Intentional individuals and institutions committed to African-centered education play a crucial role in building self-love among Black/African students. When I taught the African-Brazilian martial art of capoeira at an African-centered social justice school in Chicago, the students repeated, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me! Harambee, harambee, harambee!” to culminate weekly assemblies. The chant reminded students to take ownership of their actions and to assume collective responsibility for improving their communities.
To reinforce the school’s values, teachers, administrators, and staff infused African-centered educational perspectives into policies and lesson plans.
I keep a picture of my first capoeira students on my wall at the Umoja Community Education Foundation. The image reminds me of my teaching beginnings, reinforces my current commitment to uplifting students, and inspires me to pursue impactful endeavors for vulnerable communities.
With the Umoja Community Education Foundation, I work as the Scholar in Residence. In collaboration with others, I conduct research, write articles, and lead professional presentations. We provide African-centered courses, programs, and services in over eighty schools in Washington and California.
The Umoja Practice Raising Intentional and Deliberate states, “we deeply value intentional and deliberate purposefulness.”
Our eighteen practices intentionally illuminate African perspectives on the continent and throughout the diaspora. Work products, services, and events reflect these values.
During this Women’s History Month, we honor the legacies of Phyllis Wheatley, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Maya Angelou, and other champions of liberation. The emancipation of Black minds, bodies, and spirits runs through much of our work.
In presentations, I often use capoeira as an interactive activity and a means to demonstrate the creative genius of African people. Capoeira is a martial art with a rich history involving the enslavement of Africans in Brazil. It encompasses dance, self-defense, acrobatic movements, music, and communal philosophies.
At the 2025 ABPsi conference, I shared how I have incorporated capoeira in Umoja’s programs, services, and courses. I described how I’ve used it at the headquarters and various events to build community and support health and wellness practices. Establishing capoeira as integral to the struggles for freedom in Brazil, I led a discussion about resistance movements throughout the diaspora
The 57th Annual ABPsi conference, “The Illumination: Freeing the African Spirit,” provides space for crucial conversations and critical actions that enrich our community. Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, will host this year’s convening. The event will allow for “intellectual exchange, cultural celebration, spiritual renewal, and professional development.”
By attending, we can form new ideas and take critical actions to improve ourselves and our services. Spaces like the ABPsi conference can help us teach young people about their roles in improving their own lives and those of others in our communities.
African-centered education and Black/African psychology play a critical role in our nation.
The development of consciousness in Black students is crucial to our goals as individuals and institutions. In Baba Dr. Wade Ifágbemì Sàngódáre Nobles’s Seeking the Sakhu, he identifies a loss of collective African identity and calls for a focused re-centering of ancestral ways of thinking, knowing, and being. He encourages us to tap into a “vibratory” of “African consciousness.”
By reaching for higher vibrations in classrooms, clinical settings, and on the streets, we can shape perceptions and influence progress. Many of my first capoeira students have completed college and started promising careers. We must illuminate with intentionality and deliberateness.
If it is destined to be, it is up to us!
Register and attend the 2026 ABPsi conference here.
