 In time the field belongs to the leopard...
On August 26th (Twenty-Sixth) 2012 The Kingdom of Oyotunji African Village celebrated Odun Obatala and the 53rd Anniversary of Oba (King) Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I’s initiation into the African traditional religion of the Yoruba. This momentous occasion also marked the rebirth of traditional Orisa worship in North America. Our beloved Father, King Oseijeman Adefunmi, was the first of the Africans born in America to “lay claim to the legacy of his ancestors through initiation into the priesthood of Obatala[1]. Obatala is the deity of creative energy, patience, wisdom and expansion. Obatala, he who was sent to the world by Olodumare to form humans after the earth had been made wide and firm.
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On August 26th (Twenty-Sixth) 1959, Oba (King) Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I, this priest of Obatala began his task to recreate for us, we African descendants, an African consciousness. Utilizing the spiritual energy and wisdom of our ancestors, taught us what it means to be African and formulated the foundation for African Cultural Restoration. Oba Wo Aja (the King that went through the roof) was among the first of the Africans born in America who returned to the priesthood of Orunmila/Ifa, the deity of destiny, divine knowledge, gentle and good character. Now there are millions of adherents and practitioners of the ancient customs and spiritual traditions of the Yoruba in the diaspora; furthermore reaching countless African Studies Departments in universities and graduates who specialize in Yoruba Studies.
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On August 26th (Twenty-Sixth), 1959, a holy day, after hundreds of years of disconnect, our ancestors and the deities of Africa were finally given a place of respectful veneration and worship in the form of a displaced native son and commenced a turning point for we as a people; the beginning of true freedom. We descendants of Africa and the divine Mother (the Mother who birthed humanity), now had an opportunity to completely rid ourselves of the trauma and retentions of slavery, in all its insidious forms; physical, mental, and spiritual! The real emancipation.
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Twenty-two years later, and eleven years after the establishment of Oyotunji African Village, King Adefunmi while traveling to Ife, Nigeria to attend and present at the first World Orisa Congress in the modern era. June 5th, 1981[,] at the palace of Yoruba King Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II, The Ooni of Ife, marked the first time a non-nigerian was crowned a traditional Yoruba king[2].
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 Paramount Ruler for the Yoruba people of North America
We sit as the 2nd generation of a modern Dynasty, per the ancient Dahomean Alladahonu Throne and as the Paramount Ruler for the Yoruba people of North America. The Oba, in traditional African culture, “stands alone in the hierarchy of mortals. Within the [cosmos], he has no equal. As the royal head of the [Kingdom], the Oba has a place in what historians describe, as “a sophisticated administrative system with a substantial spiritual component”… “The Oba is a god man or the god on the human world”. According to High Priest Osemwegie Ebohon, Benin, oral tradition says that “the Oba has a divine essence and so is the godhead of his people”.[3] To deny this is to deny the destiny of African Cultural Restoration and therefore deny Ifa. We ARE the great father; aware of the intense reality that the collective consciousness of our people is within Our hands to either elevate or degenerate.
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After seven years as the King of the Yoruba North America, We have had an opportunity to observe, learn, teach and lead. We have had difficult moments with battling the African American post-slavery syndrome trauma that is innately in each of us. Much of which still tells us it is correct and okay to practice the religion of our ancestors, devoid of its culture. The trauma that leads us to believe that the careless, mishandlings of the Royal institution, that birthed the opportunity for us to be merely introduced to our ancient customs in the Americas, and that paying the highest regard to Obaship is not necessary.
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As your Sovereign, H.R.M Oba Adejuyigbe Egundjobi Alladahonu Oyewole Adefunmi II, Oloyotunji of Oyotunji Village USA, KING OF THE YORUBA DIASPORA OF THE AMERICAS AND DESCENDANT OF H.R.H Oba Ofuntola Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I, We Hereby Declare and Proclaim that from this day forward, August 26th (Twenty-Sixth) is a National Holiday for all Yoruba Diaspora, celebrating and elevating the legacy of the Father of The African Cultural Restoration Movement. We have not and will never stray away from the blueprint set forth by our ancestors.
If we intend to sustain and even fortify our traditions, we must begin to not only recognize, but internalize that our culture is more than stones in pots, readings, flashy agbada and gele and weekly bembes. Our ancestors left us the highest level of technology available to humanity! It Is Our Birthright! The ONLY way we will be able to take full advantage of this science is by living the culture. AFRICAN CULTURAL RESTORATION IS THE KEY.
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This historic step begins with a three-pronged approach, the reinstatement of women to their ancient prominence, empowering cultural leaders, and organizational infrastructure building. The Kingdom of Oyotunji African Village and the North American Throne is intent on fulfilling its eminent role in ensuring our culture is practiced to the best of our collective ability and portrayed accurately on a global level.
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 His Royal Majesty’s CROWN KPOJITO IGBO IYALASE Oloye Aina Olomo of the YORUBA African Kingdoms OF THE AMERICAS VIA OYOTUNJI AFRICAN VILLAGE OF THE CROWN, THRONE AND LINES OF ADEFUNMI
On August 26th (Twenty-Sixth), 2012, We took a historic step and began our trek with reinstating an ancient ancestral title; that of HRM’s Crown Kpojito. The Kpojito is a Title that is bestowed upon an individual that has a proven track record of practicing and sustaining the highest levels of our ancient customs and tradition. She ensures cultural, social and financial progression, infrastructure building and expansion of the Yoruba North American Crown, the Oyotunji African Village Throne and Kingdom as well as the constituents and organizations that fall underneath the umbrella of the before mentioned.
This Title is an ode to the ancient, primordial mothers and to Our direct Dahomean lineage and will be formally bestowed upon Her Excellency Igbo Iyalase Oloye Aina Olomo on King’s Day, October 6-7, 2012.
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Our culture enlightens, that an elder can remove a small neck gourd from a high shelf but it takes a child to remove its contents. This understanding gives us an ancient and innovative approach; whereby we begin to empower young leaders in our communities. We ask elders to create forums and venues to share the knowledge and experience of history and precedence, so that young leaders may have a 'clear' reference to draw from. Emerging leaders and the next generation may find it beneficial to surround and travel with elders, as they allow to gain some of their wisdom and understanding. The wisdom of Africa informs us that young palm fronds grow taller than the older palm fronds and must have a base from which to grow. Those who aspire to leadership in their community, we will support you. This of course benefits us all.
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Organizational infrastructure is an essential component in our forward progression. Good relationships are at the core of moving forward together. Not just making relationships but maintaining and strengthening them, so that we build and sustain productivity in our communities. Capacity building was the focus of the Inaugural Pan-African Grassroots Assembly which revealed that we must be able to trust one another as we do our sacred work. As a result, we developed the capacity to restructure and reformulate the ATA Board of Directors and Advisors. You can assist in this effort by supporting our local temples and shrines, because it is genuine relationships that turn into solid foundations that give us the unity, respect and human capacity to continue.
On forward, our daily work will be to strengthen our mutual interdependence as opposed to separatism. The Oba loves his communities, his people and continues to rededicate himself to the crown. Onward and Upward You Mighty Race!
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Oduduwa agbe wa o,
H.R.M Oba Adejuyigbe Egundjobi Alladahonu Oyewole Adefunmi II,
Oloyotunji of Oyotunji Village USA,
KING OF THE YORUBA DIASPORA OF THE AMERICAS
Osagiyan Palace
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1 Tracey E. Hucks. Yoruba Tradition and African American Religious Nationalism. Pg 217. 2012
2 Tracey E. Hucks. Yoruba Tradition and African American Religious Nationalism. Pg 216. 2012
3 Nigeria Otedo News & Blogs. OTEDO.COM. Benin 'Obaship' as a divine essence. July 27, 2010.
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Comments
Thank You so much for article
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