Honorary Members

  • Honorary Mothers of KA

     
    The Revered Queens of Malika Kambe Umfazi Sorority, Inc. believe in the importance of celebrating and learning from our elders. Since 1996 we have sought out women of excellence and experience to receive the rare distinction of being an Honorary Mother of KA.
     
    Our honorary members are women whose lives exemplify the principles mission and objectives of MKU Sorority, Inc. These women have been conferred membership in our sisterhood because they have made meaningful contributions to the Afrikan/Latino communities and because they are role models for leadership, integrity and their commitment to utilitarianism.
     
    The following elders have been inducted as an Honorary Mothers of KA:
     
     
    KA Dr. Bahati Kuumba (1997)
    KA Dr. Gail V. Wells (1997)
    KA Ms. Vera Martin (1997)
    KA Abeena Taaliba Asantewa (2010)
    KA Dr. Elise Rhodes (2010)
    KA Aqila Muhammad (2012)
    KA Dr. Carmen Lopez (2012)
    KA Queen Afua (2012)
     
     
     
    JoAnnKA Abeena Taaliba Asantewa (Jo Ann Peters)
    KA Abeena Taaliba Asantewa was born and raised in Buffalo, New York but spent summer and winter vacations in New York City.  She graduated from Buffalo State College earning a degree in Secondary English Education.  KA Abeena currently works for the Board of Education and is assigned to the John F. Kennedy Recreation Center site.  Here she works as a General Education Development (GED) Instructor for the Adult Learning Center.  KA Abeena worked previously for the American Red Cross where she was in Emergency Management and was a National Trainer for Emergency Services. 
     
    She traveled throughout the United States instructing Emergency Services staff and volunteers. She is a lover of history, civic involvement, cultural preservation and the arts.  She has been a volunteer for the annual Juneteenth Festival since 1983.  She has served on both the Board of Directors and on committees where she was instrumental in establishing the annual Health Fair and Run for Health, the Underground Railroad Mini Tours, and the Book Sharing event. KA Abeena is a former student of yoga at the Himalayan Institute.  She also attends adult drawing classes at the Locust Street Neighborhood Art Center. Her work has been shown at  Jammin', the yearly art show and fundraiser for the art center. Jazz is a passion for KA Abeena, especially traditional Jazz, and she is interested in creating paintings featuring jazz scenes. She works in acrylics and is interested in abstracts.
     
    KA Abeena is trained as a docent for the Forest Lawn Cemetery Tours and plans to spearhead a committee to publicly acknowledge the burial of "colored" Civil War veterans interred at the cemetery. She is a former member of the YWCA's Racial Justice Committee and a current member of the Sunday @ Five Book Club. She is also a member of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations at the national, regional and local levels. She has two sons, James and Jay. She is also a member of the African Consciousness Workshop, an eighteen-member group that meets on Mondays at the Jefferson Library to discuss issues related to being African.

     

     

    KA Elise RhodesElise

    KA Elise Rhodes was born on February 13, 1965, in Buffalo, New York. She is the eldest of three girls born to mother, Frances Arlene, a long time employee of New York Telephone, and father, Roosevelt, a higher education administrator, community activist, and  minister. Throughout her childhood and young adulthood, she participated in demonstrations, marches, meetings and think-tanks, all geared at helping promoting the equal treatment, access, education, and rights of minority communities (i.e., African American/Black and Hispanic.) 

     

    From 1991-1995, she was a member of the Buffalo School Health Project Advisory Board whose sole purpose was to ensure that children and adolescents attending inner city schools were receiving adequate health care and health education.  From 1994 to 1998, she served as a member of the Buffalo Urban League Guild; from 2001-2004, she volunteered with Brush-Up Buffalo, an collective effort that painted houses, for free, in low-income neighborhoods; and from 1997 to 2003, she volunteered in several initiative to address the need for health education and awareness in low-income communities through her church, job, or school. Today, KA Elise work's diligently to ensure that underrepresented minority college students reach their academic potential and reach their academic, personal and professional goals. After a successful career as a Licensed Practical Nurse and administrator at several hospitals and universities, KA Elise chose to  pursue a Ph.D. in Higher Education, with an emphasis on Student Development and Student Affairs. Currently, she is Assistant Director of Academic Skills Services at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

     

    KA Aqila Juba Muhammad 

     KA Aqila Juba Muhammad is a dedicated woman, wife of a totally awesome husband of 21 years, mother of a son, and grandmother of a fabulous grand-daughter.  As a community activist, KA Aqila is a spiritually trained educator, inspiring writer, natural healer and prayer warrior. She earned her GED at the age of 17, became a home maker and propelled herself to grow as a model of truth, balance and utilitarianism.  Currently, KA Aqila is a teacher and prides herself on fulfilling her calling to culturally and spiritually teach all in her fold.  “My life’s work is to study, apply what I learn, and teach what I know for the upliftment of first my Black and Latino peoples, then to humanity worldwide!”  KA Aqila continuously embraces the opportunity to uplift herself, her family and the community at large via her sacred work. 

     

    She has taken active participation in local and international causes and programs.  Her path of teaching includes varied levels including that of children, adolescence and elders.  She has served as Executive Secretary to the Commissioner for Head Start; Lead Teacher for Muhammad University of Islam, NYC; Assistant to the Principal of Muhammad University of Islam, NYC; Assistant Teacher for The Learning Tree Multi-Cultural School, Corona, NY; Lead Teacher for Science & Mathematics, Sister Clara Muhammad School, Brooklyn & Queens.  KA Aqila has also served as an instructor of Women’s Studies, for MGT GCC of NYC and as Eastern Regional Supervisor of Women’s Online Studies/MGTGCC, NYC.  Her work throughout the community has graced her with numerous honors and certification.  She is a certified Sacred Woman, Ast-Nbt-Ht, Priestess of Global Sacred Woman, under the direct training of the Master Healer, Queen Afua Nbt Ht of the Temple of Ptah.  She is a graduate of Kemetics 101 under the direct teaching of Semaj Ptah.  KA Aqila also bears a Gold Seal Certification as a Dianetics Auditor. 

     

    “I strive to live the highest standards of culture and refinement as an example of our divine ancestral heritage.” – KA Aqila Juba Muhammad

     

     

     KA Queen Afua

     

    KA Queen Afua is an internationally renowned best-selling author, holistic wellness entrepreneur, and highly sought after natural health practitioner. She is committed to informing and inspiring global wellness through practice, products, and teaching. With a surplus of 35 years experience, KA Queen Afua has built a wellness empire that includes The Queen Afua Wellness Institute, The City of Wellness Society, and her signature Heal Thyself and Sacred Spirit product lines. She has published four critically acclaimed books: Heal Thyself, Sacred Woman, City of Wellness, and Overcoming An Angry Vagina. KA Queen Afua is the choreographer and creative architect of the Womb Yoga Dance as well as the director and actress of the “Overcoming An Angry Vagina” stage production.

     

    Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY KA Queen Afua was an early wellness advocate for healthy organic vegan lifestyle and holistic approaches for achieving wellness. At the young age of 17, she took bold steps to begin treating her chronic asthma and arthritis with natural alternative methods and thereby discovered her life calling. Over the next 2 decades she immersed herself in the art of learning to use food and nature as healing elements.  She is a certified colon therapist, fasting specialist, Hatha yoga instructor, and lay midwife.

     

    KA Queen Afua has lectured globally and served as an expert consultant to numerous institutions and publications including Long Island University Medical Center, NASA, NYC Downstate Medical Center, and Omega Institute. Her work has impacted millions of people around the globe since the early 1970s with a client base that ranges across the United States and as far reaching as Africa, London, Australia , Canada , and the Virgin Islands.  Her signature products, programs, and trainings are highly revered by naturopath colleagues and medical doctors alike as being at the forefront of wellness and self-care. KA Queen Afua’s 21 Day and 12week programs and Heal Thyself products have been clinically tested with unanimously high success rates by Dr. Bernadette Sheridan. Dr. Bernadette Sheridan , a Family Practitioner for over 30 years and Director of Grace Family Practice , has partnered with KA Queen Afua and has successfully clinically tested Queen Afua's 21 day , 12 week program and products.