The following offerings began in 1979 as Family Workshops and lectures through the Hofi ni Kwenu Academy/Douglass Institute/New African Village based in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1992, they were organized as classes with the creation of its Education for Life: Parent-Teacher Development Institute, and offered along with extant per-request workshops, lectures and individual and small group seminars. BNC works in conjunction with this effort to work with other Africans in enhancing the knowledge, skills and commitment needed for Our People’s Return to Righteous Living & Sovereignty.
(Though there are no classes scheduled at this time, please scroll down to view their descriptions, and check back or leave or send your contact information for notifications. Also, please feel free to contact us regarding the availability of customized workshops, presentations and seminars.)
This course seeks to bolster the skills of parents, teachers and community members in developing the African child into “the moral, mature, self-disciplined, African Centered adult prepared and motivated for nation (re)building.”
Some topics covered are:
Term: 20 weeks with one 3-hour session per week
This course is largely based around the books: African Education: Engine for Our Liberation, Izaluko 1 and 2 through Sanyika Anwisye; To Educate A People: Thoughts From the Center through Mwalimu K. Bomani Baruti; and, Nationbuilding: Theory & Practice in African Centered Education through Kwame Agyei Akoto.
Term: 20 weeks with one 3-hour session per week
This course is designed to help adults prepare their children for courtship, marriage and parenthood. As stressed by BNC, though marriage and parenthood are not for children, preparation of the character and mindset for both must start in childhood (“in the womb is not too soon” from African Education: Engine for Our Liberation). This course is also useful for adults in preparing for courtship, marriage and parenthood, as well as for those giving or receiving help, advice, coaching or counseling for navigating and strengthening courtship, marital, parenting and general Family relationships.
Term: 10 weeks with one 3-hour session per week
A companion to the Family Building class, this course seeks to help clarify and differentiate feelings and motivation, and assess readiness and compatibility, for coupling. The instructors assert, “Sweet feelings of affection are nice and should be actively fed throughout a productive relationship, and are a grounding precursor to, but only one component of, the mature and serious bonding, companionship, and problem-and-conflict resolving commitment needed for long-term, Lifelong marriage.” The following topics are addressed:
Term: 8 weeks with one 3-hour course per week
Mzee Sanyika and Mzee Makini Anwisye entered their 50th year of marriage OpEpOn 2025/January 2025. They are the parents of four children, one daughter-in-love, one son-in-love and eight grandchildren. The Anwisyes have worked with our children and for the Liberation of our people since the late 1960s and as a team since meeting in 1973. They write, speak, teach and continue to learn about nation(re)building and its requisite Family building with an emphasis on marriage, parenting, grandparenting and African Education. They are among the co-founders and are the directors of the 48-year-old Hofi ni Kwenu Academy/Frederick Douglass Institute (est. 1977) and the 31-year-old New African Village (est. 1994) based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are the founders and spiritual conveners of the Original African Holiness United Temple (est. 2000). The adesuabea (Twi: village-institutions/schools/learning-growing spaces) became members of the 53-year-old Council of Independent Black Institutions (CIBI, est. 1972) in 1979 and were represented by the Anwisyes on the CIBI Ndundu from 1994-2014.
The Anwisyes coordinated CIBI’s Publications Task Area from 1995-2014, and were among the regular instructors and presenters for its Walimu Development Institute/Teacher Training Institute, and its conferences and conventions. They are Oyonko (Twi: friends of) the Washington, DC-based Ankɔbea Society and are among the instructors and presenters for its Ankɔbea Leadership Training Retreat (ALTR), its annual Sankɔfa Conference and Nhyiamu Mpanyin (Elders Panel). The Anwisyes have both been accorded the Fundi title in African Education.
They say: “We are all called, and it is our duty, to work for Our People’s Return to Righteous Living & Sovereignty … but it is in vain and means nothing unless the work includes, starts with, and is based on working for the unity and Righteous order of our own Families – and seeking meaningful unity with the assemblage of Families, which is the village of African proverb that it takes to raise our youth.”
Mzee Sanyika and Mzee Makini Anwisye entered their 50th year of marriage OpEpOn 2025/January 2025. They are the parents of four children, one daughter-in-love, one son-in-love and eight grandchildren. The Anwisyes have worked with our children and for the Liberation of our people since the late 1960s and as a team since meeting in 1973. They write, speak, teach and continue to learn about nation(re)building and its requisite Family building with an emphasis on marriage, parenting, grandparenting and African Education. They are among the co-founders and are the directors of the 48-year-old Hofi ni Kwenu Academy/Frederick Douglass Institute (est. 1977) and the 31-year-old New African Village (est. 1994) based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are the founders and spiritual conveners of the Original African Holiness United Temple (est. 2000). The adesuabea (Twi: village-institutions/schools/learning-growing spaces) became members of the 53-year-old Council of Independent Black Institutions (CIBI, est. 1972) in 1979 and were represented by the Anwisyes on the CIBI Ndundu from 1994-2014.
The Anwisyes coordinated CIBI’s Publications Task Area from 1995-2014, and were among the regular instructors and presenters for its Walimu Development Institute/Teacher Training Institute, and its conferences and conventions. They are Oyonko (Twi: friends of) the Washington, DC-based Ankɔbea Society and are among the instructors and presenters for its Ankɔbea Leadership Training Retreat (ALTR), its annual Sankɔfa Conference and Nhyiamu Mpanyin (Elders Panel).
They are authors of a number of books and articles including: TV’s Talking, But We Don’t Have to Listen – An Analysis & Alternatives for Africans; Teach Your Children, Don’t Just Tell Them; Teachers Must Teach, Parents Must Parent; Education is More Than the 3Rs; African Education – Engine For Our Liberation; and, Blessings Not Curses – Countering the Deleterious Effects of Profanity on the African (Black) Community.
They have received several awards, among which are: Legion of Black Collegians (U. of MO-Columbia) Liberation Award; CIBI Nationbuilding Award; Association of Black Psychologists (St. Louis Chapter) Education Commendation; American Muslim Mission Excellence in Community Education Award; Better Family Life Community Service Award; Sebayet, Inc. Respect for Life Award; Harambee Institute Golden Ankh Award; Universal African People’s Esteemed Leadership Award; and, Ujamaa School (Washington, DC) Nguzo Saba Award.
Local chapter leadership/service awards have come from: the Alpha Kappa Alpha and Zeta Phi Beta sororities and the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, and the Washington University-based W.E.B. Dubois Awards Committee. Baba Sanyika is a former adjunct faculty member of the African Studies Department of Washington University, where he taught Black Psychology and the Black Child (1990-1995) and similarly at Fontbonne University (1993-1994). He chaired the Education Committee of the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Missouri Statewide Black Political Conventions organized by what is now the Universal African Peoples Organization (UAPO). Mama Makini coordinates the Black Family Network of the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis, coordinates its support and adult services, and is a board member of the National Down Syndrome Affiliates in Action. The Anwisyes have both been accorded the Fundi title in African Education.
They say: “We are all called, and it is our duty, to work for Our People’s Return to Righteous Living & Sovereignty … but it is in vain and means nothing unless the work includes, starts with, and is based on working for the unity and Righteous order of our own Families – and seeking meaningful unity with the assemblage of Families, which is the village of African proverb that it takes to raise our youth.”