe Gullah/Geechee anointed Black gold!   May we also rise from the soil and tell ourstory!





 







The Eight Most Powerful Women Inside The Aláàfin Of Ọyọ’s Palace That You Never Heard Of, They Are The Real Powers Behind The Throne And Are So Powerful The King Calls One Of Them BABA
BY ABIYAMO · OCTOBER 12, 2017

The Aláàfin Of Ọyọ, His Majesty, Kabiyesi Alaiyeluwa Ọba Dr. Làmídì Ọláyíwọlá Atanda Adéyẹmí III sits on a throne that is older than that of the British monarch. Among the Yorubas, women occupy a very respected position and they are involved at every level of administration in the society. The outstanding civilization of the Yorubas over time is seen in the royal court of the Oyo Empire.

In Yorubaland, a woman can aspire to the highest position in anything she desires and this has been the practice for thousands of years. The role of the female in the traditional Yoruba society is so deeply embedded that no major policy can be implemented or decision made without involving the women.

Women in Yorubaland are so incredibly influential that they control the economy by holding an unshakeable sway over the markets, social events and commercial activities. This is very obvious in the emergence of roles such as those of the Iyalaje, Iyalode and Iyaloja. Even in the occult, the women are still at the very top of the pyramid, the powerful Ogboni cult cannot make any decision without the Palace Mother giving the final go-ahead.

Please note that the Egbe Iyami Oshoronga (or the Great Mothers of the Occult, not witches in the traditional European or Caucasian sense of it) are considered to be the Mothers of the Ogbonis and also use the same symbolic gestures and handshakes when greeting or saluting each other. In fact, the Edan Ogboni takes its name directly from Egbe Iyami Oshoronga. Ogboni members are also known as Awon Omo Iya and the breast milk of the Mother (Earth) takes a very central place among the Ogbonis. The breast milk is symbolized in the greetings of the Ogbonis and when they greet they chant three times:

Omu iya dun mu, gbogbo wa lan jo mu (Mother’s milk is sweet to drink, we all drink it). 

Make no mistake, women are behind the secrets of the Ogbonis. And when I say women, I mean the Ajes, Awon Iyami Oshoronga, Iya Mapo, Iya Nla, Edan (aka Iya Aye) and other prominent female members of the awo (occult). These names do not really connote negativity but rather mystery, unusualness or the remarkable nature of their prowess of the centuries-old traditions of the Yorubas. Women are believed by the Ogbonis to be more secretive or reserved than the men so mothers are deeply respected by the Ogbonis as the vessels carrying the most important secrets of existence and the occult.

These explanations have been given as introduction to allow the reader appreciate the role of women in Yorubaland as against the subjugation of the female gender as promoted by the foreign faiths of Islam (which insists a woman must be hidden, cloaked and veiled) and Christianity (which says a woman cannot even talk inside the church). This is not the case in Yorubaland and even the foreign faiths have been influenced by traditional Yoruba practices. So, who are the eight powerful women inside the aafin (palace) of the Alaafin of Oyo that people have not heard of? These women are collectively and casually referred to as the ‘King’s wives’ but they should not be confused with the Ayabas (Oloris) who are the queens and wives of the monarch. Here we go:

IYAMODE
Iyamode is the only person in the world the Aláàfin is permitted to kneel before. He kneels before no one else except Iyamode. Other people kneel before the Aláàfin. Iyamode occupies a role so deeply respected that the king calls her ‘Baba’ (father). Whenever the Aláàfin goes on his knees before this influential woman, she returns the salutation by also going on her knees but she never reclines on her elbow while doing so as this is the custom of women in saluting their superiors. Iyamode is one of the most senior eight priestesses inside the Aláàfin’s royal household.

Other priestesses within the palace include Iya’le Oduduwa (Priestess of Oduduwa) Ode (head of all the worshippers of the god Ososi, she dresses as a hunter, hence her name, on state occasions adorned with a bow ornamented with strings of cowries neatly strung on her shoulder), Obagunte (she represents the Aláàfin in the Ogboni confraternity and enters the Ogboni chamber on all occasions acting in the name of the Aláàfin), Eni Oja (she is the head of all the Eshu worshippers in the town, she is in charge of the King’s market and wears a gown like a man, the King leans on her arms the day he goes to worship the god of the markets, the Olosi is under the Eni Oja, same with the Aroja or the Market Keeper ), Iya’le Agbo (she is a private attendant to the Aláàfin and is in charge of his private pharmacy preparing all the agunmu (powders) and agbo (infusions) for the king) and Iya Otun.

Iyamode and Iya Oba are always clean shaven while others plait their hair in small strips from the forehead to the top of the head and gather the rest from the back to the top, tying all the hair clump into one knot with a string in a style known as the Ikokoro. As for the Ode, Eni Oja, Iyafin-Iku, Iya Olosun and the Iya’le Oduduwa adorn theirs with red feathers of the parrot’s tail.

It is interesting to know that the ancestor of the Yorubas, Oduduwa, had one son, Okanbi, with his principal wife named Omonide or Iyamode. Iyamode embodies the spirits of the Aláàfin’s fathers. Yoruba beliefs have it that fathers can be reincarnated in the anafemale child, and that explains precisely why the Aláàfin calls Iyamode ‘father’. Iyamode resides in one of the outhouses of the palace.

Her duties are not specially in the palace and she is the superior of the celibates living in the Bara (the royal mausoleum)¸ and that is another reason she is styled ‘Baba’. The role of the Iyamode entails worshipping the spirits of the departed Kings and calling out their Egunguns (masquerades) in a room in her apartments specially set aside for that purpose. This room is screened off from view with a white cloth.

Please note that Iyamode does not just oversee the worship of the ruler’s ancestors, she is those ancestors. Iyamode is described as the quintessential Aje and the only one who can house, embody and be the father and all ancestors of the king, all in one body at the same time.

The Aláàfin looks up Iyamode as his father and he addresses him as such, being the worshipper of the spirits of his ancestors. As stated above, the King kneels for no one else but Iyamode and prostrates before the god Sango and before those possessed with the deity, calling them ‘father’. These include those set apart for life-long service at the Bara. Anytime one of them is possessed by the spirit of deceased monarchs (it is said of one of them ‘Oba wa si ara won’) and bursts out of the Bara to the palace with violent energy, she is immediately placed under the control of the Iyamode. On such dramatic occasions, the possessed tells the people message received from the gods such as the sacrifice they have to offer to ward off impending evils.

To conduct this ceremony, some water is poured into a mortar and it is covered by a wide calabash while other women in the palace beat this with all their energy as a drum with the possessed and others dancing to the frenzied beats of the drumming. Note that once a woman becomes Iyamode, she becomes celibate and stays away from sex for life. Iyamode also heads the convent of queens (Ayabas) who have become widows following the death of their husbands (kings). These widows live close to the Bara and live secluded and chaste lives.

IYANASO (Iya Naso):
The Aláàfin is worshipped as the living reincarnation of the Yoruba god of thunder, lightning and energy (Sango). Inside the palace, the Aláàfin has a private chapel for the worship of Sango which is inside Iya Naso’s apartment and the person in charge of this spiritual room is the Iya Naso herself. She has to do with Sango worship generally and she is the one responsible for everything linked to it. All the emoluments and perquisites arising from this practice are hers and she has also to do with the same at Koso.

IYA KERE
The coronation of any Aláàfin of Ọyọ is not complete without the crown on his head. The person who places the crown on the head of the king at the coronation is the Iya Kere, regarded as one of the most powerful women in the palace. Actually, next to the King’s Mother (Iya Oba), Iya Kere holds the highest rank and although greater deference is given to Iya Oba, it is Iya Kere who wields the greatest power in the palace.

Iya Kere is the one in charge of the treasures of the King. She keeps the royal insignia and all the paraphernalia used on state occasions and special events. Her powers are so extensive that she can even decide to withhold some of these royal treasures thus preventing any state event or ceremony from holding, she can do this to register her displeasure with the King whenever she is offended. As stated above, it is Iya Kere who places the crown on the head of the Aláàfin at his coronation, no one else is entitled to do that.

Iya Kere is also the ‘mother’ of all the Ilaris (male and female) because it is inside her apartment that they are usually created and she keeps in her custody all the sugudus that bear the marks of each Ilari in order to ensure the safety of the life of the King.

That is not all, as powerful as the Olosi is, Iya Kere exercises full power over him and even have him arrested and put in chains if he crosses his bounds. Iya Kere is the feudal head of the Aseyin, Oluiwo and the Baale (now Soun) of Ogbomoso. Once she assumes the office, she remains a celibate for life, that is the tradition.

IYA OBA (The Queen Mother)
Iya Oba is the official mother of the king. According to tradition, the King is not to have a natural mother. In a case where his own biological mother happens to be alive when he is called to ascend the throne, she is asked to ‘go to sleep’ and is ‘decently buried’ in the house of a relative in the city. All the inmates of that particular house are then given special priviledges and honoured as ‘members of the household of the King’s mother.’

As a mark of deference and devotion, the King sends to worship at her grave once every year. After the demise of the Queen Mother, another of the ladies of the palace is then made the Iya Oba and she is the one who is then supposed to play the role of a biological mother to him. And part of the privileges she enjoys as the Iya Oba is that she is the third person in the room when the King and the Bashorun worship the Orun in the month of September every year.

Iya Oba is the feudal head of the Bashorun.

IYA MONARI
She is the first lieutenant and assistant to the Iya Naso. It is the role of the Iya Monari to execute by strangling any Sango worshipper who has been condemned to death. Sango worshippers condemned to capital punishment cannot be killed by the sword and that explains why they cannot be executed by the Tetus.

IYA-FIN-IKU
She is the second lieutenant and assistant to the Iya Naso. She is referred to as the King’s Adoshu Sango meaning the King’s devotee to the Sango mysteries. It is the normal practice for all Sango worshippers to devote one of their children to the worship of Sango and that is the role that Iya-fin-Iku fulfills for the Aláàfin. She is the one in charge of the sacred ram which is allowed to go everywhere and about the markets without anyone molesting it and the ram can also eat with impunity anything it so desires from the sellers.

IYALAGBON
The mother of the Crown Prince (Aremo) is always promoted to the rank of the Iyalagbon. In a case where the mother of the Aremo is deceased, then another woman is promoted to that office and she becomes the mother to the Aremo. As the custodian of the next Aláàfin, the Iyalagbon enjoys massive influence and the control of a portion of the city is in her hands.

ORUN-KUMEFUN
She is also to see to the welfare of the Aremo and works in conjunction with the Iyalagbon.

ARE-ORITE
She is the Aláàfin’s personal attendant. It is the Are-Orite who sees to it that the royal meals are properly made, that royal bed is properly made, that the royal chambers are neatly arranged and she is also the one who sees the Aláàfin comfortably in bed after which she will go to her own apartment. When an Aláàfin is enthroned, it is the Are-Orite who places the umbrella-like silken parasol over his head as a canopy and she is constantly by the side of the Aláàfin to see to his needs and small services on public and state events.

These influential women are the real powers behind the throne. Not much is usually said about them, some do not even know they exist but they are always there in the background. These women communicate with the spiritual realm and guide every single step of the Aláàfin. They are the one who teach the Aláàfin all he knows about the Aláàfinate, they encourage him during times of trials, support him during periods of challenges and defend him from all forms of evils both physical and metaphysical.

These Mothers also do the divination to see how long an Aláàfin will rule, they educate him on what he can eat and what is forbidden that he cannot even touch, they are the ones who give the Aláàfin the ritual bath and cleanse and anoint him. They also take him through another process where his head is shaved (also by the Mothers) and then after seven days, they bathe it in snail water so that the Aláàfin will have the calm disposition and temperament needed to successfully hold the office.

These Mothers reveals to the Aláàfin the days of the divinites, when to worship the Orishas (deities), the kinds of rituals he has to do for each Orisha and the time to perform them. The Aláàfin then agrees to all these revelations and agrees to please these Orishas every day of the year except only one day in the year when there is no sacrifice and no worship of divinites. Only the Aláàfin knows this particular day of the year.

After the Aláàfin takes the throne with the power and authority to rule, these Palace Mothers oversee everything and they work silently in the background. They are the ubiquitous brains behind the kingdom. These Mothers (Ajes) prepare and spiritually empower the Adenla (the Great Crown) itself and as hinted earlier on, the Iyamode must be present whenever the Aláàfin is to be install, for only her can crown the Aláàfin. Without these Ajes, there will be no Yorubaland.

Iba eyin Iya o!

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.

ABIYAMO.





Agriculture means more than Subsistence farming... With agriculture, young people can explore career options in Permaculture design, Bio dynamic farming, Communication technologies, Forecasting, Marketing, Logistics, Quality assurance, Urban agriculture projects, Food Preparation, Environmental Sciences, Advanced technologies and more. Farmers, businesses, policy makers, and educators need to promote agriculture as an intellectually stimulating and economically sustainable career and make jobs in the agriculture and food system for young people in Sub-Saharan Africa. By Farmer Kiama Robert ,  Nairobi, Kenya

Her Royal Majesty Queen Quet

Gullah Gee Chee Nation



His Royal Majesty Oba Adefunmi II 

Oyotunji African Village Kingdom



Her Royal Majesty Empress Devine 

of the Washitaw Muurs Empire




Gullah Gee Chee Freedom Fighters

Chieftess Queen Quet speaks in the coded language of her ancestors who were actual hands on freedom fighters. Salute the Gullah Gee Chee Warriors who ended chattel slavery! 




A Cultural Eclipse: Remembering the Slave Trade and Abolition by Queen Quet

written by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com)

Today marks the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition which has been recognized across the world since 1997 and becomes that much more significant during this International Decade of People of African Descent.  As I paused to join with others around the world to remember our African ancestors that were kidnapped and enslaved as well as those African and Gullah/Geechee ancestors that fought back on the coast of the Motherland and the coast of what is now the Gullah/Geechee Nation, I was drawn into a reflection of how this week began-with a solar eclipse.

As I spoke during the "Queen's Roundtable" on historic St. Helena Island, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation on yesterday, I mentioned how this eclipse was one that should have shifted our minds into the cultural and spiritual significance of the day.  I spoke of how the clouds came and blocked the sun at the height of the solar eclipse to remind the people of the sun that if they are looking up, look at GOD.  If you want to see the sun, look at each other!  You are the sun!

As I reflected today on the fact that this international day for the remembrance is held on August 23rd, it is because that was the day that our people of the island of Santo Domingo rose up to fight against bondage and enslavement.  When the battle was over, the land was returned to the indigenous name for it-Hayti or Haiti.  I then thought about the energy and power that was called upon and I wondered if the fire of the sun was what fueled the battle that led to freedom.

In the midst of a solar eclipse there is a change in the energy of the atmosphere.  There is somewhat of a calm and then a coolness then darkness before the light returns.  Those that are sensitive to spiritual changes tend to meditate and seek to keep within the positive energies that light brings as a shift takes place.  I am sure that it is not a coincidence that this day of remembrance came after the eclipse in order to insure that we made a shift from those things that bound us to a day of cultural and spiritual freedom as our ancestors did.

I thought of how I stood at the United Nation's Ark of Return earlier this year when we remember the victims of the TransAtlantic Slave Trade and I thought about how I remember them daily as I walk over Sea Island sand and I look into the eyes of my Gullah/Geechee people.  I can NEVER forget that we are because they were and they are because we are!  Yes, they are within us.  So, how can we forget?






My journey on this day of remembrance began with a message requesting that I do a libation service at a location of disembarkation of our ancestors which I intend to do in September as part of our commemoration of Middle Passage Month in the Gullah/Geechee Nation.  Later as I walked my family compound and appreciated the rice now growing where their hands tilled the soil, I suddenly was reminded that sometimes the African hands were bound by chains.  That sudden memory brought me back to the Atlantic Ocean where we began this month with an ancestral tribute in which I buried chains on the shoreline.   I then stopped to pray that the shackles on the minds of many of the descendants of our ancestors that were the victims of the TransAtlantic Slave Trade would be buried and that we would be cleansed and rise together at a time that people are continuing to attempt to bury ourstory.  It is up to those of us that remember to awaken the others and insure that they are aware and that they too remember so that no one else will be enslaved.  We can rise together as our ancestors that were the abolitionists did!  We must remember that!

May the power that has been infused in our land as things shifted and the sun returned empower us to continue to stand up for freedom!  This will be the truest way in which we can honor our ancestors every day and not just on international days of remembrance.



Beyond Tourism Week in the Gullah/Geechee Nation
by Gullah/Geechee Nation



The U.S. travel and tourism industry generates approximately $2.1 trillion per year.  So, it is no surprise that there is actually a "Tourism Week" celebrated.   In South Carolina, Gullah/Geechee culture is often highlighted at the I-95 North Visitors Center in Hardeeville, SC.  However, in most cases, Gullah/Geechee culture is not highlighted, it is hijacked!

The massive amount of tourists that come to the Gullah/Geechee Nation annually believe that by driving through and taking photos and then staying in a hotel or camp ground over night, they have supported the Gullah/Geechee people.  They even end up often duped into spending funds at "historic sites" and plantations that have Gullah/Geechee listed on their websites and shots of sweetgrass baskets on their brochures to only find out that there are no Gullah/Geechee people that own that site.  There may be one Gullah/Geechee person or a few that work there, but beyond their salaries, there is no economic support going to the citizens of the Gullah/Geechee Nation.

For 2017, Travel and Tourism Week which will be held May 7-13 is themed "Faces of Travel."   During this week, the Gullah/Geechee Nation is calling on tourists to post pictures of themselves at Gullah/Geechee OWNED locations with the items that they have purchased and with the owners or Gullah/Geechees that are working or creating items at the location so that we can see the "faces of travel" on their journey.  They can tweet them @GullahGeechee or tag them to the Gullah/Geechee Nation's Facebook Fan Page at


In the event that you are saving your travel days to come down for another time of year, like once your children are out of school for the summer, we will make finding actual Gullah/Geechee business owners very easy for you by listing some places and events where you can stop and and support Gullah/Geechee crafts artists, authors, restaurants, and entrepreneurs:

• Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center at 1908 Boundary Street in Beaufort, SC



Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center

• St. Helena Island Community Market at Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Memorial Park on historic St. Helena Island, SC on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays from 10 am to 3 pm excluding July












-Gullah/Geechee Bike & Beauty on May 20, 2017:


-Sea Island Sounds Celebration on June 3, 2017:


-Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom on June 17, 2017:


-Gullah/Geechee Gold Rice Celebration on September 16, 2017:


• The Gullah/Geechee Room and Gullah/Geechee Collection at the

St. Helena Branch Library 6355 Jonathan Francis Senior Drive on St. Helena Island, SC

Join us as we launch the "Gullah/Geechee TV & Movie Club" at the landmark St. Helena Branch Library on Saturday, May 20, 2017: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gullahgeechee-tv-movie-club-launches-with-reconstruction-2nd-civil-war-tickets-33153279351

• MJ‘s Soul Food Restaurant 1634 Sea Island Parkway St. Helena, SC 843-838-2009

MJ's Soul Food



Hannibal's Soul Kitchen Charleston, SCHannibal's Soul Kitchen in the Gullah/Geechee Nation






• Gullah Roots 2597 South Allen Drive North Charleston, South Carolina

• Bertha's Kitchen 2332 Meeting Street Road North Charleston, SC 29405 (843) 554-6519

• Martha Lou's Kitchen 1068 Morrison Drive Charleston, SC 29403 (843) 577-9538

• Momma Lou's Gullah Cuisine 102 Sea Island Parkway Beaufort, SC 29907 (843) 770-9988

• Jason's Seafood and Wings 7 Robert Smalls Parkway Suite 1 Beaufort SC 29906 (843) 379-8257

• Gullah Grub 877 Sea Island Parkway St. Helena Island, SC 29920 (843) 838-3841

• Purchase Gullah/Geechee Artwork in Charleston from Quadré Stuckey and Chuma Gallery at the Charleston Market on Market Street in Charleston, SC

• Destiny Community Café at Scott's Grand 5060 Dorchester Road North Charleston, SC 29418 (888) 415-2224

• Harriet Tubman Monument Gullah Lowcountry Dinner Theater Fundraiser and Ground Breaking in Beaufort, SC: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gullah-lowcountry-dinner-theater-harriet-tubman-monument-fundraiser-tickets-34422790493

• Gullah/Geechee Down Home Party with the Legendary Archie Bell at the Touch of Class Convention Center on historic St. Helena Island, SC: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/archie-bell-on-st-helena-island-sc-in-the-gullahgeechee-nation-tickets-34270053653

• Gullah/Geechee Famlee Day at Mosquito Beach: 


• Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement Festival: www.gullahgeechee.info

• Gullah/Geechee Unity in the Community in Savannah, GA:


• Authentic Gullah/Geechee Tours done by natives of the Gullah/Geechee Nation:


Tenki Tenki ta hunnuh fa jayn we ya een de Gullah/Geechee Nation!  

Win hunnuh git ya we gwine be ya cuz we da de binya fa tru!


 

 Africa is the world's oldest Monarchy on the planet. The Kings and Queen's royal lineage goes back to the beginnings of the human race. The legend has it that when the Irunmole, primordial beings from the house of light, created by Olodumare, sometimes called Katonda, depending upon which lineage of Africa the name changes but the concept stays the same. The concept is clear that our realm was created and maintained by ancient ancestors who birthed the Africa race as the first human beings, built civilizations and all our mysterious systems. This is the true lineage of the Kings and Queens of great and ancient Kingdoms like Oyo, Buganda, Zulu, Tooro, Bunyoro, Fon, Dahomey, Washitaws, and many others. African kingdoms stretch all the way around the world and are everywhere on the planet. So these ancient and wise are these blue bloods of Africa that they sit and wait for the conclusion of the turbulent times we are enduring. They will never surrender, back down, nor yield for they know the great wheel will turn once again in their favor. So like the crocodile a symbol of African endurance, Africa continues.




Gullah/Geechee Nation Celebrates Bike Month!
by Gullah/Geechee Nation




May is "National Bike Month" and the Gullah/Geechee Nation is joining in the celebration!  Not only are the leaders of the Gullah/Geechee Nation encouraging people to participate in "National Bike to Work Week" May 15-19, 2017, they are encouraging Gullah/Geechee and Black bike riders to cycle and cruise down to the St. Helena Community Market in the Dr. Martin L. King Memorial Park on historic St. Helena Island, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation on Saturday, May 20 between 10 am and 3 pm for "Gullah/Geechee Bike & Beauty."
"Gullah/Geechee Bike & Beauty" will be a celebration of Gullah/Geechee & Black bikers on motorcycles and bicycles. It will also celebrate the beauty of Gullah/Geechee culture and how the native Gullah/Geechees express that beauty.   Folks are encouraged to bring Gullah/Geechee & Black youths out on their bicycles to enjoy the hula hooping and double dutch contest.  There will be crafts, books, food, and CDs on sale.  DJ Kwame Sha of All Mobile Productions™ (AMP™) will be mixing while folks enjoy the dance party throughout the day.

"Gullah/Geechee Bike & Beauty" will conclude as part of the "Gullah/Geechee TV & Movie Club" as everyone cycles over to the landmark St. Helena Branch Library for the 2:30 pm screening of the new documentary, "Black Beach/White Beach."  The filmmakers will be on hand to dialogue about this film that shows the history of "Black Bike Week" in the Black Pearl of the Gullah/Geechee Nation-Atlantic Beach and the battle to keep it going.

Although admissions for "Gullah/Geechee Bike & Beauty"  and the film are FREE, attendees are encouraged to go to this link and obtain advance passes:
They can also follow the "Gullah/Geechee Bike & Beauty" Facebook event link for updates and educational information on the history of Black bikers: https://www.facebook.com/events/1371913172903030/

Rev up and roll out fa jayn we fa Gullah/Geechee Bike & Beauty!  
#GGBB #GullahGeechee2020





#MyNameMatters: Queen’s Chronicles: Black Herstory Journey of a Gullah/Geechee
by Gullah/Geechee Nation
by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com)



One of the many things that I truly enjoy about Facebook is the memories from previous years that it provides you.  This allows me to have my life flash before my face electronically.  I often find myself looking back over the years and giving thanks that my living is not in vain.


Part of the blessings of my life have been seeing the places that I have been able to go to and the stories of the women of African descent that I am led to know about.  Each year I tend to go on these journeys during historic preservation month and I tweet and post along with thousands of others #ThisPlaceMatters.  However, as I looked back over the memories of today just after doing research on a name hidden behind a bust that I just saw days ago, I could only think #MyNameMatters.

For hundreds of years African people had their names changed, forgotten, or simply not called.  Don't be in a position like mine and run into those that have envious intents in their hearts because they would rather die before calling your name since your title would be a part of it!   Yet, #MyNameMatters!

My Gullah/Geechee upbringing causes me to be adamant about respecting peoples' titles and calling them by the appropriate names.  So, when I am looking into the eyes of other women of African descent, I want to know their names.  I find that when I am looking into images of ancestors, that urge to know their names is even greater.  So, when I looked into the eyes of Mum Bett, I needed to know her name and her story.



Queen Quet & Mum Bett
Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation and Mum Bett are both freedom fighters!

Last year, I made my way to the property on which Mum Bett's legacy was being "interpreted."  Mum Bett was born into enslavement in New York state around 1742.  When the wife of enslaver, John Ashley attacked her at the site of her enslavement in Massachusetts, Bett appealed to a local abolitionist-Theodore Sedgwick.  Sedgwick who was an attorney, and later became a U.S. Senator, brought her Brom and Bett v. Ashley case to court.   Bett was granted her freedom and 30 shillings in damages in 1781.  She used these funds to obtain her own place in which to raise her family.  I was thankful to stand on the land where she stood and look into her eyes and sense a spirit of freedom.




That sense of freedom I felt this year as I looking into the eyes of a bust at the South Dakota African American History Museum.   Queen Quet at South Dakota African American History MuseumI wondered about the photo sitting on the floor below it of a prideful and strong looking woman of African descent as well.  As I moved my head around trying to peep around things that were not correctly placed in the display, I could see that there were words behind the bust, but no words were near the photo.  I could only make out "Aunt Sally," but everything else was hidden.

Sarah A. Campbell aka "Aunt Sally"



I was annoyed by the fact that the words that were crucial to me knowing who this woman was that was important enough for someone to make a bust of her and to have that bust placed in a museum.   I was annoyed by seeing aVersion 2 proud looking woman and not being able to know who she is!   I said out loud, "I would love to curate this for these folks!"   Her name matters and who she is matters!

For the last couple of days, I have called Aunt Sally's name and tonight I went on to search for details on who she was.  The bust depiction of her reminded me of Aunt Jemima and my spirit was not settled with that.  As I dug and dug, I found out why.

On my westward journey, I looked up information about people of African descent and South Dakota.  I found out that any non-native person was classified as "white."  This meant that people of African descent were listed on legal papers as "white" in South Dakota in the early days.  I found that intriguing in and of itself.  I also knew as a historian that that would only add confusion to people's ancestral searches.  It made it clear just how much race was simply a construct though.



This fact that I had uncovered about classifications in this part of the midwest came into play when I finally got the information that I needed about Aunt Sally.  She was a woman of African descent which made her non-native and therefore, her territorial paperwork listed her as "white."  However, in Kentucky on July 10, 1823 when her mother Marianne gave birth to Sarah who later came to be known as "Sally," she would have been classified as "Negro."

Marianne and all her children where to be manumitted upon the death of her enslaver.  However, like many others during chattel enslavement, she did not live to ever see that day.  She was illegally held captive long after he died.  Her daughter, Sarah decided that was not going to be how she would live nor die.  Therefore, the year after her mother died, 12 year old Sally filed an "unlawful detainment" suit against Henry Chouteau and with the aid of an attorney won her lawsuit and her freedom in 1837. She received a single penny in damages.

Sally had a similar energy and mind for freedom like Mum Bett.  For years she worked on steamboats and even met her husband in that line of work.  She eventually came to be known as "Aunt Sally" as she continued to be enterprising and hard working.

By 1873 Aunt Sally was a widow and she moved to Bismarck, Dakota Territory where she claimed seven lots and operated a private club, did laundry, and was a midwife. She was not simply content with the hard domestic labor which is what was primarily open to women during that time.   So, during Custer's Black Hills Expedition in 1874, she and 20 other Bismarck residents formed the Custer Park Mining Company and staked placer claims on French Creek.

Sarah A. Campbell aka Aunt Sally Mining Pioneer
Sarah A. Campbell aka "Aunt Sally" is the woman in the foreground of this picture at the site of the mining claim.



When the Black Hills Gold Rush began in 1876, Aunt Sally moved with other speculators to Crook City and Galena which were both mining towns on the western border of modern-day South Dakota.  She continued to work as a cook and a midwife while she prospected for gold and silver.   Eventually, the Alice Lode silver mine in the Black Hills proved valuable and she made a profit from it.  Fifteen months before she passed away on April 10, 1888, she sold it for $500.

I am sure that Aunt Sally who was actually pioneer, "Sarah A. Campbell" would join me in saying #MyNameMatters.  Thankfully, I could see her name in the distance and comprehend it and that I could feel her spirit in the eyes of her sculpture urging me to know her name, speak her name, and tell her story.  This is the same thing that I felt when I first read of Mum Bett and the push to do so increased when I stood on the land where she stood and fought.  I pray that when I am gone, someone will look into images or sculptures of me and see in my eyes a message that let's them also hear in their souls #MyNameMatters and that they too shall speak my name and keep the story of my journey alive!

 "As long as a man or woman's name is called, that man or woman never dies." 





Harriet Tubman Statue to be Erected in Beaufort, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation
by Gullah/Geechee Nation







Many people are unaware of the fact that Harriet Tubman, who is most known for her outstanding work freeing enslaved people from bondage via the Underground Railroad, stayed in Beaufort, SC during her service as a soldier and scout.  She served during the United States Civil War and was stationed at Port Royal Island.   In order to enlighten more people in the world about her presence in Beaufort County, SC former South Carolina General Assembly member, Rev. Kenneth C. Hodges made sure that the bridge over the Combahee River was renamed in honor of Harriet Tubman and now there will also be a monument erected in Beaufort at the Tabernacle Baptist Church where he pastors to her honor.
Join the Beaufort Gullah/Geechee Famlee at the "Gullah Lowcountry Dinner Theater" on Friday, May 26, 2017 at 5:30 pm. This event will feature a presentation by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) entitled "Hallelujah Harriet: Mother Moses and de Gullah/Geechee." The entire event is a fundraiser for the Harriet Tubman Monument which will be placed at Tabernacle Baptist Church Campus.  Advance tickets are on sale.   The ground breaking ceremony for the monument will take place on Saturday, May 27, 2017 at 10 am and is free and open to the public.
Harriet Tubman Fundraiser Dinner



For more information about the event and how to contribute to the monument, go to
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gullah-lowcountry-dinner-theater-harriet-tubman-monument-fundraiser-tickets-34422790493.  You can also email GullGeeCo@aol.com or go by the new Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center at 1908 Boundary Street in Beaufort, SC.  Tickets are on sale at the Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center, Lybensons Gallery, and Tabernacle Baptist Church in Beaufort, SC as well as at the aforementioned link.  

Bring the family to this monumental celebration!



As most know by now the Earth is a plane covered by a domed sky but what is most important is the Earth doesn't go around the Sun. In Ancient times, only 5 wandering stars, now called planets were recognized, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. There's some serious doubt if Uranus, Pluto and Neptune actually really exist. Pluto was classified not a planet not to long ago. But the question remains, how did the Ancient African Egyptians know when to start counting the year? Well the Ancient seers figured that Sirius, called the Dog Star, rose each year along with the Sun in a particular constellation of the time each July 23rd after 13 moon cycles. The current constellation of our time is currently Pisces. It is said the entire cycle started in the age of Leo. The 12 constellations slowly turn around the Earth, and the Sun and Moon also circle the Earth. Yet the 12 constellations take about 25,000 years to make a complete circle of the Earth. Hermes, also known as Tehuti, referred to this progression cycle as the "Great Wheel". It was said no force on Earth can stop the turning of the Great Wheel. Thus the Change of Worlds can never be averted. Each age as they are called, lasts about 2160 years, and each has its own characteristics that dominate the life of man and animal. In the physical sense, the Sun and the star Sirius are engaged in an elliptical path, a figure 8 crossing velocity/path. Whenever the Sun and Sirius are far apart we enter into a time of disorder and disharmony. Whenever the Sun and Sirius move closer together we enter into a time of order and harmony. This relationship is divided into 2 (6) month periods, thus Great Year, one is a down cycle and the other an up cycle. It is good to know that in 2012 the Earth and humanity entered into the good cycle of the Great Year. We are now entering the last degree of the Sun rising each day in Pisces constellation which is 2018, and in 72 years the Sun will rise each day in the age of Aquarius . The Ancient African Egyptians divided each constellation into 30 degrees, and then divided them further into 3 sets of 10 degrees so we divide 2160 by 30 to get 72 years for each degree. In Yoruba Cosmology the Aquarius the house ruler is Sango and wherever you have Sango you have his cosmic twin sister and wife Oya. Sango has found the secret to Oya's power or has Oya stole Sango's power? Whatever the case, an equal balance of strong masculine and feminine energy makes for a formidable force. Sango is the King of the Earth from the Alaafin of Oyo to the Kababa of Buganda, West and East Africa, African Kings have always adorned the color red as a symbol of their royal divine power. Ase.  

Alaafin of Oyo 


Kabaka of Buganda


Maasi Warriors 



Palace Guard Senegal





Sirius Descendants of the Kingdoms of Africa



The Elliptical Path of the Sun and the Star Sirius

The Twin Flames 





Gullah/Geechee Nation Leaders Fight for Environmental Equity
by Gullah/Geechee Nation



Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) is continuing the "Gullah/Geechee Land & Legacy World Tour" in the Great Plains and the Great Lakes region.  On this leg of the tour, the focus is environmental equity.   At many locations of the tour, members of the Gullah/Geechee histo-musical presentation troupe, De Gullah Cunneckshun join Queen Quet.  However, this month, Gullah/Geechee Nation Minister of Information and Protocol Elder Carlie Towne and Representative Glenda Simmons-Jenkins will be on the journey.

These three leaders of the Gullah/Geechee Nation will head to Minnesota to present at the University of Minnesota's Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change at 11 am on Monday, May 8, 2017.  The "Cultural Continuation and Sustainability on the Sea Islands of the Gullah/Geechee" presentation is FREE and open to the public.


They will continue the fight for environmental equity by presenting at the National Adaptation Forum.   Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation is one of the panelists for How to Start and Conduct a Tribal/Indigenous Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment which will be held in Meeting Room 4 at 2:50 pm on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.

Queen Quet, Elder Carlie Towne, and Representative Glenda Simmons-Jenkins will be joined by Gullah/Geechee Sustainability Think Tank members for De Wata Risin, but de Culcha Thrivin: Gullah/Geechee Cultural Collaboration Engagement Circle also to be held in Meeting Room 4 at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, May 10, 2017.

De Wata Risin, but de Culcha Thrivin: Gullah/Geechee Cultural Collaboration Engagement Circle will build on a training previously done for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by this Gullah/Geechee leadership trio.  The NAF sessions will provide updated information on the current environmental issues that the Gullah/Geechee Nation is on the front shorelines with and will show how they are standing and fighting for equity.



Gullah/Geechee Events een De Conch Spring 2017 Edition
by Gullah/Geechee Nation



Ef bout Gullah/Geechee hunnuh wan kno, den yeddi De Conch da blo!
De Conch Spring 2017 Edition Cover

De Conch is the official ezine of the Gullah/Geechee Nation.  Make sure to read, download, and share.  Most of all, we look forward to seeing you here!  This edition features the spring and summer events in the Gullah/Geechee Nation!






"Yoruba Art Speaks Volumes on the necessity of Feminine Energy in building great and strong communities." 






Pray-z in the Park at St. Helena Island Community Market
by Gullah/Geechee Nation



Pray-z in the Park at St. Helena Island Community Market

We hope to #SeeYouOnTheGreen for the first Market Day of the month this Saturday, May 6th.  We are celebrating Military Appreciation Month as well as Pray-Z-in-the-Park on the center stage. And since it was such a big hit last month, there will be jump rope/double-dutch, hula-hoop, and community chess available all-day at the Market!

St. Helena Island Community Market





I Was Free and They Should Be Free! Harriet Tubman Journey of the Gullah/Geechee
by Gullah/Geechee Nation



"The most important thing was that I had a purpose-to get my kin out of bondage by any means."
• Harriet Tubman #UndergroundWGN

I sat this evening watching and listening, meditating and feeling.  I had to hold the shouting for later as I sat in the clearing listening to Harriet Tubman.

This was not the first time that I listened to Harriet Tubman.  I have heard her speak to my soul for decades through pages and on stages as I told her story and how it linked to my people in the Gullah/Geechee Nation.  This was a story never written in the pages that I started reading about her from the first library book that I every checked out at 4 years old.  I read every book about her that I could find for years after that.  Once I started writing myself, I researched her life and I knew that this part of her story which kept coming into my spirit had to be told.  So, I spoke her story.  Harriet and I began to speak together.

I guess the conversations were what caused me to start my own journey to Underground Railroad locations where I even went into hiding places in walls in old homes and saw caves and wooded areas and listened to family members of conductors recount the oral histories of their families in the United States and Canada.  I still never felt as drawn to any part of the journey until I sat in Sea Island woods for a photograph for my production, "The Underground Railroad: A Geechee Girl's Escape."  When I rose from the position on the tree where I sat, I ran.  I felt someone's spirit running with me and I felt I was being directed on a journey.  As I looked into the eyes of Aisha Hinds as she portrayed Mama Moses on WGN's "Underground" tonight, I felt that energy once again.  It was strongly standing with me and pushing me at the same time.  Then I heard:

"Ain't nothin that can't be endured when ya got a purpose."

Once again, I had to tie my mule and hold on the shouting as I sat back and embraced this energy.

This energy is freedom that I keep telling folks ain't free.  This energy is what has caused me to have been at ceremony after ceremony receiving awards with Harriet Tubman's name and face on them and hearing people say that they gave these to me for embodying her spirit.  Each time I heard these words, I was back in the energy that surrounded me from a child when I first met Harriet on pages of paper and her spirit rose from them to walk with me and run with me and sing with me and then she started to shout with me.  However, right now, we had to both sit down for a minute in this clearing which through the blessing of technology can be seen into via what we call a TV.  WGN, Tenki Tenki!

I heard the words that I have often said and been hated for saying spoken from Mama Moses' mouth which was on the body of my sister of Underground, Aisha Hinds:

"There ain't no negotiations on freedom."

Gullah/Geechee Souljahs have known this for generations.  We still stand without negotiating our souls and our land.  We stand against allowing our people to be in bondage because then our land itself would become as strange as the land of freedom felt to Harriet when she found that she had crossed into it, but was standing there alone.

Many people do not realize it, but during the Civil War, thousands of Gullah/Geechee stayed in place because they felt that if they left, their family wouldn't be able to find them.  Right now, if we leave, our family wouldn't be able to find us because truly finding your family is a spiritual thing.  Tenk GAWD de wata bring we and de wata tek we bak ta we famlee!  Tenk GAWD fa de freedum pun disya islandts een de sea!  Tenk GAWD fa blessin and anointin we Gullah/Geechee and FREE!

Thank GOD that Mother Harriet Tubman's family extended beyond Bucktown, MD and beyond Auburn, NY and reached to the Sea Islands.  Thank GOD with a bounty on her head she was Heavenly led to take the steps into the wilderness where the clearing ended up on the island of Port Royal and some were in the woods along the Combahee and even where she came to share a few days on my beloved St. Helena.  She continued to leave tracks as a soldier throughout the Gullah/Geechee Nation because she truly believed in her heart and soul the same way that I do:

"The most important thing was that I had a purpose-to get my kin out of bondage by any means."

I am still going down and I pray that Moses does too, but when we rise, we rise in the power that GOD gave us to bring about freedom for our people which is the only way that you can have freedom too.  So, I continue to appreciate these opportunities to meet Mother Harriet in the clearing in order to RISE UP as Underground has charged us all to do!







Queen Quet of the Gullah/Geechee Nation on WURD’s “Information is the Best Medicine”
by Gullah/Geechee Nation


This week on "Information is the Best Medicine"
Saturday, April 15, 2017 at 9:00am (EST)



The origin of the Gullah/Geechee people is connected to the transatlantic slave-trade of the 17th and 18th centuries.  Modern-day researchers designate the region stretching from Sandy Island, South Carolina, to Amelia Island, Florida, as the Gullah Coast—the locale of the culture that built some of the richest plantations in the South.

The Gullah/Geechee culture has retained ethnic traditions from West Africa since the mid-1700s. 

South Carolina's Lowcountry holds a major place of importance in African-American history for many reasons, but perhaps most importantly as a port of entry for people of African descent. According to several historians, anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of the Africans who were brought to America during the slave trade entered through ports in the Lowcountry. 

The Gullah/Geechee culture on the Sea Islands has retained ethnic traditions from West Africa since the mid-1700s. 

Queen Quet, Chieftess and Head-of-State for the Gullah/Geechee Nation joins Glenn Ellis this week to discuss some of the social, political, and economic issues that impact the future, following 400 years of survival among  the Gullah/Geechee people.
Be sure to tune in, and tell someone who's health you care about!
Saturday, April 15, 2017 at 9:00am (EST) on 900 WURD.

Streaming live at www.900amwurd.com.

The Plane Earth of Existence

As in Yoruba, "Ile" to spread out. 

In Luganda, "Lubaale", the domed sky. 








Africa's Natural Resources






The following in an excerpt from a lecture given by Mallence Bart Williams in 2015 (TEDxBerlin).

"One thing that keeps me puzzled, despite having studied finance and economics at the world’s best universities, the following question remains unanswered. Why is it that 5,000 units of our currency is worth one unit of your currency where we are the ones with the actual gold reserves? It’s quite evident that the aid is in fact not coming from the West to Africa but from Africa to the Western world. The Western world depends on Africa in every possible way since alternative resources are scarce out here. So how does the West ensure that the free aid keeps coming? By systematically destabilizing the wealthiest African nations and their systems, and all that backed by huge PR campaigns -- leaving the entire world under the impression that Africa is poor and dying and merely surviving on the mercy of the West.

Well done Oxfam, UNICEF, Red Cross, Live Aid, and all the other organizations that continuously run multi-million-dollar advertisement campaigns depicting charity porn to sustain that image of Africa globally. Ad campaigns paid for by innocent people under the impression to help, with their donations. While one hand gives under the flashing lights of cameras, the other takes in the shadows. We all know the dollar is worthless, while the Euro is merely charged with German intellect and technology and maybe some Italian pasta. How can one expect donations from nations that have so little?

How super sweet of you to come with your colored paper in exchange for our gold and diamonds. But instead you should come empty-handed, filled with integrity and honor. I want to share with you our wealth and invite you to share with us. The perception is that a healthy and striving Africa would not disperse its resources as freely and cheaply, which is logical. Of course, it would instead sell its resources at world market prices, which in turn would destabilize and weaken Western economies established on the post-colonial free-meal system.

Last year the IMF reports that six out of 10 of the world's fastest-growing economies are in Africa, measured by their GDP growth. The French Treasury, for example, is receiving about 500 billion dollars year in year out, in foreign exchange reserves from African countries based on Colonial Debt they force them to pay. Former French President Jacques Chirac stated in an interview recently that we have to be honest and acknowledge that a big part of the money in our banks comes precisely from the exploitation of the African continent. In 2008 he stated that without Africa, France will slide down in the rank of a third-world power.

This is what happens in the human world. The world we have created.

Have you ever wondered how things work in nature? One would assume that in evolution, the fittest survives. However in nature any species that is overhunting, over-exploiting the resources they depend on as nourishment, natural selection would sooner or later take the predator out, because it upsets the balance."








Attention! Attention! 

Gullah Flags and Tshirts go on sale in July!

Get Your Gullah Gee Chee Flag

Be Proud of Your Heritage

Remember the Brave Gullah Warriors who ended chattel slavery! 

Honor the Heroines and Heroes who built African civilization in the West. 

To order click here: http://www.gullahgeechee.biz/







African Women Baskets 
Continuing tradition across continents




Gullah Women Basket Weavers



Ugandan Women Basket Weavers 



Nigeria Basket Weavers
Everything big in Nigeria! 
The Giant of Africa





Attention Yorubas and Nigerian Diaspora! 




 Alaafin of Oyo Imperial Majesty Oba Adeyemi III
&
Governor of Oyo State Senator Abiola Ajimobi 


His Royal Majesty Of Oyotunji Oba Adefunmi II 
meets the 
 Alaafin of Oyo His Imperial Majesty Adeyemi III


Last year HRM Oba Adefunmi II meet with 
the Ooni of Ile Ife Ojaja II Alayeluwa Ooni Adeyeye Enitan 

It good to see the King Oba Adefunmi II continue in the legacy of his father the late King of Oyotunji who had a vision that Oyo would rise again, thus Oyo Tunji. Ase. 



Talking drummers in Lagos Celebration attended by HRM Oba Adefunmi II





The Oyo State Agricultural Initiative

AgricOYO, the Oyo State Agricultural Initiative is an all-encompassing agricultural programme conceived by the Governor of Oyo State.

The Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi in his administration's efforts to diversify the economy of the State by urgently transforming agriculture into a preferred and sustainable economic activity for the state and a significant majority of its citizens.

Objectives

Job creation, Poverty alleviation and Food Security through massive engagement of the human and material resources of the government and citizens of Oyo State all through the agricultural value chain.

Positioning Oyo State as the food basket of Southern Nigeria with the ultimate aim of servicing the food needs of the West African sub-region.

The Stakeholder Population

The programme provides a level-playing ground for all categories of individuals and organizations across state and national boundaries to participate in developing agriculture in Oyo State.

From the Unemployed, the Youth, Women and Men, Students and Farmers to Manufacturers, Universities, Research Institutes, Financial Institutions, Investors, Corporations, Governments, Non-Governmental Organizations, Donor Agencies and all others involved in the agricultural value chain.

The Benefits on Offer

Partnering with a very enthusiastic Governor Abiola Ajimobi who is irrevocably and personally committed to transforming Agriculture into the net employer of labour in Oyo State.
A largely urbanised state that is endowed with the largest amount of arable land in the South of Nigeria.
A vast market about to be opened up and driven by some of the most competitive and business-friendly agrarian policies ever.
A business environment with the right mix of the market forces of demand and supply e.g a huge population, with highly educated manpower, established with considerable infrastructural and socio-economic competences, etc.
A market with the highest concentration of agro-allied research and other tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
The assurance of focused government support and mediation across all the stages of the agricultural value chain - from planting, processing to marketing.
An invitation to come 'Land In Wealth'!


  You can now register,partner and be a part of the Oyo state govt agriculture initiative via 

His Royal Highness Prince Adeyemi Akeem 




Aare Ona Kakanfo?







It was the most startling fact I've ever come across when I first heard it from Master Teacher Bobbi Hemmitt. That long before Columbus, there lived in both Americas, very sophisticated Africans called the, "Muurs", or Morocco Empire. It seems to be that native Africans in the West were here for thousands of years, some of them were from Northern Africa in the Kingdom of Morocco. There are many legal books which have treaties the early British and Spanish colonialists agreed with the Muurs . There is tons of empirical evidence, including countless photos, depicting many so-called Native American tribes as Black/Africans. Some of the clothing was North African, many of the customs held mimic African tradition. In fact, the Natives of Hawaii are in fact Africans, prior to mix breeding with Japanese and American Whites, most Hawaiians were very dark African, this includes real photos of the royal family of Hawaii. These photos are presented are from the time period of the 17th and 18th century depicting Africans as not only living in Africa but all throughout the West and Pacific. There's so much evidence supporting the Muurs history that its safe to say Africans are the largest and most diverse culturally and geographically race upon Earth.  Ase. 





Empress Devine Speaks! 

Empress of Washitaw ( Stolen Louisiana Purchase land )






Queen Califia the Royal Mother and Queen Sovereign of California The territory of Africans prior to invasion by the Spanish. 


The Royal Queen of Hawaii Royal Mother and Queen Sovereign of  Lydia Kamaka'eha Paki




 Lydia Kamaka'eha Paki, the future Queen Liliuokalani in her youth



The Last King of Hawaii 

King Kalākaua, born David Laʻamea Kamanakapuʻu Mahinulani Nalaiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua, was the last reigning




South Pacific Islanders Black Africans

Papua New Guinea.
Bougainville islanders




Highlanders Papua New Guinea



Solomon islands



Vanuatu



Early Native American Photos

Somebody's lying. 






His Royal Majesty Kabaka Mutesa II

&
His wife Nnabagereka Sylvia Nagginda 



Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru IV
&
His Mom Queen Mother Best Kemigisa 




President Yoweri Museveni  meeting with the King




When I think of the Empire of Bunyoro it saddens me to know this once great expansion and protector of the people is almost forgotten. The Kitara Empire is the Father and Mother of Tooro Kingdom. As Kintu was royalty who came to establish Buganda as a great dynasty the Omokama of Tooro was also of royal legend born of the royal house of Bunyoro-Kitara. Ase. 

The Kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara is the remainder of a once powerful empire of Kitara. At the hight of its glory, the empire included present day Masindi, Hoima, Kibaale, Kabarole and Kasese districts; also parts of present day Western Kenya, Northern Tanzania and Eastern Congo. That Bunyoro-Kitara is only a skeleton of what it used to be is an absolute truth to which History can testify.


His Royal  Majesty

Rukirabasaija Agutamba Solomon Gafabusa Iguru I 


His wife, H.M Omugo Margaret Adyeri Karunga 

and OmokamaOyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru IV royal descendant of Kitara 




His Royal His Highness, David Onen Acana II,

Paramount Chief of Acholi Kingdom


The Ding Ding dance, young girls put on dance performances to attract the young boys of Acholi kingdom. Acholi women and girls are known for the most elaborate dances in all of Uganda. This is a culture centered around women and men love for each other in their complementary natures. 






Famous Pan-Africanist Okot p'Bitek,an Acholi tribe man, poet and author of the Song of Lawino


African Queens & Women Cultural Leaders' Network - Aqwcln



Co-Founded by Her Royal Highness Nnabagereka Sylvia Nagginda 

&

Tooro Queen Mother Her Royal Highness Best Kemigisa 






A walk through video of the Ekisaakaate Project




EKISAKAATE PROJECT (Royal Enclosure)
INTRODUCTION

Ekisaakaate is the traditional enclosure of a homestead of a local chief in Buganda. Traditionally, the children would be taken to the Kabaka’s loyal chiefs where they would be groomed into responsible adults of the future. Future kings too, were never spared this noble inculcation. Ekisaakaate was a prime institution where a child was exposed development of character, leaning of valuable life skills as well as discovery of new interests through practical training. Hence, the alumni of this informal education and training institution were the model icons of society in manners, discipline, responsibility, cultural norms and values of the Baganda.

Although the training in the kisaakaate was purposely for the boys, the girls were also attended to through the training offered under the auspices of the paternal aunties (bassenga). They acquired skills in domestic affairs, parenthood and family development The boys too, who underwent the KISAAKAATE training became respectable fathers with the best qualities of leadership. 





Ekisaakaate together with the aunties’ training therefore, prepared the young ones for the future, equipped them with life skills to counteract the challenges in life. Hence, such sayings as:
“Weeyisa nga atali Muganda!” (you behave like a non – Muganda)
“Tewatuuzibwa” (you were never counseled)
“Omuganda tayisa atyo!” (A Muganda does not behave thus) and many others would be used to express dismay about someone who behaved in a way dissimilar to that of the kisaakaate trainees





Modern civilization however has accelerated moral decadence and societal degeneration. The scramble for economic survival and earthly wealth and prowess has betrayed parents with irresponsibility and hence exposed their children to horrible temptations. The parents today do not have time to spare for their children. The commercial aunties (bassenga) of today just sow seeds of obscenity and immorality. Today’s generation has missed out on their grannies’ love and tenderness simply because modern parents have shunned their parents’ role in bringing their grandchildren. As a consequence the children grow up not only alienated from their roots but also from the wealth of the life experience owned by the cultured grannies that are still living.  

The schools where the children now spend most of their time are after academic excellence and would never sacrifice their valuable time for a venture that is commercially meaningless. Programs for the life skills that are provided on the school timetable are just gambled with because the facilitators are more comfortable with exam oriented curriculum.

Hence, for the concern of our nation, salvaging and redirecting the people of our Mother Buganda, Uganda and the Baganda in diaspora into a secure and peaceful path, the Ekisaakaate put into action to strive after handle responsibly the challenges imposed by politics, economics, society, ideology, foreign, culture, religions and technology.

IDENTITY AND LOCATION

The Ekisaakaate Program is a semi-autonomous body under guidance of the NDF board. 
Its office is currently located in Bulange Building at Mengo and works closely with the Office of Her Royal Highness, The Nnaabagereka (Queen of Buganda.)

GOAL

Ensure that our people in the Buganda Kingdom and Uganda in general build and achieve a holistic, transformational and sustainable development in our society.

MISSION

To nurture a new and holistic society by educating people on the basis of SEE, LEARN and ACT.

VISION

Being a foundation for the new and holistic society

OBJECTIVES

The Ekisaakaate Program aims to achieve mainly the following socio-economic and education objectives:
To instill and strengthen self-knowledge, self-belief and self control in the people.
To instill and strengthen responsibility, good leadership and good moral values in the people, ethical conduct, integrity, decorum and politeness.
To instill and strengthen in the people the potential to invent and to become rich through the right means.
To instill and strengthen the potential in the people in order to protect and defend their social and physical environment and to use it in the most profitable manner.
To instill and strengthen in the people the zeal to keep their bodies fit and healthy.
To instill and strength in the people their faith in God and justice.
To instill and strengthen in the people the love for the Luganda language and to use it well.
PROGRAMMES
THE CAMPS  2006,2007,2008.
CURRICULUM
REGISTRATION
EKISAAKATE 2009.

Why Uganda is one of the world’s most hospitable refugee destinations


Uganda is open for business




Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center Opens on Saturday!
by Gullah/Geechee Nation




The Gullah/Geechee Family of Beaufort County, SC will be shouting and giving thanks this coming Saturday, April 8, 2017 at 1 pm as the first "Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center" opens at 1908 Boundary Street in the City of Beaufort, SC.   The new space will offer visitors to the area seeking information on Gullah/Geechee businesses, events, history, and culture a place to stop and receive it before engaging in this unique living culture that exist throughout the Gullah/Geechee Nation from Jacksonville, NC to Jacksonville, FL.

For this historic day, none other than Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) herself will be there to meet and greet the guests and autograph books, CDs, and DVDs.  Queen Quet has written numerous volumes on Gullah/Geechee history, heritage, and culture.  Her first Gullah/Geechee anthology even won a human rights award.   The first two history books that she wrote focus specifically on her home island of St. Helena and then the rest of the islands of Beaufort County.

Beaufort County primarily consist of Sea Islands which have been the staging ground for numerous aspects of history including the continuation of Gullah/Geechee culture.   The county also came to be the seat of Reconstruction where part of the Freedmen's Bureau was located.   Thus, Beaufort County was designated the location of a multi-site Reconstruction Era National Monument.  Those coming in to learn more about that national monument and the history of the era can also stop by the Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center to pick up literature.

The Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center Grand Opening will be a celebration with food, music, artistic expression, and Gullah/Geechee history fa tru!  So, hunnuh chillun cum jayn we and bring de famlee!


Control the Food Control the People







Gullah/Geechee Nation in “Exiled from History: America’s Maroons
by Gullah/Geechee Nation








Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation pouring a libation at the Gullah/Geechee Seminole Maroon Reunion.


Dr. Amir Jamal Toure of Dayclean Journeys


Exiled from History: America’s Maroons


















Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) and Dr. Amir Jamal Toure are two Gullah/Geechee Nation leaders and scholars featured in the new documentary, "Exiled from History: America's Maroons."  The Gullah/Geechee TV & Movie Club will host a screening of the film with the filmmakers and both scholars on historic St. Helena Island, SC in the fall.  In the meantime, tune in to the online broadcast here and share:
Celebrate Gullah/Geechee Sustainability and Self-Sufficiency on St. Helena Island
Celebrate Gullah/Geechee Sustainability and Self-Sufficiency
at the St. Helena Island Community Market's 
Tunis Campbell Day
The St. Helena Island Community Market will open its second month of activities for 2017 with "Tunis Campbell Day" and a seed swap on Saturday, April 1, 2017 from 10 am to 3 pm at the Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Park on historic St. Helena Island, SC.  The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition is proud to collaborate with the market on this celebration of Gullah/Geechee sustainability and self-sufficiency in honor of Freedman's Bureau Commissioner Tunis Campbell who assisted with land redistribution on the Sea Islands.  Given that Beaufort County is now the location of the new multi-site US Reconstruction Era National Monument, the St. Helena Island Community Market participants seek to provide more information to the attendees regarding this aspect of history.   To that end, Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) will do a presentation regarding Tunis Campbell at "Tunis Campbell Day."

Queen Quet will also celebrate the anniversary of her first visit to the United Nations to speak to the Human Rights Commission on behalf of Gullah/Geechee people at the "Tunis Campbell Day."  That historic event took place on April 1, 1999.  Queen Quet has dedicated her life to protecting Gullah/Geechee land rights and the continuation of Gullah/Geechee culture.  Her life has many parallels to that of Tunis Campbell.  She also served as a federal commissioner and encountered many of the obstacles to land rights protection that Tunis Campbell did.   Being a native of St. Helena Island caused Queen Quet to know what Sea Island self-sufficiency is first hand and she is proud to be a part of the St. Helena Island Community Market which continues to support self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Queen Quet will do a book, CD, and DVD signing and there will be a number of other crafts and musical artists and entrepreneurs taking part in the St. Helena Island Community Market which takes place on the 1st and 3rd Saturday each month.  For those that are interested in more information about the market, please email info@StHelenaIslandCommunityMarket.com or go to www.StHelenaIslandCommunityMarket.com or email GullGeeCo@aol.com.

Cum jayn we fa celebrate Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Self-Sufficiency!


Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center Grand Opening!
by Gullah/Geechee Nation



Come celebrate the dedication of the new Gullah/Geechee Visitors Center 1908 Boundary Street at the intersection of Highway 21 and Ribaut Road in Beaufort, SC!  Enjoy an afternoon of Gullah/Geechee sounds, scenes, and cuisine as we welcome folks to our coast!

For more info, call (843) 525-9006 or

email GullGeeCo@aol.com or lybensons@aol.com.

E gwine be a time!
Gullah/Geechee TV & Movie Club at Penn Center Launches with “Reconstruction: The Second Civil War”
by Gullah/Geechee Nation







The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition and Penn Center, Inc. are partnering to host a series of movies at the York W. Bailey Museum at Penn Center on historic St. Helena Island, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation.  These monthly gatherings will take place at 6 pm on the 4th Thursday.  The entire community is invited to come out to be a part of the new "Penn Gullah/Geechee TV & Movie Club."   Each showing will involve dialogues and links to additional educational resources for each film or TV broadcast.

Reconstruction: The Second Civil War




The "Penn Gullah/Geechee TV & Movie Club" will begin on Thursday, March 23rd at 6 pm with Part 1 of the documentary, "Reconstruction: The Second Civil War."  Part 2 will be shown on April 27th.   Both parts will be introduced by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) who appeared in and consulted for the documentary which aired on PBS when it was first released.





Reconstruction: The Second Civil War

Given that Penn Center's Darrah Hall just became a part of the new multi-site "Reconstruction Era National Monument," this film showing will be a wonderful continuation of the celebration of this historic designation!

For more information email GullGeeCo@aol.com or call the History, Art & Cultural Programs Department at Penn Center, Inc. at (843) 838-2432.

Come celebrate the Gullah/Geechee historical legacy at the "Penn Gullah/Geechee TV & Movie Club!"  

Hunnuh gwine yeddi plenee bout webe!





Moon Magic

The following is a wonderful interview conducted by two sisters engaging and spreading the information about the Moon's feminine mystical power. The moon's power is very essential for women, also men, who also need to re-connect with the divine mother. Please click the Youtube tab to take you to the channel hosted by the video up-loader. Thank you! 





How Yoruba Keep Time

Best times to follow for when to do a ritual is natural occurring times. 

As you know by now from the Flat Earth revelation, a marvel of our time, the Earth does not go around the Sun. But instead, the Sun travels around the Earth, as does the Moon, as the Earth sits perfectly still enclosed by the Domed Sky, "Lubaale", from the Lugandan language of Buganda Kingdom, Uganda. The stars are located inside of the plasma dome, the planets revolve like the Sun and Moon around the Earth, all are but illuminates of cosmic energy of the Irunmole. Do not use hours and seconds as time is not mechanical. There are no Church bells, sand glasses, watches and koo koo clocks in nature. Follow natural order of the day, for Orunmila best time is Sunrise, for Oya and other female dieties that best time is when the Moon is out or at midnight. There are times the moon rises and sets and this is good to use. But please pay attention to the times given in the video as these are natural times. The Clock of Nature.  Ase.

The Yoruba Calendar is in its 10061st year. 
That's how long Yorubas have been keeping oral records of the sky's rotation. The Yoruba New Year begins with the Ifa Festival, which is June 2nd, until June 3rd following  year, consisting of 13 moon cycles of 365 days, with one day for time out. 

Yoruba 4 Day Spiritual Week

Day 1 is dedicated to Obatala (Sopanna, Iyaami, and the Egungun)

Day 2 is dedicated to Orunmila (Esu and Osun) *

Day 3 is dedicated to Ogun (Osoosi)

Day 4 is dedicated to Sango (Oya)

4 day week/7 weeks is 28 days


Ifa Orisa Calendar
April 2017 OSU IGBE

1 Obatala/Egungun/Iyaami/Sanpanna
2 Ifa/Esu/Osun/Aje/Yemoja/Olokun
3 Ogun/Osoosi/Orisa Oko
4 Sango/Oya
5 Obatala/Egungun/Iyaami/Sanpanna
6 Ifa/Esu/Osun/Aje/Yemoja/Olokun ***
7 Ogun/Osoosi/Orisa Oko
8 Sango/Oya
9 Obatala/Egungun/Iyaami/Sanpanna
10 Ifa/Esu/Osun/Aje/Yemoja/Olokun
11 Ogun/Osoosi/Orisa Oko X
12 Sango/Oya
13 Obatala/Egungun/Iyaami/Sanpanna
14 Ifa/Esu/Osun/Aje/Yemoja/Olokun
15 Ogun/Osoosi/Orisa Oko
16 Sango/Oya
17 Obatala/Egungun/Iyaami/Sanpanna
18 Ifa/Esu/Osun/Aje/Yemoja/Olokun
19 Ogun/Osoosi/Orisa Oko
20 Sango/Oya
21 Obatala/Egungun/Iyaami/Sanpanna
22 Ifa/Esu/Osun/Aje/Yemoja/Olokun ***
23 Ogun/Osoosi/Orisa Oko
24 Sango/Oya
25 Obatala/Egungun/Iyaami/Sanpanna
26 Ifa/Esu/Osun/Aje/Yemoja/Olokun 0
27 Ogun/Osoosi/Orisa Oko
28 Sango/Oya
29 Obatala/Egungun/Iyaami/Sanpanna
30 Ifa/Esu/Osun/Aje/Yemoja/Olokun
*** = Itadogun
X = Full Moon
0 = New Moon


How We Keep Time





Moon Phases: What the Bible God hides. 





How to use the Moon's energy








New Moon
New Seeds
New Goals
New Ideas
New Challenges
New Experiences


Crescent Moon
Sprouting Period
Momentum
Memory

First Quarter Moon
Tests
Resistance
Surfacing Imperfection


Gibbous Moon
Anticipation
Balance
Structure
Full Moon
Illumination
Perfection
Manifestation
Crescent Moon
Sprouting Period
Momentum
Memory


Disseminating Moon
Release
Circulation
Sewing Seeds
Transform


Last Quarter Moon
Maturation
Karma
Final Product



Balsamic Moon
Ending
Reflection
Closure of the Ritual









Moon Aspects

Moon Conjunct Mercury
Moon Square Mercury
Moon Trine Mercury
Moon Opposite Mercury
  Moon Conjunct Venus
Moon Sextile Venus
Moon Square Venus
Moon Opposite Venus
  Moon Conjunct Mars
Moon Sextile Mars
Moon Square Mars
Moon Opposite Mars
  Moon Conjunct Jupiter
Moon Sextile Jupiter
Moon Square Jupiter
Moon Trine Jupiter
  Moon Conjunct Saturn
Moon Sextile Saturn
Moon Square Saturn
Moon Trine Saturn
Moon Opposite Saturn Moon Conjunct Uranus
Moon Sextile Uranus
Moon Square Uranus
Moon Trine Uranus
Moon Opposite Uranus Moon Conjunct Neptune
Moon Sextile Neptune
Moon Square Neptune
Moon Trine Neptune
  Moon Conjunct Pluto
Moon Sextile Pluto
Moon Square Pluto
Moon Trine Pluto

Planets via speed 

Saturn – 2 minutes 1 second
Jupiter – 4 minutes 52 seconds
Mars – 37 minutes
Sun – 59 minutes 8 seconds
Venus – 59 minutes 8 seconds
Mercury – 59 minutes 8 seconds
Moon – 13 degrees, 10 minutes, 36 seconds

Planets by Strongest Influence

Moon
Mercury
Venus
Sun
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn 



The Moon as she travels the sky spends about 2 1/2 days in these 12 star/Illuminates Constellation. So after you figure out the moon phase the next step, find out the house of the day, then you can double your manifestation, or rather, zero in more accurately the cosmic energy towards your project/ritual.  

Aries- A fire sign. Barren and dry. Harvest root and fruit for storage. Cultivate, destroy weeds and pests.

Taurus image
Taurus- An earth sign. Productive and moist. Second best for planting and transplanting. Good for root crops and potatoes, especially when hardiness is important. Also a good sign for leafy vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage and spinach.

Gemini image
Gemini- An air sign. Barren and dry. Harvest root and fruit for storage. Cultivate, destroy weeds and pests. Melon seeds respond well in this sign.

Cancer image
Cancer- A water sign. Very fruitful and moist. The best sign for all planting and transplanting. Also good for grafting, and irrigation.

Leo image
Leo- A fire sign. Very barren and dry. Cultivate, harvest root and fruit for storage. An excellent time to destroy weeds and pests in the fourth quarter.

Virgo image
Virgo- An earth sign. Barren and moist. Some flowers and vines are favored by it. Cultivate and destroy weeds and pests.

Libra image
Libra- An air signs. Semi-fruitful and moist. Best sign for planting beautiful and fragrant flowers, vines and herbs. Good for planting pulpy stems like kohlrabi, and root crops.

Scorpio image
Scorpio- A water sign. Very fruitful and moist. Best planting sign for sturdy plants and vines. Tomatoes like to be transplanted in Scorpio, and it is a good sign for corn and squash. Graft or prune in the third and fourth quarter to retard growth and promote better fruit. A good sign for irrigation and transplanting.

Sagittarius image
Sagittarius- A fire sign. Barren and dry. Harvest roots and onions for storage, and plant onion sets and fruit trees. A good sign in which to cultivate the soil.

Capricorn image
Capricorn- An earth sign. Productive and dry. Good for planting potatoes and other root crops, and for encouraging strong hardy growth. Good for grafting, and pruning to promote healing, and applying organic fertilizer.

Aquarius image
Aquarius- An air sign. Barren and dry. Harvest root and fruit for storage. Cultivate, destroy weeds and pests. Good for planting onion sets.

Pisces image
Pisces- A water sign. Very productive and moist. Second best sign for planting and transplanting. Especially good for root growth and irrigation.


The secret sauce to casting powerful magic


The Ancestors/Irunmole wronly called Gods live within us. 

To be possess by them is the greatest magic

The secret sauce to casting powerful magic. 

 


Yoruba Traditions and African American Women's Narratives

Lecture by Tracey Hucks, PhD, associate professor of religious studies at Haverford College. Dr. Hucks will be talking about her new book, Yoruba Traditions and African American Religious Nationalism and will discuss women and religion in the African diaspora in this talk.




Western Zodiac translated to Yoruba/African thought. 



The twelve houses of the natal chart are areas of life governed by a particular planet, in regards to the traditional Yoruba’s cultural perception of ones existence these houses would be ruled by a particular essence in nature or Orisha; for instance:

The first house the self or outward appearance and surface personality is Aries the ram ruled by Mars, within the Yoruba tradition the Orisha of iron and steel, Ogun the warrior god possessing assertive and aggressive characteristics rules the first house. It is Ogun who is the patron of soldiers, police Officers, surgeons, railroad workers, welders, body builders, or anyone employed to work with iron and steel.

The second house the house of material possessions and money is Taurus ruled by Venus the goddess of love; within the Yoruba pantheon Orisha of the rivers lakes and all bodies of fresh water. Oshun the mother of abundance dominates this area of life; motherhood, wealth, and love.

The third house the house of duality, balance, communication, high energy is Gemini ruled by Mercury. The cosmic twins of the Yoruba pantheon the Ibeji; dominate in this area of life they are the ying and yang, positive and negative energies existing within all life.

The fourth house pertains to issues surrounding the home. Maternal, protective, nurturing and instinctive; qualities dominate in Cancer ruled by the moon. These are the attributes of the Orisha Yemoja, Orisha of the ocean, whose ebb and flow of the tides are a result of the moon which is an attribute of her as well.

The fifth house Leo ruled by the sun; a house of enjoyment romance, children, and most of all creativity in all aspects of existence. Here the illumination of the sun is reflectant of the wisdom of Orumila the Orisha of destiny who sits by the side of Oludumare the creator god of the Yoruba. It is within this aspect of existence where man chooses his or her destiny and it is recorded by Orumila in the presence of Oludumare at which time the breath of life is given to man upon his or her emergence on earth; hence the creation of man.

The six house Virgo a house of work, health, and service ruled by Mercury. Out of the Yoruba pantheon of Orisha it is Esu Orisha of the crossroads who is responsible for communication in every aspect of existence between the Orisha, the ancestors, man, and Oludumare. His realm of existence lies between the spirit world and the material world. His domain is within the crossroads; when the sun moon or planet crosses over into a various zodiac signs to assert a particular influence. This is an aspect of Esu, working to ensure that the other Orisha are able to serve their purposes. He is also known as the divine messenger the most important Orisha within the pantheon. His influence may also be found in the third house as well.

The seventh house of partnerships is a house of balance and harmony; a trait of Libra who is ruled by Venus. Here is another domain of Oshun that falls within the realm of love, romance and marriage. Oshun relishes in elegance, beauty, grace, artistry, charm charisma and refinement. She is the Yoruba goddess of love.

The eighth house of Scorpio ruled by Pluto this is a house of absolute power. Scorpio is one of the most powerful signs of the zodiac is it any wonder that the warrior Orisha Oya, also the storm goddess of the Yoruba dominates this eighth house of transformation, regeneration, death, sex reincarnation, and other peoples money; inheritances and financing. She is the hurricanes that form on the West coast of Africa traveling across the Atlantic with winds that generating anywhere from seventy to two hundred miles an hour, she is the tornados and twisters that uproots trees and houses. She is the only force within nature that has the ability to change the face of the earth from her destructive winds. This powerful Orisha is also responsible for carrying the spirits of the newly departed to the spirit world. In Nigeria it is Oya who dominates the market place. In some parts of Nigeria she is Oya of the Niger River; a force within nature to be respected, and a most formidable warrior attribute when invoked to fight for women’s rights.

The ninth house the domain of Sagittarius; a place of higher education, religion, philosophy, and divine law; ruled by Jupiter the planet of expansion, growth, and good fortune is the largest body in our solar system besides the sun. This would be the Yoruba’s planetary counterpart of Obatala the father of the Orisha; owner of the white cloth, he is the purity and illumination at its zenith, the Orisha of wisdom and intelligence, ruling the physical body his domain is all white fluids of the body, the skeletal structure, and the brain.

The tenth house of career status and reputation dominated by Capricorn is ruled by Saturn. The Yoruba pantheon of Orisha associates Babalu-Aiye with the planet Saturn, which is the taskmaster. Saturn is associated with patients, discipline, limitation, and structure. Babalu-Aiye is considered the Orisha of the earth. He can bring forth either prosperity or sickness and disease, for is also known as the deity of small pox, in Catholicism he is referred to as St. Lazarus.

The eleventh houseis the house of Aquarius dominated by upheaval, rebellion, and sudden unexpected events. Ruled by Uranus these characteristics of rebellion, upraises, sudden changes, and upheaval are traits of the warrior Orisha Shango the Orisha of thunder lightning and fire. During the course of history when Uranus was aspecting, or transiting Pluto this was a time of great change through acts of war and war, slave uprisings, and rebellions, especially in the Caribbean islands. The civil rights era was violent and turbulent as well bringing about great change. These historical events throughout history as violent as they were would be associated with the warrior aspects of not only Shango but the Orisha Ogun, and Oya. This fiery energy of the heavens denotes aggressive and assertive influences of the heavenly bodies. Within the Yoruba pantheon such Orisha would be called upon for protection from ones enemies.

The twelfth house of Pieces ruled by Neptune is deeply submerged in secrecy prone to illusionary facets of reality. This house is centered on seclusion and spirituality. This house of the subconscious is dominated by Olokun the Orisha of the ocean floor. Deep and mysterious his realm is; the old Yoruba proverb says that nobody knows what lies on the ocean floor. His aspects are reflectant in the dream time, the subconscious, and the altered state of consciousness when one enters spirit possession, ritual and various levels of initiations and numerous rites of passage. Olokun is considered to be the star of Africa; he would be considered the owner of the great mystery systems of Africa; known by many names. He sparks within us the genius within our being activating our super subconscious.



Greetings, 

By now most know of the Flat Earth. But let's get something straight, let us be honest with one another. I don't read any Bibles, nor do I own one, neither have I consulted the Bible for the wisdom of knowing the true cosmology of the Earth. I am a complete believer in the traditional African faith. That is the worship of the ancestors, the imperial royal families who are the bloodlines of the Irunmole created by Olodumare to manage the cosmos. I hold no sympathy for those who continue to read the Bible, adhere to its beliefs and trust it to give them the truth. I simply saw fit to use this meme, created by someone else, as a source of reference for those who follow the Bible's word. So if your Bible is telling the world is flat or rather a firmament, then you aught to know that the people who wrote the Bible, Roman priests and scholars, saw fit to keep this secret from you by hiding it in plain sight. Yet African cosmology is my start of wisdom which speaks of the domed sky and the Earth is called, "Ile", which means in Yoruba as spread out. Notice not rounded out but spread out, thus Earth is Ile. Ase. 

Baba Sango, Imperial Majesty of All Yorubas  pre-warns of the hijacking of West African heritage by outside races

Ifa Oracle is the most powerful divination system known to man. Back in 1970,  a contest was held with an Ifa priest versus a supercomputer, then the world's fastest, Ifa won the prediction challenge each time with stunning accuracy! Ifa science evolved through time, the work of one ancestor name Orunmila, who lived long ago in ancient Africa. Also known as Kemetic Science, except Ifa is the forest version. Ifa cannon doesn't consist of fairy tales and folklore but actual living experiences of the Irunmole incarnation upon the Earth. Some Irunmole were Imperial royalty, King of kings and Queen of queens, some were the eyes and mouths of the Gods, extremely powerful priestesses and priests of the many African spiritual systems. Ifa is very scientific as it uses mathematics as its foundation.  Ifa is coded within 256 Odus or Corpus, each Odu representing an esoteric pigeon-hole, itself divisible into256 sub-holes. Within each of the 256 Odus, there are 1,680 Sacred Verses all presented in Parable - Format.Thus, the body of Ifa consists of 430,080 messages for mankind. The mathematics of N to the power of 2, binary code computation, such as 256 Odu chapters which each having 16 stantza, with each stantza having 3 or more stories attached. It gets more complicated when the student must memorize the pitches and various tones, which alter meaning of the same word. The Iyanifas and Babalowes begin studying at the age of 5 so by the time they become adults they are highly sought diviners. Africa has the worlds most power conjuring magic let no one fool you. European explorers upon their first arrival in the Kongo, the first time they've ever were allowed into the deeper core of Africa, admitted what they saw, that Africans truly understand the mysteries of the universe and their cosmology is in exact.  Ase. 









List of urban myths and other fanciful tales heard from many in the americas about Orisa Tradition in Yoruba land of West Africa, Yoruba language, Nigeria, etc:

-Orisa no longer exist in Africa.
-Chief priests of Ifa or other orisa traveled to countries if the diaspora to learn ancient rituals, practices, and shrines that had been lost in Yorubaland.
-The language used in ritual in the Diaspora represents ancient Yoruba language that went extinct in Yorubaland.
-The worship and priesthoods of Osoosi and Erinle have disappeared or all but disappeared in Nigeria and Benin Republic.
-The Alaafin of Oyo (kabiyesi!, iku baba yeye!) sent bata drummers to Cuba to relearn how to play bata because the drummers in Nigeria had forgotten.
-Iya Adunni Suzanne Wenger was made the Iya Osun of Osogbo (chief priestess of Osun in Osogbo) because there were no more Osun priests in Osogbo and all of Osogbo’s population had because muslim or christian.
-The food called amala in Nigeria is a newer version of the ancient amala prepared in Cuba and Brazil. (Yes, I have literally heard this nonsense!)
-The Ooni of Ife performed idobale (layed prone flat on the ground) to the Orisa singer Lazaro Ros when the Ooni visited the island nation of Cuba years ago. (Shockingly and quite embarrassing for cubans and cuban orisa people, this madness was uttered at Miami-Dad College in front of an entire audience by the cuban ethnographer Natalia Bolívar just a few years ago!)
-Yoruba people of Nigeria and Benin Republic don’t understand the orisa songs of Santeria and Candomble because the language used is a dialect of ancient Yoruba language that was completely removed from West Africa and only preserved in the Diaspora.
-Orisa people in Nigeria are now using soperas from the cubans. (…Meanwhile the use of chinese rice bowls and other chinaware has been in uses for several generations in Yoruba land in addition to the more indigenous containers used for Orisa since ancient times. But I guess the myth-makers of the West overlooked their presence in West Africa for at least as long as Orisa has existed in the Diaspora.)
-Chief Fayemi Elebuibon, the current Araba of Osogbo, went to Orlando and Tampa area to stay with cuban santeros that live there to learn to consecrate some Orisa that had been lost in Nigeria but preserved in cuban Santeria.
-The cult of Oya is almost dead.





What is an Iyanifa and what  does she do?
Iyanifa means mother of divination or wisdom in the Yoruba language. She may also be called Iyalawo meaning mother of secrets and both terms denote a priestess of Ifa. Her male counterpart is called Babalawo ( Father of secrets) and Awo is a gender neutral term for both. Ifa is an advanced system of divination in Africa using a divining chain called an opele or palm nuts called ikin. The system represents the wisdom teachings of the Orisha Orunmila considered the oraclular representation of Olodumare ( God). 





Iyanifas undergo training in the memorization and interpretation of the 256 Odu or mysteries, as well as in the numerous verses or Ese of Ifá. Traditionally, the Iyalawo usually have additional professional specialties such as traditional healing. They are, however, generally trained in the determination of problems, or to divine how good fortune can be maintained, and the application of both spiritual and related secular diagnosis and solutions. Their primary function is to assist people in finding, understanding, and being in alignment with one's individual destiny, life or souls purpose. The Awo is charged with helping people develop the discipline and character that supports such spiritual growth called "Iwa Pele", or good character. This is done by identifying the client's spiritual destiny, or Ori, and developing a spiritual blueprint which can be used to support, cultivate, and live out that destiny. 

-Everyone’s favorite,
That iyanifas are only a recent “invention” and have no true place in Ifa.




-another urban ‘myth’ (lie): Cuban bata drumming is more complex than Yoruba bata drumming because fewer drums are used in the Cuban ensemble
-only those initiated in ‘the room’ are allowed in Lucumi but in Africa they allow anyone – even the non-initated into Igbodu.
-Nigerians are so poor because they no longer have Orisa – they are savages and had abandoned their traditions.
-During slavery they swallowed all the otans an erindinlogun an brought them over from yorubaland across the waters.
-That there is no functioning oosa/orisa community and everything is “Ifa”.
-When you do tefa you betray the Orisa you were crowned.
-You are not a full “Iyalocha or babalocha” unless you have cuchillo ceromony or the ceromony of irete kutan to be licensed as a Obba Oriate.
-That idosu is incorrect because it doesn’t (always) take the full 7 days that Ocha does
-You can’t perform/do Orisa ceremonies as an Ifa initiate.
-“You can’t initiate Olocun, Omolu, or Aganyu directly on the head”
-that every person who is a traditionalist, started out in lucumi.
-Here’s another one: Gill Sampaio Ominirò said that the system of Eerindinlogun divination performed in Yorubaland was created in Brazil and introduced to orisa priests in Nigeria and Benin Republic. According to him, the system of 16 cowrie divination was created by a babalawo / babalorisa of brazil and brought to Nigeria because before then only Ifa divination existed in Africa!




The Gullahs are in the hundreds of thousands. No African American leader has more followers than Queen Mother Quet. No African American leader leads the most powerful Africans to ever walk this continent other than the Muurs, the Gullah Nation are worldwide. 





Greetings, 

It is time that those of you in the so-called Hotep community, Conscious Community, Pan Africans, Black Nationalists, etc, thought of investing in yourselves. What do I mean by that? Our demographic group is the strongest in Diaspora but we spend too much time talking and not enough investing and building. With that being said, let's focus upon repatriation which is the process of migrating out of America into nations where we are in majority, have land and resources. I have been pushing this agenda for a few years now and I am happy to others are moving into this direction. My advice is to check your Gullah Gee Chee Heritage, attend the Gullah Gee Chee and Oyotunji African Village Kingdom cultural festival. Thousands of Pan Africans will be there on that day. Thousands of them until the Martin Luther King, Jr boulevard that runs through St. Helena Island looks like a sea of Black people. Make this the day to make peace with each other and put aside our ideological differences and work in harmony for a better Diaspora. For how long can we stay in America with the rise of Sodomy and not have our children and family affected by it? Think love first because the heart is more intelligent than the brain. Ase, ase, ase, ooo! Love, Sango. 






Greetings, 

I have no affiliation with Irritated Genie Straight Black Pride Movement I am performing this generous duty out of magnanimous joy. I am extremely happy to see Irritated Genie and the SBPM, getting their hands dirty, putting the camera on how to set up a garden in small spaces. Upon my search of Youtube videos for gardening advice, tips and technical know now I found very little information, in this regard, coming from African people in the East or West. Technical knowledge is most important. So watching this video can be very encouraging for our people to enjoy that reside in urban areas with small spaces, including rural areas can feel the inspiration. The main point is, many human beings respond better to new information when seeing their own, those that look like them, participating in the act. Nothing like hands on teaching, visualization of the activity to show our people just how easy it is to get started with a family/community garden. Ase. Love, Sango.  





SBPM 2015: Herbs, Natural Medicine & Healing in Uganda



History of the word "Kaba"


Tanzania TV Program raising the profile of women farmers

Tanzania's latest TV celebrities are female farmers


Why Tanzanian President Magufuli Is Currently The Best In Africa








Gullah/Geechee Ezine De Conch March 2017 Edition

by Gullah/Geechee Nation




Disya de official ezine ob de Gullah/Geechee Nation!
WGN's Underground, the Reconstruction Era National Monument, and the coming events of the Gullah/Geechee Nation are featured in this edition.  Read online, download, and share.  For the events, make sure that you are there!
Ef bout we hunnuh wan kno, den yeddi De Conch da blo!




Reconstruction National Monument Dedication in the Gullah/Geechee Nation

by Gullah/Geechee Nation





Darrah Hall in the Penn Center National Landmark Historic District is one of the locations of the multi-site National Reconstruction Monument in Beaufort County, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation.

Reconstruction Era National Monument Celebration Set for 
March 18

The US National Park Service and local partners will host a community celebration marking the recent establishment of Reconstruction Era National Monument. 

The dedication event — organized by Beaufort County, Brick Baptist Church, the City of Beaufort, National Park Service, Penn Center, the Town of Port Royal, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Navy — will take place from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Saturday, March 18, 2017 at St. Helena Island’s Penn Center. The event is free and open to the public.

The Reconstruction era began during the US Civil War and lasted until the dawn of Jim Crow racial segregation in the 1890s. It remains one of the most complicated and poorly understood periods in American History. During Reconstruction, four million people of African descent newly freed from bondage, sought to integrate themselves into free society and into the educational, economic, and political life of the country. This began in November 1861 in Beaufort County, South Carolina, after Union forces won the Battle at Port Royal Sound. More than 10,000 enslaved Africans remained there when their owners fled the lucrative cotton and rice plantations. The then-Lincoln Administration decided to initiate the “Port Royal Experiment” in Beaufort County to help the formerly enslaved become self-sufficient.

The Reconstruction Era National Monument was established as a unit of the National Park Service by Presidential Proclamation on January 12, 2017 in recognition of the role Beaufort County, South Carolina played in shaping the historic period of Reconstruction.  The national monument protects and interprets historic buildings and landscapes in three areas within Beaufort County, including the City of Beaufort, St. Helena Island, and the Camp Saxton Site in Port Royal.

The Reconstruction Era National Monument is composed of the following historic buildings and landscapes:

Darrah Hall and Brick Baptist Church within Penn School National Historic Landmark District on St. Helena Island

The Camp Saxton Site, on U.S. Navy property in Port Royal, where some of the first African Americans joined the U.S. Army, and the site where elaborate ceremonies were held on New Year’s Day 1863 to announce and celebrate the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation; and

The Old Beaufort Firehouse in historic downtown Beaufort.

Penn Center is the only site accessible to the public.


Queen Quet of the Gullah/Geechee Appears in “Exiled from History: America’s Maroons”
by Gullah/Geechee Nation


Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) has done a great deal of work reconnecting the Gullah/Geechee Seminole Maroon Diaspora.  The story of marooned people is often only found amongst the descendants of those communities and in some manuscripts of those that have researched them for academic purposes.  On the same night that WGN aired, "Underground" Season 2 which Queen Quet consulted for, DC TV premiered "Exiled from History: America's Maroons."


Kim Brantley and Ileana Canal came to the Gullah/Geechee Nation to interview Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com) for "Exiled from History: Story of America's Maroons."



"Exiled from History: America's Maroons" will be shown throughout the month of March on DC TV and then it will begin to travel across the country and make its way to the Gullah/Geechee Nation.  Tune in:

03/08/17 - 8:30 pm on FLAGSHP

03/09/17 - 4:00 am on ENRICH

03/09/17 - 12:00 pm on FLAGSHP

03/10/17 - 3:30 am on FLAGSHP

03/10/17 - 5:30 pm on FLAGSHP

03/13/17 - 7:00 pm on ENRICH

03/14/17 - 4:00 am on ENRICH

03/16/17 - 3:00 am on ENRICH

03/17/17 - 12:00 am on FLAGSHP

03/20/17 - 5:30 pm on FLAGSHP

See more at:






Only Maroons Communities, or slaves who organised themselves based upon a traditional  African culture, were able to form societies that  were both able to withstand the power structures of slavery and win their freedom by force. 

Maroons were found in 
many places and  
still live in:


 St. Helena Island, S.C, U.S.A
Jamaica
Cuba
Suriname
Brazil
Mexico
Haiti
Belize
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Saint Vincent 
Puerto Rico
Columbia
Ecuador
Dominican Republic
Trinidad and Tobago

Welcome 

African Gardening For Life 




Two Great Washingtons:


Dr. Booker T. Washington
and
Dr. George Washington Carver












Author Dr. Tyrene Wright
Author, scholar, human rights activist, publisher and TV/radio producer

Tuskegee Institute Alumni Member 2011



AbibitumiKasa Presents:
Dr. Tyrene Wright
Booker T. Washington And Africa, The Making of A Pan Africanist









Time of Event: March 19, 2017
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM EST
Discussion and Q&A
Online Meeting Link: https://join.freeconferencecall.com/akmainclassandmeetingroom
Dial-in Number: (515) 604-9615
Access Code: 195663
About the author:
Dr. Tyrene Wright is a scholar and author of the book, Booker T. Washington and Africa: The Making of A Pan-Africanist. Dr. Wright's research began over a decade ago and has evolved into this paradigm-shifting book on Washington's evolution as a Pan-Africanist and his role in African affairs. The book offers a corrective to the dominant narrative of Washington as the Accommodationist, pacifist and Uncle Tom that historians have defined him as. It revisits the Tuskegee model; its founding, the mission, and Washington’s efforts to export it to Africa as a model of sustainability for African communities. Dr. Wright's pivotal work has changed the discourse on Booker T. Washington forever.
Dr. Wright teaches for the City University of New York, she is the founder and publisher of Global Africa Press, and the founder of    African Women for Africa (AWA) a NGO.
http://www.bookertwashingtonandafrica.com/

Booker T. Washington & Africa, The Making of A Pan Africanist: 
With Author Dr. Tyrene Wright









Greetings, 


I want to congratulate you for visiting this blog and taking the bold step to feed yourself and your family. I don't want to focus upon the turbulent times, in which we find ourselves, but rather, upon the strategic discussions and plans on what we can do about changing our reality.  The first step we must learn is survival skills, such as, how do we live in the woods? How do we start fire, collect wood, build a home from the surrounding material, find water, hunt, fish, and grow food and herbs. This is the first step in finding the courage to live off grid. Knowledge is the only cure to fear of the unknown. How do we grow food? So many of us have forgotten how to do this basic living skill. This blog will focus upon growing food, and as well as, advanced agricultural skills and civil engineering.

I've chosen Her Majesty Queen Quet as the leader in such venture because her people the Gullah Gee Chee possess all the knowledge of how to survive and live off grid. We need teachers and experienced guides, those who know living skills, such as; basket weaving, beading, cloth making, cotton raising, growing food, fishing, hunting, blacksmithing, etc. There's no shortage of this vital knowledge among the Gullah Gee Chee people who like other Maroons and Farming networks in the Caribbean live off grid and make peace and prosperity of their kin the highest priority. We must unite the Gullah Gee Chee and other Maroons, and help them to help ourselves. We start by forming fundraisers to pull together the resources of small groups at a time, to use those funds to buy land, keep land, build structures and economic infrastructure, which includes trade, commerce and bartering within the scope of the Diaspora network. We need a leader and Queen Quet is most equipped as she has the know how, experience, respectability, and the support and backing of the independent Gullah Gee Chee nation. Let's all show our support for the Queen Mother and help her to bring peace and prosperity to the African Diaspora. Ase. 




  Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement Festival 2017

Tickets prices: $25-$1200

by Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition & All Mobile Productions™ (AMP™)

DATE AND TIME

Fri, Aug 4, 2017, 12:00 PM –
Sun, Aug 6, 2017, 3:00 PM EDT
Add to Calendar
LOCATION

Saint Helena Island

Saint Helena Island, SC 29920









Cum fa jayn we pun historic St. Helena Island, SC een de Gullah/Geechee Nation fa de 12th Annual
Gullah/Geechee Nation International Music & Movement Festival
Fa We Ancestas
This is the official international festival of the Gullah/Geechee Nation.
Friday, August 4, 2017
Ancestral Tribute in Honor of the International Decade of People of African Descent at the Atlantic Ocean
De Gullah Root Experience Tour

Saturday, August 5, 2017
"Gullah/Geechee Reunion" at the St. Helena Branch Library
featuring
• Visual Artist Sonja Evans' "American Gullah Exhibit"
• Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation & De Gullah Cunneckshun
• Wona Womalan African Dancers and Drummers
• Sweetgrass: South Carolina's State Craft Presentation
• Quilting and De African Family
• Gullah/Geechee storytelling and live music

Gullah/Geechee Living Marketplace featuring "Gullah/Geechee Fishing Association Fish Fry" and Gullah/Geechee cuisine

"Party with a Purpose: Juke Joint Jam"

Sunday, August 6, 2017
Worship with the St. Helena Famlee

Bring drums, water bottles, chairs, tamborines, and an open spirit.
For special group rates, please email GullGeeCo@aol.com.


Sponsors

GOD


Gullah/Geechee Nation





A little inspiration video for you my family

The millionaire Farmer


Raised Beds

Why raised beds work faster




Benefits of raised beds




Old v.s New 
IN PRACTICE - Raised Beds vs In-Ground Beds






Square Foot Gardening in raised beds




Square Foot Gardening 101 


Square Foot Gardening (SFG): Growing More in Less Space


Self-watering SIP Sub-irrigated Raised Bed Construction (How to Build)






Want to grow beans and/or peas, you will need a trellis? As these plants grow up/vertical.  

Trellis for Square Foot Gardening




How to put a trellis on a Square Foot Garden








***Special Article***



http://www.realfarmacy.com/growing-food-rigged-system/


Gardening for Life By Wayne & Connie Burleson Ways to triple your food garden production Square Foot Gardening GO WILD! Ideas to Work Less and Grow More Long Box Gardens



2. Why Grow Your Own Food? The E.A.R.T.H provides the answer E= To capture free sunlight ENERGY A= To help ALLEVIATE world hunger problems and help improve your family’s nutrition – save lives R= To make use of you own local RESOURCES T= To save TIME, money and less TRANSPORTATION H= To grow your own HEALTH This method is based upon:Healthy soils produce - healthy plants - produce healthy people All done with very little money, & with work less to grow more





3. Class Outline You can do it!• Introduction Class introduce themselves• WHY SMALL GARDENS WORK?• Prove it!• Ownership, purpose• Soils/compost (the foundation to success)• Garden designs, location, layout, construction, shade trees, drainage• Starting seeds, transplanting, controlling light, temperature, water• Planting and plant spacing• Garden care: watering ideas, weed and pest control, shade hoop houses• Which vegetable to plant


4. WHY SMALL GARDENS WORK? … Planting seeds for those in need …• Small gardens are very easy to assemble and they draw crowds• Simple. Anyone can do it. Anywhere in the world• Requires very little water (safe to use waste water)• Gardens are constructed without money or commercial fertilizers• Very easy to take care of (less work, less weeds, less water, more food)• Highly productive from very small spaces• Can produce 45 kilos (100 pounds) of food from a 4’ X 4’ area• Each home can construct several of these handy small kitchen gardens• Literally help feed millions of people• Also an evangelistic outreach – presents an opportunity to share the good news• Empty stomachs have no ears These gardens are sustainable, lifetime, hand-up endeavors, not a hand-out


5. Prove it!!!!!!


6. This one box is 4’ by 8’ (122cm by 244cm). It has 32 carrots per square foot = (32 carrots/sq (times) 32 square feet box = 1,024 carrots)


***Recommended Read***


Whether you live on a small suburban lot or have a many acres in the country, this inspiring collection will empower you to increase your self-sufficiently and embrace a more independent lifestyle. A variety of authors share their specialized knowledge and provide practical instructions for basic country skills like preserving vegetables, developing water systems, keeping farm animals, and renovating barns. From sharpening an axe to baking your own bread, you’ll be amazed at the many ways learning traditional skills can enrich your life. 



 Whether you live on a small suburban lot or have a many acres in the country, this inspiring collection will empower you to increase your self-sufficiently and embrace a more independent lifestyle. A variety of authors share their specialized knowledge and provide practical instructions for basic country skills like preserving vegetables, developing water systems, keeping farm animals, and renovating barns. From sharpening an axe to baking your own bread, you’ll be amazed at the many ways learning traditional skills can enrich your life.



***Recommended book***

A comprehensive, no-nonsense guide to kitchen gardening on any scale.

"Filled with rich illustrations and photographs, this book will appeal to a wide range of gardeners, making this a useful book for all types of public libraries."
--American Reference Books Annual 2012

"Gianfrancesco's easy-to-understand-and-follow guide provides clearly delineated, step-by-step, fully detailed and remarkably informative instructions for growing an exciting spectrum of edible plants."
--Booklist

How to Grow Food is a complete, illustrated guide to the hundreds of plants that are easy to grow in the home garden. The author emphasizes gardening techniques that can be applied to any size of garden, from a window box to a small side yard plot to the biggest backyard.

This practical book features a comprehensive directory of more than 125 crop plants, from traditional choices to more unusual varieties, to suit all growing conditions in all regions using simple organic and biodynamic gardening methods. Gardeners can choose from roots and tubers; leafy crops; seed and fruit crops; grains; peppers and chilies; stem and flower crops; tree fruits; soft, bush and cane fruits; tender fruits; nuts; herbs; and edible flowers.

How to Grow Food features thorough instructions and a month-by-month calendar of tasks, plus:

Types of gardens and choosing the best site
Designing, preparing and planting a productive garden
Maximizing the use of space, such as vertical planting and fruit cages
Harvesting, storing and preserving
Training and pruning plants for maximum yield
Tools, pests, weeds and growing from seed
Helpful dos and don'ts
Plant ratings related to variety, value, maintenance and season
The author's special selection of star plants.

 https://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-Food-Step---step/dp/1770853170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466727458&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+grow+food


7. 70 Days The success has started as these boxes held together in several torrential rainfall events (like several inches of hard rain in a matter of minutes). The miracle happened, for soil amendment we ended up using several sacks of old chicken manure mixed in with small wood chips that we added to each box. The native soils are mostly hard clay, which is a poor growing environment. The wood chips became a surface mulch and held the soil in place during the wind driven downpour. Strong mulching is a great aid for any gardening efforts in the tropics. We thank the Lord.


8. The wood chip mulching protected the soil surface from rain drop impact This is especially on sloping on hillside gardens


9. Success in Africa A Church Demonstration Garden Small Village in Rwanda, AfricaGrowth in 61 days


10. Begin with the end in mind salsa, guacamole, chips


11. Economics of the Long Box Long Box 4 by 40 = 160 sq foot Each 40 days cut 3 bags greens 3 bags X 160 = 480 bags of greens Each bag sells for $3.00 $3.00 X 480 bags = $1,440.00 For a 40 day crop Then you replant the Long Box The potential for 4 crops/ year = $5,760 Gross Income in US$









12. Teaching with photos helps



Three types of soil 



Different types of soil




How to test soil Ph levels?



Do it yourself soil testing?






What is Mulch? 



How to make Mulch? 



How to make mulch from leaves?



How to mulch a garden bed?




13. Step #1 Soils/compost (the foundation to success) How to make your own Top Soil Go On a Treasure Hunt - Searching for Hidden Resources Step 1 Walk-about looking for then bag up the following? •Old dry livestock dung •Leave mold •Black looking top soil under bushes •Old dry chicken manure •Anything looking like dark soil Step 2 Dig up sod from garden plot 1.3 meter by 3 meters, and then remove old plants and root for plot African Cow House = decomposed organic matter Mix with native soil which makes great topsoil




14. How to Make Good Compost Ingredients needed: Why compost? Compost is decomposed organic matter that has turned into black colored humus that is called “black gold.” Compost makes excellent organic plant food. Millions of micro-organisms digest (eat) the dry grass and green grass causing the pile to heat up. Compost does not feed the plants directly. Instead it feeds the soil microbes which in turn release insoluble minerals for the plants to feed upon (fertilizers). This amazing process makes your garden a sustainable food factory - if you keep adding compost to your soils. Repeat all layers until 1 Meter high Add small amount of wood ash Add water to dry layers  Vegetable waste ------ Thin layer old manure - Thin layer top soil----- Green grass 30 cm --- Dry grass 30 cm---- Bottom layer maze for air ->




15. Step #2 Garden Construction; Garden location; Raised beds 2.64 Meters 1.32 Meters







16. Step #3 Planting/plant spacing Why have a grid?



How to grow food in Winter?

Three ways. 



How to grow food in the snow? 




17. How to Precisely Plant Your Seeds Take your time For 1 or 4 plants and plant each per square make a seed correctly small dish shaped for good success depression in the soil and place the seeds in the center. Water only where the seeds are located Mr Brite 16 Plants Mr Brite 30 Plants 9 Plants 4 Plants 1 Plant Per Per Per Per Per Square Square Square Square Square33 cm 33 cm Pea Lettuce These Tomato Radish Pepper Onion Seeds Beet Swiss chard Plants Carrot Broccoli Can also Cabbage Green Bean 1.5 cm deep Onion Sets Marigold Be started Onions 2 cm deep Spinach from Cucumber 1.5 cm deep Transplants Cantaloupe Small 2.5 cm deep 2.5 cm deep Carrots Potato 8 cm deep 1 to 2 cm deep




18. Steps to make Crops in Small PlotsStep 1 Research which vegetables is there a demand for in your area and at what time of year Come up with a list of marketable vegetables that you could grow & sell.Step 2 Plan your harvest according to the market … hint: Have your crop ready before other people offer the same vegetables. Also think about adding value like cooking.Step 3 Construct several raised beds and/or garden boxes with in your water limitations. Fill each area with your best soils & compost to at least 12 to 24 inches (30cm to 60 cm)Step 4 Plant each raised bed with the correct plant spacing and timing for the marketStep 5 Harvest early when vegetable are young and prime. Hint: Share and/or trade for your other needs. A Garden Box First planting Second planting Third planting Seed different block areas within a raised bed at different times for multiple harvests.


19. Which vegetables seeds to plant Tomato Pepper SquashCucumber LettuceSwiss chard Radish Beet Cabbage Spinach Carrots What do you love to eat? Beans


20. Step #4 Garden care:Water, Weeds, and Ownership


21. Wise water use


22. This lady in Shone, Ethiopia, Africa is a very good gardener as she knows how to place valuable water on each seed zone, which saves her much labor - hauling hard to acquire water for her garden. Re-cycled Water Ladies washing dishes and clothes in Malawi. Look where the water is going! Question:Could you dump this waste water safely on a small kitchen garden?




23. Why Add Mulch to Your Gardens Don’t let your soils see daylight Mr Brite One smart farmerCool shaded soils = 22 deg C (72 deg F) = holds water, Adds soil nutrients and slows weed germination Hot bare soils - 55 deg C (130 deg F) = evaporates water fast, Cooks and kills valuable microorganisms, no added soil nutrients and weeds can germinate


24. Don’t Weed Instead Cultivate


25. Step #6 Vegetable harvest and replanting


26. Add a scoop of compost and replant harvested squares


27. Worms provide fertilizersTHEIR WORM CASTINGSAND they work for free


How To Make Compost 



28. 12-Day Compost To use as fertilizeSpread completed compost around the base of your plants


29. When you keep your soils healthy and look what can happen One Radish growing in Ethiopia


30. One Radish makes a great salad Seeking information outside the box Radish leaves have 3 times the nutrient value as the roots And taste great!


31. Think Holisticallyfrom seed to stomach



32. A Life Giving StorySalmon River Pumpkin (A Winter Squash) From Seed to Seeds


33. Seed saving techniques Beets Cucumber Biennial as it takes Let ripen past two year. Store roots Pumpkin edible stage and for several months, Cut ripe & mature Spinach turn yellow. Cut Pick out the strong replant to grow pumpkin open. lengthwise, scoop plants and let them bolt seeds, harvest seeds Remove seeds. seeds out seeds into a flower stalk and when dry. Wash with water. and dry go to seed. Pull the seed Place on screen or stalks out of the ground cloth to dry. and let dry. Thresh the seeds into a container. Pepper Let ripe to full Onion color, no sign ofLet a few plants disease.form round Remove seedflower clusters. off core andWhen dry, pick place on screenand thresh the or cloth to dry.seed out. Lettuce Allow plant to bolt, Tomato to form a seed stalk. Pick ripe Cover to protect tomatoes from from birds & rain. several plants. Harvest seeds for 2 Squeeze seed to 3 weeks. This will out, wash and require repeated spread on cloth harvesting. to dry. Certain plant varieties will cross-pollinate with other members of their same family. If you are raising your own pure seeds, only plant one variety within that family. Visit www.seedsavers.org for more information


34. Sharing the harvest and teaching others


35. Gardens open the doors to teaching others & building life giving skills


36. Closing YOU CAN DO IT!Planting seeds for those in need



Planning Irrigation of Your Garden


The Incredible Self Watering Pop Bottle Garden Grow System! You Got To See This!



37. Gardening for Life By Wayne & Connie Burleson“Planting seeds for those in need” A Humanitarian Effort








Nigerians Against GMO 



Identifying Genetically Modified Products 


What you need to know about GMOs



GMO food is poison intended to destroy fertile land and kill off populations









Want to heal yourself and family naturally? Then try Gullah Hoodoo Medicine by Faith Mitchell



Faith Mitchell earned her Doctorate in Medical Anthropology in 1980 from the University of California, Berkeley.  She is the President and CEO at Grantmakers In Health. Formerly, Mitchell was a senior staff member of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, the Senior Coordinator for Population in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration in the US State Department, and a program officer at the Hewlett and San Francisco foundations.



Buy the book now


 https://www.amazon.com/Hoodoo-Medicine-Gullah-Remedies-Revised/dp/1887714332/178-0735486-9494140?ie=UTF8&keywords=hoodoo%20medicine&qid=1438573697&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

If you want to purchase gardening equipment, high quality, and have shipped to you for free, then go to www.gardeninggiftsformother.com Any order over $35.00 gets shipped free via Amazon. This can reach you almost anywhere in the world. So if you want to set up a community garden and need to know what you need to get going then check our quick list. This list is designed to help you get started quick with the right tools for the jobs. Tools, like irrigation systems, hoses, shovels, picks, wheel barrows, seeds,  mosquito repellants, paint to prevent wood root, how to plant what next to what, etc. 



 http://supportblackfarmers.blogspot.com/2016/04/farmer-john-boyd-jr-wants-african.html


 http://supportblackfarmers.blogspot.com/2016/04/farmer-john-boyd-jr-wants-african.html


How to Grow Food The Quick and Easy Way



Container Gardening for those with small space like Apartments


Still Updating! 

Follow the link for more info: 

15 Edible plants you can grow in doors. 






Three Sisters Method for Pots





***Good Video***



Follow the link.




 http://preparednessmama.com/growing-three-sisters/


Companion Planting Three Sisters Method



Companion planting has become more popular in recent years because it helps to maximize available garden space and provides a sustainable environment for better crop production.

The truth is companion planting methods have been around for a very long time. In fact, the Native Americans might be some of the earliest known gardeners to use companion planting.

They used a planting technique called “The Three Sisters Method“.

Companion planting with the Three Sisters Method is a wise way of using available garden space and maximize yields.

What Is the Three Sisters Method?

The Three Sisters Method uses three different vegetables – corn, pole beans and squash.

Each vegetable is interplanted together so they benefit one another while growing and producing fruit.

The corn stalk provides a climbing support for the pole beans to grow up, the pole beans provide nitrogen in the soil for the corn, and the squash creates a living mulch to block out weeds and to conserve soil moisture for the pole beans and corn.

They are known as the “sisters”. A trio that works in complete harmony.

How to Plant a Three Sister Garden

For best results using the Three Sisters Garden, you will need an area that receives full sun and large enough to create a mound of soil that is about four square feet.

Mound up the soil about one foot high and two feet wide.

Flatten the top of the mound to create a level planting surface. You can also use a raised bed for the Three Sisters method if you have poor soil or drainage.

If you plan to create more than one make sure they are at least four to six feet apart.

In the center of the mound, plant the corn in a circle with the seeds spaced about six to seven inches apart. Water the seeds well after planting and continue to water each day until the seeds have sprouted in a couple weeks.

A Few Weeks After Planting the Three Sisters GardenOnce the corn has reached a height of ten to twelve inches sow the pole bean seeds in a circle six inches outside of the corn stalks.

The pole beans should sprout in seven to fourteen days. Remember to keep the mound well watered during this time.

A week after the pole beans have sprouted it is time to sow the squash seeds. Sow six squash seeds in a circle that is about twelve to fifteen inches away from the pole beans. Keep the entire mound watered well and the squash should pop up in about a week.

Make sure to train the pole beans to begin climbing up the corn stalks. You may need to begin wrapping the pole bean vines around the corn stalks to get them going in the right direction.

In just a few weeks the squash leaves will begin spreading out, shading the area and keeping the soil cool and moist.

Companion Planting with the Three Sisters Method


Using the Three Sisters method for growing corn, pole beans and squash is a really fun, space-saving way to incorporate companion planting in your vegetable garden.




Basic Garden Tools List 



Want to know what gardening tools are and what ones you may need to do the job? 

Example:

Garden Spade:
This tool is a must have for digging soil, making holes or shifting soil from one place to another. Border spade and digging spade are primarily two types of garden spades used by most gardeners. People with weak arms or back looking forward to dig large amount of soil can opt for a border spade.

Hoe:
This tool is helpful in cutting weeds just below the soil’s surface in vegetable plots. It helps in killing weeds and slowing down perennial weeds. If you intend to preserve your plantation and its produce, then you should positively get this gardening tool.

Hand Pruners or Secateurs:
This tool is ideally used for pruning stems up to 19mm thick. Anvil and bypass are two major types of secateurs. Most people go for bypass as they are capable of getting into tight spaces with ease. Thanks to their amazing cutting action, they prevent various plant diseases.

Watering can:
Applying targeted water to seedlings and young plants becomes an easy affair with watering cans. Their gentle spray doesn’t harm the plants.

Wheelbarrow:
They can come in handy for taking composts or tools from one place to another in garden. You can also use them for transporting debris to the compost pit.

Hand shears:
You can get a pair of good quality shears to trim hedges or overhanging grass at the edges of lawn.

 http://www.gardentoolslist.com/

 http://www.gardentoolslist.com/

Have a large group project and you need lots of the same tools and would like to buy wholesale? Buy wholesale direct from China all types gardening tools, cheap, affordable quality. 


 http://www.everychina.com/m-different-kinds-of-gardening-tools?cpc_kw=different%20kinds%20of%20measuring%20tools&cpc_flag=c66082

 http://www.everychina.com/m-different-kinds-of-gardening-tools?cpc_kw=different%20kinds%20of%20measuring%20tools&cpc_flag=c66082

The Importance of Water/Oshun


Worldwide, the application of water and its managed use has been an essential factor in raising productivity of agriculture and ensuring predictability in outputs. Water is essential to bring forth the potential of the land and to enable improved varieties of both plants and animals to make full use of other yield-enhancing production factors. By raising productivity, sustainable water management (especially when combined with adequate soil husbandry) helps to ensure better production both for direct consumption and for commercial disposal, so enhancing the generation of necessary economic surpluses for uplifting rural economies.

Since the 1960s, global food production has at least kept pace with world population growth, providing more food per capita at generally declining prices, but at a cost to water resources. At the close of the 20th century, agriculture used a global average of 70% of all water withdrawals, and FAO estimates that global abstractions for irrigation will grow by some 14% by 2030.While this is a much slower rate than experienced in the 1990's, water scarcity stress is projected to grow locally and, in some cases, regionally, constraining local food production.

Improved agricultural water use in irrigated and rainfed agriculture will play a key-role in coping with the expected water scarcity stress. Improving water use or water productivity is often understood in terms of obtaining as much crop as possible per volume of water - "more crop for the drop". Money-wise farmers may prefer to target a maximum income per unit of water - "more dollars for the drop", while community leaders and policy makers may aim for maximum employment and income generated through the agricultural sector - "more jobs for the drop". Thus in a broad sense, increasing productivity in agriculture can result in more benefit for every unit of water withdrawn from natural water sources. However, the resulting shifts in agricultural water use require responses by governments to ensure the productive and sustainable use of the land and water resources upon which agriculture depends.


1. Ensure water supply for a secure and economically viable agriculture 
Agricultural water use is consumptive and irrigated agriculture will by necessity claim large quantities of water to produce food. However, water-saving technologies are available and can significantly reduce waste. Desalinized and waste water are recognised as non conventional water sources. Solutions for sustainable allocation of water among users have to be secured.

2. Build new approaches in agricultural water management 
Huge investments have been made to develop existing irrigation systems. However operation/maintenance and rehabilitation are under-funded in the public and private sectors. Reforming efforts include the institutional changes with the transfer of operation and maintenance responsibilities to water users' associations, and new cost-recovery approaches.

3. Build pro-poor and affordable agricultural water management 
Low cost and small scale options in water harvesting, irrigation and drainage are necessary for small rural communities, who may have to rely only on manual and animal power (e.g. treadle pumps).

4. Mitigation of environmental and health impacts of new and existing systems 

Poor irrigation and drainage have led to water loss and also to the spread of water borne diseases, waterlogging and salinization of nearly 10% of the world's irrigation land, thereby reducing productivity. Improved design and management of irrigation and drainage systems is a priority.








History of Kabaka's Lake, the largest hand dug lake





Importance of Water in Afrika

By 

Published on Dec 12, 2015
Elphas Were - Founder of KEYNET (Kenya Economic Youth Network) talks about the importance of water provision.

We caught up with him, on the sidelines of the first African Young Water Professionals’ and Fourth Biennial Young Water Professionals’ conference, in Pretoria, South Africa, November 2015 where he was presenting a paper 

Article by Elphas Were :




Kids in Africa- Importance of Water



Water Conservation Interview w/ Phil Yates in WBC Children's Peace Garden


Water Gardening 101



Small Water Gardens - How To Build



Best Plants for a Water Garden



How to build a Rain Garden
A rain garden is a garden which takes advantage of rainfall and stormwater runoff in its design and plant selection. Usually, it is a small garden which is designed to withstand the extremes of moisture and concentrations of nutrients, particularly Nitrogen and Phosphorus, that are found in stormwater runoff.






Very good template shows what to do

How To Create A Rain Garden In Your Yard with Senga Landscape Architect





Dew Collection/Rain collectors



Amazing techological advancement

Dew Collecting Greenhouses
Purpose: Cure drought stricken land and grow food in harsh drought affected environment





Rain Shower in a Tropical Greenhouse

Amazing! 



Poor Man's Dew Collector



How to collect dew for drinking water



Rain Water Collection Systems
This series of videos show how to set up and build a system to capture rain water. 



This Old House Rain Water System



This is a heavy duty system more for community garden growers

30,000 Gallons collecting system




15,000 Gallon Collecting System



600 Gallon Simple Rain Water Collection System & First Flush - Part 1



600 Gallon Simple Rain Water Collection System - Pump - Part 2



Low cost Rain Collection system

5 Dollar RAIN BARRELS 55 gallons to 1000 gallons - RAIN WATER COLLECTION & STORAGE


9 Best Rain Barrels


Rain Water Harvesting 

Rainwater Harvesting Basics (1) Brad Lancaster










Japanese Water Gardens





Drilling Water Wells
Educational video showing step by step, the processes of well drilling, well construction and equipment installation needed to provide a safe home water supply.




How a Water well is drilled 



Water well drilling costs per foot
This quote gives a U.S estimate but may be much cheaper in Africa or other nations

Water well drilling costs per foot vary by casing diameter. A 6 inch casing diameter is the current standard for domestic wells in Canada.
The cost per foot varies from as low as $36 per foot to $55 for standard 6″ casing. Sometimes there are extra charges for the annular seal, pitless adapter, stainless steel screen, pump test, well development ( to increase yield and to “clean up the zone” by: airlifting, jetting, surging, surge block, etc.), and the drive shoe. If there is a productive water well drilled and not a dry hole you will need to have a trench dug for the waterline and power. If you find a low production zone when drilling you may also need install a cistern which costs upwards of $2000 and have the well keep it full.
You will also need a water pump installed that is appropriately sized for the depth of well and gallons per minute. Most well drillers also have a minimum charge, usually around 100ft minimum which at $45 per foot would be $4500. Drilling a water well is a long term investment and most people are reluctant to drill without knowing if they will find water, and if so at what depth.
If you would like to find aquifer depth and yield (gpm), and make an informed decision of where to drill your water well give us a call at 250-788-9118

We have regular runs throughout BC and AB call us to see when we are coming through your area. Seismic Waterfinder will travel to almost anywhere, please give as much lead time as possible so we can come at the date that is most suitable for you. If you need a high production water well for irrigation, or a domestic water well for your acreage, we can help you.



Want to drill the well yourself, you and your team?

DIY Water Well Drilling (Off-The-Grid Water Supply)



Off Grid Water: How To Find A Spring Or Seep


How to Make a "Water Ram" off-grid Water Pump, requires no electricity



CHEAP and EASY, Emergency Well Pump Requires No Electricity





Our 100% Off Grid Gravity Water System





How to make Water wheels 

Note: Mosquitoes usually come with slow moving water but a water wheel can speed up the flow of a created stream. 







Water Wheel Farming
Talking of Irrigation! 



Water Wheel Science Project

Try build it yourself to understand the concept





Water Wheel building for large community groups with finacing










Purifying water
Here is a secret little way to purify water using a simple food grade plastic water bottle. This method is approved by the WHO (world health organization) and is in use in many countries around the world. Uses sunlight and UV rays to pasteurize the water and remove water borne parasites and viruses


Demonstrating how you can use a food saver type vacuum bag to purify 11.5 gallons of water using the SODIS water purification method. Bag should be filled with clear water and placed in direct sunlight for 6-8 hours. This method uses UV "ultra violet" light to kill bacteria and viruses in the water. This method will do noting for chemical contamination.




This is a whole home water filtration and purification board I built to purify rainwater. Enjoy:)

Below are the links where I purchased some of the items in this video.

The uv light system I purchased from freshwater systems.com, I had a horrible experience with the company and staff. Do your research before purchasing, A attorney was needed in order to resolve my issue. Freshwatersystems.com did not want to replace the uv light that was delivered BROKEN! 

2 pin battery quick connect -https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-081-0069-6-Terminal-Disconnect/dp/B000NCOKZQ/183-7346297-0339751?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00   .

Doulton Rio 2000 whole house water filter with 6 Ceramic Sterasyl Filters - https://www.amazon.com/Rio-2000-Ceramic-Sterasyl-Filters/dp/B000VDTJ7G?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00

3/4 Inch Rusco Spin Down Separator Sand / Sediment Water Filter 20 GPM - https://www.amazon.com/Rusco-Separator-Sediment-Water-Filter/dp/B00B8XDA46?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00

Rusco FS 3/4-1000 3/4" 1000 mesh screen. - https://www.amazon.com/Rusco-4-500-500-mesh-screen/dp/B0014C5D3W?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00




Make A Water Filtration System Clean Water Science Lab Demonstrated

This is a demonstration of the clean water science lab I recently purchased. It teaches you the basics of water filtration and purification. There are multiple experiments in the box. For today I am trying out the water filter.

This is the same principal used by the large water treatment plants in the city.

You can use this idea to make your own clean water filter for your off grid home.














Coming Soon

Stay tuned. 










11 REASONS WHY EARTHSHIPS ARE THE FUTURE


Africans the first builders of Earth homes

The past is the future



Nubian Arch, Nubian Domes, and Nubian Vaults | ARCH I TECT: How To Build A Pyramid



Earth Works (ISE AIYE)


Oyotunji African Village is an innovator when it comes to growing food and building sustainable homes from recycled items. Be a part of our continued elevation in the Earth Works sector. This planet is ours!




First Earthbag House at Manimutharu, TamilNadu, India


The $500 House - Build A House Dirt Cheap? (Part 1 of 4)



The $500 House - Build A House Dirt Cheap? (Part 2 of 4)



The $500 House - Build A House Dirt Cheap? (Part 3 of 4)


Earthship : Strange and Alternate Homes - Episode 2 Eloy, AZ




Earthships are the 21st century’s  100% sustainable homes that offer comforts like no other green building style you have ever seen! They are the modern way of living  cheap and in harmony with nature. Here are 11 reasons why Earthships are so amazing:

1. GROW YOUR OWN FOOD!

The Earthship is equipped with 2 greenhouses that can grow crops through the whole year! That means that no matter what the climate is, you can eat vegetables and fruits for free by growing them in your own house. If you need meat or eggs, you can also build a chicken coop into your Earthship. A fish pond is also a great option for the seafood lovers!








2. CHEAP ENERGY!

You can use renewable sources like solar panels and wind turbines to provide all the power your home needs. That is, of course, if you’re not the senseless consumer modern society taught you to be.



OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

3. SUSTAINABLE WATER SYSTEM.

Whenever it rains, the roof of the Earthship collects the water in a cistern, which then distributes it to sinks and showers. The used ‘gray water’ from the sinks and showers is then pumped into the greenhouse to water the plants. At this point water is cleaned by the plants and it’s ready for use again– that’s why it’s pumped back to the bathrooms for the toilets. After that the water from the toilet is pumped to the outdoor garden to give nutrients to non-edible plants.

4. A SECURE SHELTER FOR ANY WEATHER.

Earthships are adapted to any kind of climate– no matter if it’s freezing cold or  hot like hell, Earthships sustain a constant temperature of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit  (22 degrees Celsius). The secret is in the structure of the building– tires filled with dirt or ‘thermal mass’. Through this method, solar power is being absorbed and can also be released depending on the interior’s temperature. In order for the sun to heat up the thermal mass, the large front windows of the greenhouse should be facing south.

5. NO BILLS = FREEDOM.

Having all those basic necessities for free brings us to the next huge advantage– you’ve freed yourself from the modern form of slavery! You no longer need to work in order to survive– no more wasted valuable time! You can fully concentrate on the things you love doing and on improving yourself and the world around you. The only responsibility you’ll have will be to take care of your greenhouse and Earthship, which is totally worth it! Imagine the world we’d live in if everyone had that much free time to do the things they truly love to do instead of working jobs they don’t even like!

6. BUILD YOUR OWN ONE!

This can be done surprisingly fast even by an amateur builder! A fine example of that is a married couple, who built  their own 3-story Earthship by themselves in 3 months. They both had no experience in construction and managed to build their green home using only printed schematics. No workers were hired nor were the costs for equipment high. If a couple in their forties can do it– anyone can, too.
Read: The first completely sustainable island is in Scotland

7. CHEAP

Earthships are pretty cheap compared to universal houses. They vary from 7,000 to 70,000, depending on whether you want an average or a huge one. The price fits buyers from all social classes.

8. SUSTAINABLE AND TRENDY.

Most people picture a primitive home that lacks the comforts the 21st century has to offer, when they hear sustainable or Eco-homes.  Take a look at these pictures and you decide if Earthships have anything to do with primitive or old-fashioned:


 









9.MADE OF BYPRODUCTS OF MODERN SOCIETY 





The basic parts of the Earthship are recycled byproducts– that’s the reason why they are so cheap. As I mentioned above, tires filled with dirt make up the structure of the Earthship. Used tires are pretty easy to acquire and there are places where they’ll actually pay you to take them away! Another example are the walls– they are concreted plastic and glass bottles. I’m sure you can find these and a lot of the other materials needed pretty easily in every urban environment.


10. OPEN-MINDED.

Earthships succeed in one thing for sure– encouraging people to think differently. They inspire us to build our human society in harmony with nature and not against it. What if we apply the sustainable model not only in our homes but in the world around us? What else can we make cheaper, more sustainable and Eco-friendly ?
Read: Sapiosexuality: Why Some of Us are Attracted Purely by Intelligence (backed by science, of course)

11. THE EARTHSHIPS CREW

The supporters and activists of the Earthships carry the same values as the Earthship itself. There are widely spread movements around the world that build sustainable homes in different countries. If you don’t want to live alone or build one by yourself, you can always contact such organizations and be a part of spreading the change!

GreenHouse Madness! 

How Does A Greenhouse Work?






What type of Greenhouse do you want? 




Geothermo Greenhouses


Low Cost Greenhouses for Community Gardens



This Greenhouse could feed an entire community or provide a stable business for a family or group.

This Greenhouse was invented in Kenya, made entirely of natural material that is found in the local area. It only costs $600.00 to build. It lasts for 10 years! The space is huge. You will need a crew of 20 or so. Saws, ladders, gardening tools, greenhouse sheets and mosquito net covering.



For small investors and small workforce.


This is the most affordable greenhouse you could ever build -- total cost even with everything store bought is about $225 for a 12X40 greenhouse.




How to Grow Bush & Pole Beans - Complete Growing Guide









Hunting, Fishing and Survival Skills 




Coming soon!

Stay tuned! 

 http://supportblackfarmers.blogspot.com/2016/06/rice-and-beans-survival-combination_16.html

 http://supportblackfarmers.blogspot.com/2016/06/rice-and-beans-survival-combination_16.html