Today we’d like to introduce you to Amin Ojuok.
Hi Amin, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, let’s briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in Fort Worth, TX. I’m married to Nkoyo Ojuok, and we have eight children. I’ve been working with youth and families for over 30 years. I’m also a Hip Hop activist with over 25 years of experience as an independent artist. We founded The Uhuru Academy, an independent, Afrikan-centered school, in Fort Worth, TX, in 2010. Our work with the Uhuru Academy brought us to Columbia, initially in 2013 as participants in the ASCAC Conference, and then back a year later to help the Washington Family launch Uhuru Academy, South Carolina. We moved here in 2019 to help UASC develop its new campus, the UASC International Learning Center. During my career as an independent educator, I’ve assisted grassroots organizations in launching education programs all over the country. We’ve consulted, trained, and assisted African-centered programs in Phoenix, Detroit, Memphis, Arkansas, Tampa, Orlando, Charlotte, Charleston, Baltimore, Atlanta, Dallas, Roxbury, and more. We’ve also worked with programs in Malawi and Tanzania. We currently have an online K-12 private academy with US, Europe, and African students. We also run an adult education program called Operation Reconnect that allows older youth and adults to earn a high school diploma while developing a detailed success strategy. As a Hip Hop artist, I’m committed to creating socially conscious hip-hop and using my platform to empower younger artists and promote powerful messaging. Over the years, we have organized and consulted on powerful events like RBG Family Weekend, the Black Power Awards, the Hip Hop Symposium of Fort Worth, and more. Since being in Columbia, our focus has been the development of UASC International, UA Online and becoming more engaged with activists, business leaders, and grassroots organizers in the area. We’ve had the honor of speaking at the South Carolina Juneteenth Freedom Fest for the past 3 years and participating in several community events over the past 3 years. I recently had the honor of being the keynote speaker at the Benedict College Honors induction ceremony. We are organizing a summer STEM camp on the UASC International campus that will feature media arts and drone technology. After over 30 years of fighting for education empowerment and equity for the Black community, it feels great to be in a community that embraces my family and work.
You wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been smooth?
The road could have been smoother. Starting an Afrikan-centered program in a state like Texas is always challenging. Funding has always been an issue, not because we were turned down for grants but because we felt it a point of necessity that we build our institution from the ground up without government funding. That was the only way we could ensure that we had the freedom to design programs based on the needs of our community without worrying about the political climate. That being said, even though we’ve lost a few homes along the way, we’ve never missed a day of school, and thanks to social media marketing, we’ve had support from Black people worldwide. We more than made up for what we’ve lacked in monetary resources with our ability to build powerful relationships within the working-class Black community. The demands on our time and energy over the years also made it challenging as parents raising children, even though we’ve had 3 of our 8 children since 2010, lol. Another key challenge has been that we offer a service that many African Americans need to be aware of. African-centered education empowers our community to embrace and control our narratives. Some realize that a shift in attitudes in our community may represent a positive change for Black folk, but it could also trigger a shift in how our community spends its time and, most importantly, its money. When a community has more than a trillion dollars in spending power, corporations care about how they think.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about The Uhuru Academy?
We (my wife and I) have two organizations/businesses that we are proud of: Uhuru Academy Education Solutions, LLC., and The Uhuru Academy. UAES, LLC. is our for-profit arm that allows us to deliver powerful education solutions directly to our community’s families, schools, and organizations. UAES services include our online K-12 private school, Operation Reconnect adult ed program, African-centered/empowerment-based curriculum development/procurement services, and consultation and training for teachers and homeschooling parents.
The Uhuru Academy, our 501-c3 non-profit, has evolved into a full-fledged African-centered education and education equity advocate for the Black community. Through this organization, we raise funds and awareness for other grassroots programs and independent educators worldwide committed to delivering culturally relevant and empowering programming to people of African descent. Through The Uhuru Academy, we can offer a free consultation to working-class Black homeschoolers searching for curriculum, structure, motivation, and other resources for their homeschooling journey. We also organize and host Black education conferences, interest panels, and forums that promote culturally relevant pedagogy. Our fundraising efforts through the Uhuru Academy also empower us to offer scholarships and project-based funding to the African-centered education community.
Our commitment and focus on African-centered/empowerment-based education solutions for the Black community make us unique. We are also independently funded. In addition, we’ve built our program, “brick by brick,” from the ground up, relying solely on the quality of our work to speak for us. There isn’t a lot of fanfare around us, but those who are aware of us understand that we are among the very best in the world at what we do. I’m most proud of the fact that we’ve gotten to this point based on results. We moved to Columbia to work. Every day I wake up and walk across the UASC International campus, I think about how we started this movement in the back of my friend’s church in Texas with no funding. Every accomplishment that we have made, every recognition, was based on hard work.
We want the community to know that we are here to “solutionize” education for our community. We are not seeking office or looking for fame; we are here to change lives. Yes, we recognize that changes should be made within the public school system regarding how our children are treated and educated. Still, we consciously decided to focus on being the solution we wanted to see within the system. We would rather work with the system than attack it. Still, at the same time, we must develop powerful education options for our community that are independent of the system because too many of our children are falling through the cracks while we wait for change.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Persistence, faith, perseverance, creativity, and integrity; our adaptability has been our greatest strength on this journey. An African-centered perspective that empowers you to see the best in yourself and your community is also key. We believe “nothing is wrong with us, that what is right with us can’t fix”!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.uhuruacademy.com
- Instagram: @uhuruacademy
- Facebook: facebook.com/theuhuruacademy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/babaamin/
- Twitter: @theuhuruacademy
- Youtube: youtube.com/babaaminrbg
- Other: https://patreon.com/uhuruacademy
