The Kingdom Of Oyotunji by Jeanette Stephens-El

In the 1960s while Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was leading the civil rights struggle, Walter Eugene King was forging a path to African cultural restoration. Establishing a town in the shadow of antebellum plantations, designed on the scale of a traditional West African community, Oba Oseijeman Adefunmi I brought Oyotunji African Village to life. He was ultimately coronated as King of all Yoruba in the Western hemisphere, and Oyotunji morphed into a 21st century iteration of a kingdom.

Queen Mother Iya Orite Olasowo-Adefunmi, the senior queen/wife of Oba Adefunmi has completed the book started decades ago with her late husband who transitioned in 2005. Seeds of Awakening: The Creation of Oyotunji African Kingdom, 1970 – 1995, is a chronicle of the first twenty-five years of the enclave located near Hilton Head, South Carolina. The Yoruba name Oyotunji means “Oyo rises again.” The Oba and his followers who became chiefs and priests, developed Oyotunji as a center “for African Americans in search of their spiritual and cultural identity” so they can rise like Oyo.

Drumming, African dance and praise songs to the orisha are a constant backdrop to ceremonies and festivals at Oyotunji. Its growth was not so much by acreage, but by its influence on African Americans throughout the civil rights era. From the terms used to identify Blacks in the United States as African rather than Negro, or colored, to the style of dress, embracing dashikis and head wraps, to freedom of religious and cultural expression, and celebrity visitations, Oyotunji was at the forefront of influencing important transitions in thought, cultural practice, and music. In the religion, author Queen Olasowo Adefunmi reached the equivalent of Cardinal in the Catholic Church, an indication of how women can rise to prominence in the Yoruba faith and culture. She sings and writes Orisha songs to lift her spirit, continually.

The documentary Bigger Than Africa, streaming on Netflix and YouTube, prominently features Oyotunji African Village, its musical backdrop, its current king, HRM Oba Adejuyigbe Adefunmi II, and village residents, revealing the pageantry, festive celebrations, and connections to the global Yoruba community spanning Nigeria, the Caribbean, Brazil, and the U.S.A. In October 2023, a New York Times article entitled Overlooked No More, recognized Oyotunji’s founding king for the broad influence his establishment had on the African American community. A place of pilgrimage and learning, the villagers welcome thousands of tourists, educators and students, and community groups, annually. Olasowo-Adefunmi is eager to share this historic journey.

Visit: www.olasowohouse.com and www.oyotunji.org

Contact:

Iya Orite Olasowo-Adefunmi rainingdeer2@gmail.com