Our Presenters
Mel Adún is a writer, journalist, and Master in Literature and Culture at the Federal University of Bahia. She is co-founder of Editora Ogum's Publishing House in Brasil. Mel Adún is the author of A Lua Cheia de Vento (children's book, 2015) and Adumbi (children's book, 2016); Peixe fora da Baía (short stories, 2021), and Quantas Tantas (poetry, 2021). Her writings can be found, in poetry and prose, in several anthologies inside and out of Brasil. Mel Adún is part of and organized/edited the poetry anthology Quilombellas Amefricanas Vol. 1 and 2, with black women poets from Brasil, Moçambique, Colombia, Costa Rica, and more. She also is part of the literary program #VumboraLêOgums/#LetsReadOgums. Chosen by the Waters, Mel Adún is a daughter of Oxum and the mother of Ominirê. In her writings, black-amefrican-feminist voices can be heard, always carried by the ancestors' power in her texts. Mel Adún is part of the Ogum's Toques Negros Collective and is a coordinator at Kilomba - Black Brazilian Women Collective.
Whitney Battle-Baptiste is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Center at UMass Amherst. A native of the Bronx, New York, Dr. Battle-Baptiste is a priest of Obatala and an activist-scholar who uses the classroom and campus as a space to engage contemporary issues with a sensibility of the past. Her academic training is in history and historical archaeology. Her research critically engages the interconnectedness of race, gender, class, and sexuality through an archaeological lens. Her books include, Black Feminist Archaeology (2011); W. E. B. Du Bois’s Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America (2018), co-edited with Britt Rusert; and she remains busy - completing a second edition of her first book, Black Feminist Archaeology and an edited volume on new research on W. E. B. Du Bois with Dr. Richard Benson. And last but not least, she is currently the President-elect of the American Anthropological Association.
Albert Rainer Cheeks (Rainey) as he is known by family and friends was born and raised in Washington DC. He Graduated from the National Spiritual Science Center in 1982 under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Dian Nagorka After graduation he served as assistant minister at NSSC for 5 years. In 1993 he founded Inner Light Ministries church and served as the senior pastor for 29 years. He now serves as the Spiritual Director of the National Spiritual Science Center of Washington D.C.. In 1999 he received his Doctor of Divinity from The St. Andrews Theological School of London England the same year he was consecrated to the office of Bishop while serving with the Unity Fellowship Church Movement. 2016 Inner Light Ministries join United Church of Christ with full standing. He is the founder of Us Helping Us People into Living, a holistic training program in 1985. He has presented at the World Health Conference on HIV/AIDS on the interconnection of mind body healing techniques in Amsterdam, Germany and Japan. He was initiated as a Tegare Priest in the west African tradition from Ghana he also practices Kriya yoga and was initiated by Swami Hariharanada Giri in 1978. Rainey has trained in Traditional Tae Kwon Do from the age of 14 under Grand Master Ki Kwan Kim. He was rated in the top 10 in the United States and was on the first US team that competed in the first World Championship in Seoul Korea in 1973. He was inducted into the Tae Kwon Do hall of fame in 2007. He now holds the rank of 9th degree black belt and is the Grand Master of the Ki Kwan Kim Traditional Martial Arts Association. He graduated from the Potomac Massage Institute as a licensed massage therapist and has private practice in massage, chakra and energy healing work. His life work has been focused on inner personal healing and soul development. Rainey has presented and led retreats throughout the U.S. he is an author his book is “Reclaiming Your Divine Birthright”, you can hear him every Thursday night” on YouTube “Rainey Speaks” most of all a child of God! I See God in You Yaw A. Rainer Cheeks D.D.
Aliento Divino Divine Breath The museum/library at La Casa del Libro is proud to present Aliento Divino (Divine Breath) in its exhibition space in Old San Juan (Puerto Rico), as part of its events for Fall 2022 and the first months of 2023. The exhibition presents a selection of graphic works that provide an overview of the career of Imna Arroyo Cora, a renowned Afro-Puerto Rican graphic artist noted for her explorations and transmigrations that extend from graphic language to sculpture in paper and paper-mâché, as well as installation. Aliento Divino invites the viewer to take a tour of the artist’s graphic production beginning with the initial stages of her career, and her evolution into works that evidence schematic forms related to the presence of distant ancestors, which the artist has continued to refine in figurative representations as she became initiated into the Regla de Osha (an African Diasporic religion). Since then, she has delved into the creation of artist's books and portfolios dedicated to the Orishas, which are cultivated from her own devotion in keeping with the traditions of that practice. In her formative stage as an artist, Arroyo responded to the call to self-discovery as a Black woman from Guayama, in southern Puerto Rico, the so-called “Town of the Witches (or Sorcerers).” During that creative stage of her youth, she made various key trips in recognition of her cultural ethnicity to learn more about primary sources in Africa. Parallel to that, she began to respond to an internal yearning to study and understand the divine energies that are found in nature. That immersion has guided her practice and led to an amplification of her art as an expression of faith. This exhibition includes more recent work created specifically for presentation at La Casa del Libro, as well as graphic impressions and matrices that represent the presence of Èṣù/Elegba in the rites of her life. As an engraver, Imna Arroyo has a deep knowledge of the methodological structure of her artistic language. As a woman devoted to her cultural religious complex, she affirms her life from the traditional structures of her practice of faith. These two parallel disciplines serve as an axis for continuing her transmigrations. The breath of life and the divine breath intermingle to propose the attainment of a higher level—one that is grounded in knowledge and inspiration. The exhibition Aliento Divino will be presented at the Museo Biblioteca La Casa del Libro from October 20, 2022, until March 31, 2023. The museum is located at #255 Calle del Santo Cristo, in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Deborah Edwards-Anderson is a priest of Obatala, initiated in 2006 by Joseph Smith Abbott (Baba Segun) and Lydia Payne-Johnson (Okun Aina). A wife and mother of adult sons, she is program manager of the City College Undergraduate Program in Early Childhood Education and an adjunct lecturer. Deborah’s M.A. thesis research on Dakota language revitalization and commemorations of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 was featured in conjunction with the traveling exhibit “Civil War 150,” a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Library of America, and Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in 2014. Her article "From Reconciliation to Resurgence: Dakota Commemorations of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862" was published in Middle West Review. Her research process was life-changing, attuning her to indigenous traditional knowledge, sovereignty, the rights of Mother Earth, the values of interconnectedness, relationality, reciprocity, and character, and the common ground these hold with Yoruba Lukumi worldviews and traditions. Deborah and her husband are twenty-year stewards and members of the Walt L. Shamel Community Garden, a verdant GreenThumb garden in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
EmiOkun is a spiritual herbalist, urban farmer/gardener, writer and educator who has been working to heal women and youth for over 20 years. She has developed rites of passage programs for several non-profit organizations in NYC, as well as monthly women’s healing circles. She has been a community advocate in her role as director in youth development programs in under-served communities. An initiated Yoruba priest of Yemoja, Emi holds a master’s degree in Philosophy and Religion with an emphasis in Women’s Spirituality. She studied urban farming with Farm School NYC and herbalism with The People's Medicine School. Emi is passionate about plants, wellness and is dedicated to healing the community through Spiritual Herbalism, gardening, education and advocacy. EmiOkun is the founder of The Black Mermaid Society, a spiritual wellness lifestyle brand which promotes herbalism and healthy living and urban farming.
Kevin Greene has been a Priest of Obatala in the Lukumi-Yoruba tradition for 24 years. He has been a certified massage therapist for 34 years, a diviner/reader, teacher/facilitator, and health care activist. In 1996 he created the Alternative and Complementary Therapies Program at Action AIDS, a Philadelphia non-profit organization that services people living with AIDS and HIV+ clients in Philadelphia. He is the founder of Lukumi Temple of Healing Light Ministry. Kevin has been a student of Qi Gong, Tai Chi since 1996. He has cultivated a daily practice of Qi Gong and has been able to share his personal experience in surviving “life threatening illnesses” by including Qi Gong practice into a holistic health care program.
Khalebo Harris, MBA (Media Management). I am a member of Omo Obatala Egbe, Inc., a documentation specialist/administrative professional/software trainer and an unabashed Octavia Butler aficionado. I admit to seriously fangirling when receiving a personalized autograph in my much-treasured copy of “Parable of the Talents”. I look forward to discussing different themes found in the cautionary writings of the late Ms. Butler, and how they are applicable to the present. Daughter of Verda Harris-Olayinka, sister of Khalim Harris, and auntie to Torin, KJ and Yannice, I believe that Ms. Butler’s work should be required reading for all who wish for a strong Afro PRESENT and future for their descendants. I am very grateful to Omo Obatala Egbe, Inc. for the opportunity to share my respect for this author’s contributions at this Conference. “We do not worship God. We perceive and attend God. We learn from God. With forethought and work, We shape God. In the end we yield to God. We adapt and endure, for we are Earthseed And God is Change. Lauren Oya Olamina.” Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower, p. 17
Kadi Janna (aka Kadijah Janna) is an initiated Lucumi Priest, Wholistic Intimacy Coach, Medium, Energy worker, trained Sex Educator, and Founder of The Pleasure Alchemy, a self-care focused community centered around women’s pleasure, transformation and spiritual development. She helps women move from feeling stuck, to self-actualized, through deep self-care and sensuality practices. Her areas of expertise include coaching, podcasting, and workshop facilitation; and she offers a signature subscription service to help diverse women-identifying people deepen their spiritual and sensual practice at home. Kadi’s specialty is using a customized, one-on-one approach to intuitive readings, guided meditations, ritual bathing, breathing exercises and goal setting.
Imani OshunL’ade Talabi Gross is the youngest daughter of Baba Yomi and Iya Carole Robinson, a New York native, and has been living in Nashville, TN since 2017. When she isn’t teaching in her school, Imani Montessori, she is selling Real Estate or serving her community through various community engagement opportunities. Imani’s first call to service was in Domestic Violence Survivor Housing as a primary educator in the Bronx, NY. She served there supporting women and children during one of the most challenging and emotional times of their lives until her second call to service, as an active duty military member. She honorably served in the United States Navy for six years during the Global War on Terrorism, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom as an Electronics Technician and earned her undergraduate degree in Engineering. As a civilian she worked as a Clinical Engineer in a variety of medical settings. Although this field was worthy, her work with and service to children and families called to her. Through her children, Imani was introduced to the Montessori method, and it’s holistic approach to education resonated with her spirit. As her children were aging out of their elementary school Imani realized there were no diverse Montessori middle schools for her children to attend in the Nashville area and again, she stepped up to serve. She went back to school and earned her Master of Education degree while simultaneously becoming certified to teach Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary through the American Montessori Society. During that time, Imani also bought and renovated a small church, and started a micro-school to offer not only her children, but other children in her community a safe and inclusive space to learn. She later completed her Secondary Montessori 1 & 2 training which completed her K-12 Montessori credential. In addition to her work as a school owner and classroom teacher, Imani also offers free Homeschool Education classes to parents, Farm-Based Homeschool Enrichment to homeschooling families, hosts a Banned Book Club, and serves as Troop Leader of a Girl Scout Troop. In her spare time, she spends time renovating her farm in Gallatin, TN with her husband and daughters.
Amma D. McKen has been a lifelong member of a vibrant community who describe themselves as Yoruba traditionalists or Lukumi, practicing a way of life and religion of West Africa. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, McKen has sung traditional sacred Yoruba music since she was 14 and is recognized as a Priestess of Yemonja. The Yoruba refer to God as Olodumare, as well as deities known as Orisas. Orisa worship was spread to the new world through the slave trade and, in order to preserve their religious traditions against repression, the African slaves matched the Orisas to Catholic saints. McKen holds several roles and titles in Yoruba, including the title of Akpon, a lead singer and officiator for the drumming and dancing celebrations. Akpon is a title held by very few people and is critical to keeping the tradition in place. McKen became the first African American female Akpon to produce a musical recording of the traditional songs, titled Alaako Oso: Owner of the Songs is Eloquent. Sought after to lead Bembes (dancing celebrations) throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean, McKen preserves the traditional songs of Yoruba and helps participants connect with the history and spiritual context of the tradition. McKen is the director and co-founder of Omiyesa, a cultural music group located in New York, where she offers a wide range of apprenticeships, workshops, and lecture-demonstrations in Afro-Cuban and Orisa songs, dance, and music. In 1998, she collaborated with the African American Dance Ensemble, directed by Chuck Davis, and the Carolina Theater to stage the well-received production Cultural Journey Back to the Roots.
Dr. Alade S. McKen is a native New Yorker and diversity, equity, and inclusion thought-leader with more than 15 years of developing, managing, and evaluating initiatives to enhance policy, programming, belongingness and equity. He has taught youth as a rite of passage instructor and is an adjunct professor at undergraduate and graduate levels. Through his research and publications, Dr. McKen examines the social dynamics of education and culture within society and their impact on race and equity issues. Dr. McKen brings forth new opportunities to examine and address the broader cultural, economic, political and social structures, policies, and practices around admissions, diversity, equality and inclusion. While at Iowa State University, he was Editor of the Journal of Critical Thought and Practice, an Asa G. Hillard III and Barbara A. Sizemore Fellow, and awarded a Teaching Excellence Award. Dr. McKen’s research interests include critical race theory, inclusive educational design, community-school partnerships, and engaging in a thoughtful, rigorous, and sustained inquiry into social justice struggles and educational systems. He received hid B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Binghampton University, Masters in Higher Education from Baruch College, and his Doctorate in Education with a Social and Cultural Studies emphasis from Iowa State University. Dr. McKen currently works at Columbia University, where he is the Assistant Dean of Recruitment, Diversity, Inclusion in the Graduate School of Architect, Planning, Design and Preservation. He is also a lifetime member or Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., A Master Mason of Joppa Lodge No. 55, of Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge in the State of New York. He has also completed several traditional rites of passage “programs” as an initiate of Ogun in the Yoruba Lukumi tradition and as an Awo of IFA within the Isese traditional practice in Nigeria, which refers to a tradition in Ifa spirituality and refers to the wisdom passed down from our ancestors and spiritual progenitors. Dr. McKen is a proud husband and father of three children who are his pride and joy.
Tania Molina MSc. Omo Yemaya Omisayade Born and raised in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. She has a undergraduate degree in Economics from University of Massachusetts Boston and graduate degree in Economic Analysis from Brooklyn College. While in Boston, she became a dance member of Wamenegui “Our Hope” Garifuna Dance Company directed by Denia Caneddy, showcasing heritage and Garifuna culture for which it’s survives language, food and spirituality since their arrival to Honduras in exile from Saint Vincent In April 12 1797. In addition to promoting her culture she started taking Afro-Cuban Orisha Dance class at the Dance Complex in Cambridge under the tutelage of Reynaldo Gonzalez, former dancer from Muñequitos de Matanzas. Tania also received the “2019 Caribbean Cultural Center Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellow” Moved to NYC to continue her education at a graduate program and became a member of Hamalali Wayunago "La Voz of our Ancestors" directed by Luz Solis. After some time she joined Chief Joseph Chatoyer Garifuna Folkloric Ballet of NYC as a dancer and choreographer from 2009 to present. Being exposed to dance and searching for spirituality; she initiated Palo Mayombe under her madrina Luz Malagon in early 2000. As a Buyei (Garifuna spiritual leader) by Tola Guerrero and finished her consecration in 2019. Yayi en Palo Mayombe April 2021 by my padrino Tata Americo Paez and Tata Rich. Recently finished her Iyawo year in June 2022 Omo Yemaya by her Madrina Carmen Pellot-Paez okunfumito Omo Yemaya and Padrino Ojubona Oba Americo Páez Ochailu Omo Obatala. She was a co-founder of the Afro-Latino Festival of New York. Also, collaborated with other organizations in the Garifuna community Casa Yurumein in the Bronx and Garifuna Queens promoting and teaching financial literature. Currently she is the founder and manager director of African Roots in Latin America collaborated with the Bronx Music Heritage with seminars about different diasporic cultures Garifuna, Dominican Haitian, Afro Colombian and Afro Peruvian
Iya Amma Oloriwaa! is the daughter of Mr. Leon Bryan-Iba’ye and Elder Mrs. Mamie Buncamper. She hails from a long line of powerful women including her great grandmother Mamie “Mama” Warnock- Iba’ye a woman who defied the law teaching Black women how to read and write, and who inspires her to this day. A Brooklyn, NY native, she is the founder and Alakoso (Director) of Egbe Iwa Odo'kunrin * Egbe Iwa Odo'binrin Inc, the society of young men and young women of character, Rites Of Passage Program established in 2002 now affectionately known as Egbe Iwa. Iya Oloriwaa! is a traditional singer of African music, a trained African dancer, and a designer of the clothing line Brooklyn SkaRunch Hats, LLC. She is a founding member of the Omo Obatala Egbe, Inc, and Ijo Orisa Yoruba Church,Inc., as well as a member of The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Dance Africa’s esteemed Council of Elders, Inc. An avid community activist and leader, she has received numerous awards for her tireless and selfless work. She formed Egbe Iwa for the benefit of her 3 children Amma, Kofi, and Oludare, all graduates of the program who are now mentors and workshop leaders. She is the doting and joy filled Gaga (grandmother) of Nnedi- Abena, Drew Moremi, and Amma Oshun Ayo. Iya Oloriwaa!’s Rites of Passage initiative is the first of its kind and has brought a community of people together internationally and generationally. She is honored to be of service and offer opportunities to give youth tools to ensure a better chance of success in life. Egbe Iwa celebrates and honors their transition to a new life status and affirms their place in the world community at large. (FOUNDER/ DIRECTOR)
Esmeralda Simmons is a civil rights and human rights attorney of Caribbean American heritage whose practice focuses on racial justice for people of African Descent in New York. She recently retired from the Center for Law and Social Justice in Brooklyn where she was the founding executive director and organizational leader for 34 years. The Center is a community-based legal advocacy and research institution at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. During her illustrious career, Esmeralda served as the First Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights for New York State, and as a Civil Rights Attorney for the US Department of Education, a New York State Assistant Attorney General, a New York City Assistant Corporation Counsel, and as a law clerk to a federal judge. In addition, she has served on several major public boards in New York City government, including the NYC Board of Education, the NYC Districting Commission, and the NYC CIvilian Complaint Review Board that serves as a watchdog to the New York Police Department. Esmeralda strongly believes in community service and has a history of activism in progressive political movements and electoral politics. Esmeralda also volunteers her skills and currently serves on the board of directors of UPROSE — a climate justice organization; the Council of Elders for African Cultural Heritage; and Little Sun People -- an outstanding African-centered early childhood education center. In the recent past, she has served on several boards of national organizations: the Applied Research Center (now “Race Forward”); Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center; the Child Welfare Fund; and, the Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC). Esmeralda is a deeply spiritual woman who serves as a Yoruba Lukumi priest. She resides in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn with her husband Lesly Jean-Jacques and is the mother of two adult sons and the grandmother of seven fantastic youth.
To understand Carlos Mena and his music, you must understand his background. Born in Puerto Rico, raised in Brooklyn, and childhood summers in the Dominican Republic, Carlos soaked up the vast array of sounds and musical idioms —from Djing House to Hip-Hop to Salsa—to help form a unique foundation for his music sensibilities that can be heard throughout his music today. A frequently requested DJ and resident at the world famous now defunct Output club, His eclectic sets continue to garner him the label of one of the hottest DJs on the U.S. circuit, having played at 6 of Rolling Stone's TOP Clubs in the U.S.. He has opened for Black Coffee, Theo Parrish, Dennis Ferrer, Louie Vega, and played b2b with Ron Trent and b2b with Osunlade, to name a few. Carlos has toured around the world having played, in Japan, South Africa, France, UK, Kenya, Greece and other countries. His organic approach to remixes have him working with artists such as, Grammy winners Jody Watley, Roy Ayers, Lazaro Galaragga, Arrested Develpment, and House legends, Louie Vega, Atjazz, Osunlade, Ron Trent, and DJ Spinna. His focus on Deep, Afro and Soulful House, Hip-Hop and Latin music with over 30 years experience, as well as being a priest within the Afro-Cuban spiritual tradition Lucumi (Santeria), Carlos Mena is poised to continue to bring forth new fusions of genres while respecting and maintaining traditions. His most recent offerings have charted at #1, “Oggun” with Hallex M and “One” with Jimpster Carlos Mena is also music producer and DJ that has produced music for platinum selling artist Arrested Development, Tre Hardson (The Pharcyde), and labels, Defected, Yoruba Records, Vega Records, Freerange, Got Soul Records, Deeper Soul Records, and Phuture Soul. He also lead the popular Bay Area group 10BASS T, to many accolades and opening stints for Counting Crows, The Roots, and the Lollapalooza Festival. His Solo debut “Hip-Hop Meditations” fuses Afro-Cuban music with hip-hop and has received wonderful reviews from major hip-hop publications across the country. Carlos recently received an artistic fellowship grant from the City of Oakland for his work on Hip-Hop Meditations. He was also included in URB MAGAZINE’s NEXT 100 up and coming artists. Carlos is also the founder and president of Ocha Records, a record label, based in Brooklyn, NY, that works with uncompromising artists to produce music that feeds our souls. The label is 15 years strong with releases by: Black Coffee, Osunlade, Deetron, Manoo, Atjazz, Culoe De Song, Black Motion, Boddhi Satva, DJ Spinna, and more. CASAMENA is currently in production on his first solo project in over 10 years as well as collaborations with several well known artists across different genres including Georgia Anne Muldrow and Marcus Gilmore. Catch Carlos at his celebrated party BEMBE on global stages as well as his upcoming new weekly residency, and his popular podcast, THE CASAMENA RADIO HOUR. (http://podcast.casamena.com).
Alex Spencer is a priest of Shango who has been initiated for 29 years and been seated as an Oriate for the past 21 years. He is the proud father of a 12 year old girl. He is also an educator who has worked for the New York City Department of Education for the past 28 years, the last 13 of them as a Principal. He is a firm believer in the power of moral leadership in both fields of study. He also believes that as parents, priests and as educators we must strive to give what we were given and support others as we have been supported. As an Oriate he has seated one other African American Oriate and as a Principal he has helped four of his Assistant Principals go on to become Principals in their own right. He considers himself to be a student and teacher of this religion and hopes that through continued work and conversation he can continue to teach and learn from all whose who he interacts with.
Baba Corriel Smith is a 35-year-old Grenadian American and native New Yorker; who is also a proud Husband, Father, God Father and Priest of Obatala in the Yoruba - Lukumi tradition. Born and raised in the heart of Harlem USA, just blocks away from the world famous Apollo Theater; Corriel is the youngest of two boys born to his mother, partner in crime and Ibeji (twin) in Ocha; Oshun priestess Iya Patricia Smith. Born with Sickle Cell Anemia, a debilitating chronic blood disease, Corriel spent the majority of his childhood and the greater part of his adulthood in and out of hospitals overcoming hundreds of sickle cell crises, and heavy drug dependencies. At the age of 34, Corriel was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney failure, the latest of his adversities which he also overcame receiving a kidney transplant in May of 2021. Despite all of his life challenges, Baba Corriel managed to become the first one in his family to graduate college receiving a Bachelors’ Degree in Psychology from Lehman College, and later his Master’s Degree in Youth Studies from The CUNY School of Professional Studies. For the past ten years, Baba Corriel has worked to support the community he was raised in as a Social Services Case Worker at the Harlem Children's Zone; providing Social, Emotional and Behavioral intervention for children ages of 3 to 18 years old. Baba Corriel gives thanks to the heavens, his ancestors and living support systems as he believes they have all helpped pave the way for him to become the social advocate and one of life's unwavering warriors that he is today.
Adisa Terry is a high school senior at the Special Music School in Lincoln Center where he is a jazz tenor saxophone major. He is also learning to play bata, having begun to teach himself some rhythms during the pandemic and then learning with Baba Oludare Bernard. An Omo Sango, Adisa recently completed his Iyaworaje and is excited to learn more and contribute to his ocha family and community.
Dr. Marta Moreno Vega has grounded her life's work in the powerful experiences of people of African descent, developing cultural institutions that affirm their impact on the world stage. She has created a legacy of international advocacy and institution-building. Dr. Vega is recognized globally for her contributions as: a respected scholar institution builder cultural activist narrative shifter truth teller context educator author professor cultural producer Yoruba priestess “The honoring of those that are now spirit is essential as is honoring their work to assure that their work continues to be expanded upon generation after generation.” MARTA MORENO VEGA DemystifyingthehistoryofAfroLatinxandpeopleof Africandescent Dr. Moreno Vega has been an advocate for cultural equity, cultural studies, art as a tool for culture, social change and education. She started her career as an elementary school teacher in New York City, then went on to be the second director of El Museo del Barrio. She was also one of the founders of the Association of Hispanic Arts, Network of Centers of Color, and the Roundtable of Institutions of Color, Dr. Moreno Vega has contributed to assuring that the contributions of African and African descendants are integral to the lives of civil society in the Americas. A lifetime of institution building Institution building has been one of Dr. Moreno Vega's life's purposes. She has established, founded and cofounder institutions for more than 50 years. She became the Museo del Barrio second Director in 1971 and then went on to establish the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) in 1976, inspired by a vision to create an international organization to promote and link communities of African descent. As CCCADI’s founder and executive director she guided the capital campaign for the renovation of the landmark firehouse at 120 East 125th Street, that became CCCADI's new home. Through her lifetime she was the founding Director of Association of Hispanic Arts, founder of Network of Centers of Color and first director of the Roundtable of Institutions of Colors one of the founding board members. Moreno Vega has been consistently involved in uplifting Latino Arts and Culture for that reason she went on to be one of the founding board members of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture and Global Afro Latino Network Centers initiative co-founder Moreno Vega is also co-founder of the Global Afro Latino and Caribbean Initiative (GALCI), a former program of Hunter College/Latin American and Caribbean Studies In 2017, Dr. Moreno Vega founded Creative Justice Initiative and 2 years later became the co-founder of Corredor Afro along with Maricruz Rivera Clemente, Ph.D, longtime cultural worker and activist and founder of C.O.P.I. Recently seeing the need for collaboration within the Caribbean she founded Afro Global Network a Caribbean based organization with a Global perspective. “For Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, a Black woman of Puerto Rican descent, born and reared in El Barrio, the current rise of a global movement for Black lives and collective liberation aligns with her unwavering vision for a better world. Her steadfast commitment throughout her long career—creating new spaces, opportunities, and possibilities for our communities to see themselves in an empowering light while challenging oppression—is her legacy.” The Latinx Project African Diaspora traditions She has conducted research in Yoruba belief systems in the African Diaspora and has organized international conferences uniting scholars and leading traditional experts focused on expanding the knowledge and importance of sacred African Diaspora traditions. Editor, director producer... Moreno Vega is co-founder of the Global Afro Latino and Caribbean Initiative (GALCI), a former program of Hunter College/Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program. She is chief editor of Women Warriors of the Afro-Latina Diaspora (Arte Publico Press) and author of The Altar of My Soul (One World/Ballantine, 2001). She is director and co-producer of the documentary When the Spirits Dance Mambo: Growing Up Nuyorican in El Barrio and has written a personal memoir by the same name (Three Rivers Press, 2003, Black Classic Press, 2018). Dr. Vega is also co-editor of Voices from the Battlefront Achieving Cultural Equity. Dr. Moreno Vega also co-edited Actualidad de las Tradiciones Espirituales y Culturales Africanas en el Caribe y Latinoamerica with Maria Elba Torres Muñoz and A SNAP SHOT: Landmarking Community Cultural Arts Organizations Nationally with Dr. Sonia Bassheva Manjon. She also participated on the documentary In In Our Mothers’ Gardens which celebrates the strength and resiliency of Black women and Black families through the complex, and oftentimes humorous, relationship between mothers and daughters. ACADEMIA Dr. Vega was a professor at El Centro de Estudios Avanzados Puertorriquenos de Puerto Rico y El Caribe in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was also an adjunct professor at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico and an adjunct professor in New York University’s Department of Arts and Public Policy. Previously, she was an adjunct professor of Afro-Caribbean Religions and Afro Latinos in New York City at Hunter College, City University of New York where she was acting director of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program. Dr. Moreno Vega has created cultural and social equity courses for the Arts and Public Policy Department of NYU, based on the work of the network of community-based art organizations, known as the Cultural Equity Group. The lecture/seminar series, Art of Justice and Futurology a collaboration between NYU and CCCADI focused on an African Diaspora agenda for CCCADI. ACTIVISM Community organizations With community-based organizations and in collaboration with human rights lawyers in New York City and Puerto Rico, she participated in the organization of Town Hall Meetings at which testimonies from Puerto Ricans displaced by hurricanes Irma and Maria were being collected and documented. Moreno Vega was key in assisting community-based organizations and representatives to organize a community tribunal to present documented evidence to the United Nations on International Human Rights Day in December 2018 of the genocidal conditions existing in Puerto Rico. CURRENT INSTITUTIONS CREATIVE JUSTICE INITIATIVE Moreno Vega continues her legacy of institution building, in 2017 she created the Creative Justice Initiative (CJI) with the intention of building an intergenerational, inclusive platform to confront systemic inequality. In a recent interview Marta told The Latinx Project’s Neyda Martinez & Néstor David Pastor: “Arts and culture organizations representing communities of Black/African and African Descendants, Latinx, Native, Arab, Asian, South Asian, Pacific Islander, Appalachian, LGBTQIA+/Two Spirit and People with Disabilities remain chronically under served and underfunded. Rooted in community and solidarity, Dr. Moreno Vega believes that “it is in honoring our unique contributions that we establish common grounds of understanding.” To that end, Marta lead built a coalition for CJI’s first national action, a survey under the banner “Achieving Cultural Equity;” a title that reflects the mindset which has informed her life-long approach to work. CORREDOR AFRO & CASA AFRO In 2017 after devastating hurricane Irma and María hit Puerto Rico Marta Moreno Vega moved to the land of her parents and ancestors and a year later 2018, co-founded Corredor Afro. Corredor Afro is an international creative, sociocultural, educational, and artistic innovation project focused on highlighting, conserving, and making visible the cultural heritage and ancestral intelligence of Afro-descendants of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and the World. The project was created along with Dr. Maricruz Rivera Clemente, a sociologist, and a long time racial, social and environmental justice warrior from Piñones. Corredor Afro creates innovative, intersectional, and multisectoral networks that unite creative entities, communities, researchers, and academics with educational and community-based institutions to develop comprehensive projects with community, local and international impact.