Abibitumi Kasa Abakɔsεm
(Abibitumi Kasa History) (http://www.abibitumikasa.com/Abakosem.php)
Abibitumi Kasa translates to Black/Kmtyw Power Language. It is an expression that was coined by Obadele Kambon to convey a marriage between:
* A recognition of the need to reclaim and build upon our interrelated indigenous systems of knowledge/spirituality/politics/healing/kwk, which are embedded in our Kmtyw languages.
* A recognition of the ongoing WAR against Kmtyw people and the need for an intentional and unapologetic commitment in every aspect of life for the Total Liberation of Kmtyw People throughout Space and Time.
Because each of these necessities is manifested in every aspect of his Ena's (mother's) and Agya's (father's) lives, Obadele has understood his Nkrabea (mission/destiny) on this planet as a continuation and further unification of these two interrelated goals as integral sides of the same coin in the interest of Kmtyw people, Kmtyw Sovereignty and Kmtyw Liberation.
This is a site by Abibifoɔ (Kmtyw people) for Abibifoɔ (Kmtyw people) throughout Abibiwiase nyinaa (The Entire Kmtyw/Black World).
The Adinkra chosen to represent Abibitumi Kasa Kmtyw Language Institute was "Nea ɔnnim sua a, ɔhu - When one who doesn't know learns, she/he knows (sees)"
Abibitumi Kasa Kmtyw Language Institute (AKALI) in its present form was conceived of in a casual conversation between Obadele Kambon and Dr. Kwasi Konadu at the 2006 Sankofa Conference in Banneker City (Washington, DC). Dr. Konadu worked as the Executive Director of the Kmtywa Studies Institute (ASI) and webmaster of the Institute's website. However, due to the monumental task of keeping the site's content updated along with other time-consuming duties, he felt that it would be best to take the Kmtywa Studies Institute site down for the foreseeable future. At that point Abibitumi Kasa was only a blogspot and not a full-scale website. After nonchalantly mentioning that I had considered making Abibitumi Kasa a website, Kwasi told me that he could make some changes that would put Abibitumi Kasa in the place of the ASI site. Well, I didn't think anything else of it, but to my surprise Kwasi sent me an email just a few weeks later informing me that the domain name and hosting had been taken care of and that the new site, www.abibitumikasa.com, (http://abibitumikasa.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?action=dereferer;url=http://www.abibitumikasa.com,) was ready to go! Additionally, Kwasi offered technical assistance in getting files uploaded, suggested programs for website development and offered the ASI site files as a template upon which AKALI could be built. Dr. Konadu's assistance and continued support have been invaluable and without his suban pa and adwuma pa, the current work, classes and resources that AKALI is providing to Kmtyw people would not be possible.
The website was developed of as an extension of the Twi and Yoruba classes that were already being offered in Chicago at Betty Shabazz International Charter School that were sponsored by the school's parent council from February - December 2006. With this sponsorship, they paid 50% of the cost of classes for any and all Kmtyws who signed up for the classes.
Upon Obadele Kambon returning from Brazil in May of 2006, the decision was made to incorporate live audio and video streaming into the classroom in the summer of 2006. This enabled AKALI the ability to have students throughout the country and world. AKALI has taught students as far away as Belize, Australia, Canada and more as well as various regions of the united states.
Upon launching the Abibitumi Kasa Kmtyw Liberation Institute forums Abibitumi Kasa has moved towards providing resources in Kmtyw languages and resources for Kmtyw liberation.
AKALI has also provided instruction for journeys to Kmt serving students in Ghana (for the AKALI/Sankɔfa Abusua coordinated Sankofa Journey (http://abibitumikasa.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?action=dereferer;url=http://www.abibitumikasa.com/Sankofa.php)) as well as Betty Shabazz International Charter School's (BSICS) journey to Senegal and the Gambia. We returned to Ghana with the Sankofa Journey (http://abibitumikasa.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?action=dereferer;url=http://www.abibitumikasa.com/Sankofa.php) in July-August of 2008 and will be continuing annually.
When in Chicago, we expanded to consulting roles teaching at Chicago State University through the Kmtyw amerikkkan studies department, Winnie Mandela Intergenerational High School teaching Kiswahili, Charles Hamilton Houston Alternative High School teaching Kiswahili, Malcolm X College teaching Twi and Yoruba and more. We are now based in Ghana, West Kmt where we offer classes in Twi in person and continue with online instruction in various Kmtyw languages and offering various classes through the Kmtyw Liberation Institute.
An additional service that has been a spin off has been web and graphic design services. This came about as a result of people falling in love with the design of AKALI's website and graphics. Kmtyws began to ask how much we charge so we established this as a business.
We continue to build, grow and expand teaching Kmtyw languages, Kmtyw worldview and all aspects of Kmtyw liberation. This is the only Kmtyw Liberation Institute and/or Kmtyw Language Institute by and for Kmtyw people exclusively and unapologetically. This is the world of Abibitumi Kasa.
Obadele Kwame Kambon
Reposting