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Kilombo Reconstruction: Building Sovereign African Villages in 21st Century America

w/ Uhuru Hotep

Kilomobo is an Ovimbundu word meaning an "encampment of warriors" brought to Brazil from Angola in the 1600s by enslaved Africans. In colonial Brazil, "kilombo" was the term used to identify a community of well-armed, self-emancipated Africans, commonly called Maroons, who would fight until death to retain their sovereignty. According to historian Peter Bergman (1969), between 1660 and 1864 U.S. based Maroons established 50 kilombos all located in the Southern colonies and states.

Using information gleaned from print and electronic sources as well as special guest consultants, Kilombo Reconstruction hopes to spark a national discussion of sovereignty and its restoration among people of African ascent. In its fullest expression, sovereignty is characterized by absolute control of a specified land area and absolute control of the political, economic and cultural institutions operating in that land area. Sovereignty for 21st century U.S. based Africans, however, begins with developing the will and the skill to break out of "conceptual incarceration" and "comfortable captivity" to become what political scientist Jacob Carruthers (1999) calls an "intellectual maroon."

Like their Maroon predecessors, intellectual maroons strive to exercise sovereignty over their lives by first moving to control the six areas essential for human survival: food, clothing, shelter, education, medication and self-defense. Once we take control of our basic survival needs, only then will we have a measure of independence from the larger American society. But first, we must initiate a carefully focused, nation-wide, African centered, interactive discussion of sovereignty and its potential for restoration in Black communities. Kilombo Reconstruction is a catalyst for this discussion.

Kilombo's host, Dr. Uhuru Hotep, is an authority on Black leadership development and Black student achievement. As a consultant to the Kwame Ture Leadership Institute, and with the aid of grants from the Alkebulan Foundation, Dr. Hotep developed the Johari Sita: The Six Jewels of African Centered Leadership, which is the nation's first and only African centered leadership-followership training program.

Over the past 20 years, Dr. Hotep, who serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Pan African Studies, has lectured on African American affairs on college campuses in Japan, Jamaica, Haiti, Canada, Virgin Islands, and the United Kingdom. His publish works, which include poetry, plays, essays and scholarly research, have appeared in numerous publications both print and electronic. Most recently, the Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy, the Journal of Pan African Studies and Thug Life Army have featured his work. He's also the co-editor of the best-selling book 72 Concepts to Liberate the African Mind. Dr. Hotep can be reached at hotep@duq.edu or 412.396.5171.

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