NANA KWABENA ABOAGYE BROWN

Chief Priest and Founder

 

Priest, father, son, anthropologist, consultant, educator, instructor, counselor, trainer/coordinator, Nana Kwabena Aboagye Brown had little choice in being what he is today. Born in the midst of a world changed by the Second World War, he was nurtured in a proud West Indian household that stressed a sense of culture and identity. From a mother whose strong guiding hand and smiling supportive face molded and shaped him, he grew into a young man in the 1950s and 60s who had a desire to explore the intricacies of culture and spirit that bonded people together. This natural-haired woman whom we know as Iyalode, not only gave him life, but also she gave him and others so much more. Through her, he got his jump-start that propelled him into a journey along the spiritual path that has taken him all over the world. Through his mother and her mother, he gained a sense of what is right, what is decent, and what is culture.

 

The myth that had been propagated by white racist anthropologists and sociologists that people of color had no culture to speak of fell on deaf ears in their household. Nana’s grandfather, a Garveyite, would never allow their offspring to fall victim to the racial trap of inferiority. Preaching the doctrine of “Africa for the Africans,” this West Indian family personified the positive attributes of Garveyism. They sunk their roots deep into the earth of racial identity and culture pride. Migrating from New York to Washington, DC, the family brought this cultural awareness and desire to educate their people to Eighth Street Southeast to Zaro’s House of Africa. This mecca of African art and artifacts became one of the focal points of the establishment of the Akan religion in the Washington Metropolitan area. Their vision was further fueled by Nana’s mother, who introduced Nana Kwabena to Nana Yao Opare Dinizulu, who was one of the chief architects for the introduction of African culture to the United States. It was this association that helped Nana shape the foundation of his beliefs for the development of study groups and then the African Cultural and Religious Society.

 

Nana Kwabena’s studies of the religious and the spiritual have taken him from the esoteric to the metaphysical to the scholastic realms of knowledge. His teachers have been many and varied. In his quest to introduce people to a spiritual path, he has studied under a variety of masters. They include: LEARN MORE...