Afro culture kids camp oakland 2026- Themes & team
2026 Themes
SESSION 1
I’m Sorry for Your Loss
(community care & kinship in times of grief)
What do we say and do when our loved ones or we ourselves experience death? Activities and exploration will focus on Community Care & Kinship in times of Grief; how our different African and Diasporic communities show up practically for each other when we have experienced death/loss.
SESSSION 2
wá jẹun: Food for Life.
(What our Ancestors Ate in times of Need)
What are our ancestral foods? How did our ancestors plant, harvest, and prepare, and what happened as our societies shifted and changed due to various factors? Activities and exploration will focus on the stories and context of our foods, and how/why/what we have access to today.
Kanukai Chigamba, Camp Lead
Shona, Zimbabwe
Kanukai Chigamba is a multifaceted dancer, musician, performer, and burgeoning photographer. She started dancing at a young age in Harare, Zimbabwe, at Biras and as part of Mhembero Dance Troupe. She is a lead performer of the renowned Chinyakare Ensemble, and principal in Gbedu Town Radio, a Pan Afro Urban Music and Dance Ensemble. Chigamba has performed all over the United States, including at the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Oregon Zimfest, and Monterey Bay Reggaefest, Stern Grove Festival, Carnegie Hall and Oakland Museum of California.kanukai.com
Maymunah Muktari
Nigerian (Hausa)
Maymunah is a founding co-lead facilitator of Afro Culture Kids Camp. She has a decade experience working with kids. She has worked with Afro Urban Society to support various programs and projects since 2020. Maymunah is Hausa from Northern Nigeria. Her educational background includes architecture, sustainable environmental design, and permaculture. She plans to introduce campers to Hausa culture through games, cooking, songs, and stories.
Lindiwe Msimang
South Africa (Zulu). Eastrand side of Joburg.
I am an ancestral-spiritual hippie moon child. Energy exists and I prefer to keep good with it. My name Lindiwe means “the one we waited for”, from the Zulu tribe of warriors, of King Shaka. I play guitar, I sing and I love art and dancing. I tend to sometimes express myself through my hair or my outfits. I’m an architect and interior designer. For camp, I will be offering everything Zulu culture related. I will be offering songs and chants, games, arts and crafts from my childhood growing up in South Africa.
Nkeiruka Oruche, Director & Founder
Igbo, Nigeria, African
A cultural organizer, producer and multidisciplinary artist, Nkeiruka Oruche specializes in Pan Afro-Urban culture & community, and their intersections with identity, social infrastructures, and globalization. Through her work she hopes to create a map for us to find our way home. She is co-founder of BoomShake, founder of Afro Urban Society, and Artistic Director of Gbedu Town Radio. nkeirukaoruche.com
Camp Assistants
Teaching Artists & Cultural Contributors
Laurie Fleurentin, Afro Haitian Dance & Culture
Port-au-Prince, and EVERYWHERE in Haiti
Laurie Fleurentin is a Native Haitian dancer, choreographer, singer, and dance teacher, born and raised in Haiti, who is proud of her heritage and culture and wants to share it through arts. She has taught dance for over 20 years to everyone of any age. Her teaching style encompasses bringing the joy of dance to everyone. She is currently working as a professor at SFSU, teaches with Destiny Arts Center, and teaches at The Beat, Berkeley. Laurie Fleurentin believes her "life is dance," and the key to education is dance. I will be teaching multiple aspects of Haitian culture: games from my childhood in Haiti, songs, Haitian phrases, and Haitian food. |@fleur.laurie
Pierr Padilla,
Afro-Peruvian Percussion & Culture
Lima, Peru
Pierr is a professional artist trained in performing arts in Peru. He studied traditional Peruvian dance at the Universidad Nacional Superior de Folklore "José María Arguedas". He trained as a professional actor at the prestigious Roberto Ángeles Acting Workshop. He is a member of the renowned Vásquez family, known as guardians of Afro-Peruvian musical traditions. They have passed down the traditions from generation to generation since the end of the 19th century. Pierr has participated in shows by renowned artists and groups, highlighting among them master teacher Victoria Santa Cruz, Eva Ayllón, Yuyachkani and the Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler. Pierr currently lives in Oakland, California. He is a music teacher in elementary schools and a teacher of Afro-Peruvian Cajon for youth and adults in the San Francisco Bay Area. Pierr produces the annual festival, Afro-Peruvian Fest. He is the Artistic Director of the Afro-Peruvian cultural organization "Cunamacué" and directs the Afro-Peruvian musical group Warango.
Keidra Quillin, Songwriter & Singer
Oakland, California
Keidra is known for her strong but soulful, straight to the point vocals & songwriting. Keidra traveled to Ghana, Africa to perform & interview alongside Legendary Group Tony Toni Toné at The Pan African Music Festival. Keidra has demanded her hometown's attention when she opened up for the Womack sisters at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland. She has performed at Hiero day, and her songs have been featured on 106Kmel. Keidra has organized HipHop Cyphers and artists showcases, proving she is more than just an artist but a beacon of light for others with creative talent. She has won several HipHop competitions/challenges due to her articulate and vast vocabulary skills in songwriting. As she set her eyes on bigger stages, Keidra continues to live up to her name! Check Her Out with tracks available on ALL MAJOR PLATFORMS!
Kristen Stain
Haiti, Californians that came from the American South (Texas and Louisiana)
Kristen Stain is a multidisciplinary artist and designer whose work spans ceramics, illustration, painting, and creative direction.
Operating under the name ketchupstain, Kristen's practice is both a studio and community project. Through ketchupstain, Kristen explores cultural history and envisions future possibilities, creating art, objects, and experiences.
Caroline Ngorobi
Mombasa, Kenya
Caroline Ngorobi is a theatre producer and performer from Mombasa Kenya. She joined the theatre scene in 2005 in Nairobi as an actor featuring in a number of stage plays, films and has been a voice artist with Deutsche Welle. She believes every experience is a story waiting to be told. She moved to Mombasa where founded Jukwaa Arts Productions in 2015. Since then she has worked as a producer and performer. Her work fuses drama, movement and poetry. She uses applied theatre to tell contemporary stories. She has began experimenting with physical theatre to promote and preserve culture while exploring its intersection with emerging and popular culture. Her work involves using the transformative tool of theatre to evoke emotions and provoke thought on touchy subjects like sexual harassment, juvenile crime and taboos in the African Culture. In 2018, she presented a performance at the Bagamoyo International Festival of Arts and Culture in Tanzania which was facilitated by a grant from the British Council. Through a grant from Art Moves Africa, she was able to be part of the Producers Academy in Belgium and the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in 2019.
Ifeanyi Akabueze, Igbo Cultural Advisor
Amichi, Nigeria
Ifeanyi Akabueze (Nigeria) is an Igbo performer, and cultural director. A native of Amichi, Anambra, based in Badagry, Lagos, Ifeanyi received the NYSC Batch B Best Dancer/Actor in 2004/2005 award which gave him the opportunity to be selected by African Leadership Forum for a leadership program. Akabueze found his calling in youth work, cultural preservation, and performance and thus founded and directs Okachamma Dance Troupe International in 2015, a multicultural Nigerian group that has activated community arenas and reputable world stages in and outside Nigeria.
Ugwuanyi Gloria Ngozi, Igbo Language & Culture
Lagos, Nigeria
Ugwuanyi Gloria Ngozi is a dedicated and proficient Igbo language educator with a passion for fostering cultural appreciation and linguistic proficiency. Leveraging extensive experience and fluency in Igbo language , she creates dynamic and engaging learning environments for students of all levels. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Education (B.A. ED) from University of Nigeria Nsukka. She has participated in community outreach programs and initiatives aimed at promoting Igbo language and culture. She has also attended workshops, conferences and professional development seminars to stay abreast of the latest trends and methodologies in language teaching and learning. She is married with children.
Earth Seed Farm
Afro-Indigenous/ Coast Miwok/Southern Pomo Peoples ancestral lands
Established in March, 2021, Earthseed Farm and Retreat Center is a 14-acre solar-powered organic Afro-Indigenous permaculture farm and orchard located on the ancestral lands of the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Peoples in Sonoma County, California. We grow an assortment of fruit and berry kin including but not limited to Asian pears, persimmons, apples, blackberries and raspberries. We are honored to steward our sacred land with permission and blessings from the Graton Rancheria Tribe. The mission of Earthseed Farm is to reconnect our communities to our more than human kin through environmental education and ecological design rooted in Afro-Indigenous Wisdom. www.earthseedfarm.org