The AKILA WORKSONGS Family

of Clients, Partners, and Friends

Here's a glance at the individuals, community organizations, and corporations (past and present) that make up the AKILA family. It's an honor to offer service within this network. Feel free to judge us by the company we keep!

writers

WRITERS and LITERARY ORGANIZATIONS

African American Literature Book Club
African Voices Magazine
Akanke Washington
Amina Baraka
Amiri Baraka (pictured, second from left)
Andrea J. Ritchie
Atria Books
Bakari Kitwana
Be a Father to Your Child: Real Talk from Black Men on Family, Love, and Fatherhood
Black Classic Press
Brooklyn Public Library
Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY
Cheo Tyehimba Taylor
Deborah Howard
Edwidge Danticat (pictured, far right)
Ericka Blount
jessica Care moore
JLove Calderon
Joshua M. Myers, Ph.D.
Keisha-Gaye Anderson
Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai

Kevin Powell
Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center
Marcella Runell Hall, Ph.D.
Marc Lamont Hill, Ph.D.
Mo Beasley
Nana Camille Yarbrough (pictured, far left)
National Black Writers Conference
Nkechi Taifa
Nkiru Center for Education and Culture, Inc.
PEN America
PEN World Voices Festival
Queens Public Library
Random House
Sonia Sanchez
The Last Poets
Toni Blackman
Third World Press
Tracie Morris (pictured, second from right)
Troy Johnson

performing arts

PERFORMING ARTISTS
(MCs, Actors, Musicians, Dancers, Choreographers)
Adesola Osakalumi (pictured, second from left)
Alex Bugnon (pictured, far right)
All Power to the People (A2P2)
Allan Harris
asha bandele
Blitz the Ambassador
Camille A. Brown and Dancers
Chief Ayanda Clarke
Chuck D.
Common
Craig Harris
Danny Glover
DJ Kuttin Kandi
DJ Lumumba aka Revolution
Doug E. Doug
Doug E. Fresh
Jahi of Public Enemy 2.0
Jill M. Vallery (pictured, far left)
Julius D. Bailey, Ph.D.
KRS-1
Malik Youba
Maritri Garrett
Masauko Chipembere
Nubian Messengers
Rahzel, Godfather of Noyze
Randy Weston
Rha Goddess
Ronald K. Brown / Evidence
Shel "Sonnyboy" Riser
Stephen Hill
Talib Kweli
Timothy D. Jones
Toni Blackman (pictured, second from right)
Tulani Kinard
UNIVERSES
Urban Bush Women
Will Downing
Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def)

theater and film clients

THEATER + FILM (Playwrights, Plays, Films, and Filmmakers)
Anita Womack
BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez
Black Spectrum Theatre
Byron Hurt (pictured, far left)
Film at Lincoln Center
Flea Theater
Freedom Riders
Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes
ImageNation Cinema Foundation
Kamilah Forbes
Life Essentials with Ruby Dee
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise (pictured)
Moikgansti Kgama and Gregory Gates
National Black Theatre (Harlem, USA)
New 42nd Street Theater
New York Theatre Workshop
Nsangou Njikam
Omar Akil
Playwrights Horizons
Sabrina Schmidt Gordon
Shaun Neblett
Signature Theatre Company
Soul Food Junkies
Speaking in Tongues
Stacey Muhammad
Stanley Nelson of Firelight Media
Syncing Ink
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities (pictured)
The Billie Holiday Theatre
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (pictured)
The Public Theater
Wounded Knee

visual artists

VISUAL ARTISTS, TEXTILE ARTISTS, and PHOTOGRAPHERS
Danny Simmons
Jennifer Cruté
Kelsey Kleiman
Otto Neals (pictured, far left)
Paul DEO
Saddi Khali (pictured, far right)
The Christian Crochet Addict
Wilhemina O. Grant (artwork pictured)

educational

EDUCATIONAL + CULTURAL ARTS ORGS, FESTIVALS, EXHIBITIONS, and VENUES
#HipHopEd (far right)
After Afropolitan (Exhibition, Conference, and Performance)
Arts Council of Wales (United Kingdom)
Akindele Productions
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
American Museum of Natural History
Apollo Theater
Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation
BRIC Media
Bronx Museum of the Arts
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Arts Council
Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Performing Arts Center
Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Public Library Presents
Caribbean Cultural Center/African Diaspora Institute
Carnegie Hall
ESSENCE Music Festival
Fort Greene Festival
Hip Hop Theater Festival
International African Arts Festival (icon pictured, far left)
Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz Foundation of America
Jazz in the Valley Festival (pictured, middle)
Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater
Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center Theater
Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District (Newark, NJ)
Lincoln Park Music Festival (Newark, NJ)
MathTalk
MIDEM (France)
Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA)
MyClickUrban.com
National Black Arts Festival
New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC)
New York Folklore Society
Newark Museum
New-York Historical Society Museum and Library
Onipa Abusia, Inc.
Ossie Davis Endowment
Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival
Restoration Arts / BedStuy Restoration Corporation
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Romare Bearden Foundation
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
The Field Museum
The Recording Academy (GRAMMYs®), NY Chapter
TRANSART & Cultural Services, Inc.
Tribeca Performing Arts Center
Walk Tall Girl Productions
Walker International Communications Group
Weeksville Heritage Center

MEDIA FRIENDS and PARTNERS OVER THE YEARS
Akiba Solomon
BET Networks
BKReader.com
Black Rock Coalition
BRIC Media
Ceeon Quiett Smith, Ph.D.
Cheryl Duncan
Christopher D. Cathcart
Coalition to Preserve Reggae Music
Davey D.
EBONY Magazine
ESSENCE Magazine
Esther Armah (pictured, second from right)
Fatiyn Muhammad
Fox 5 New York
Imhotep Gary Byrd / Global Black Experience
Interactive One
JET Magazine
Julia D. Shaw
Justin Bryant
Karen Hunter
Manhattan Neighborhood Network
Nayaba Arinde (pictured, far right)
New York Amsterdam News
News 12 Bronx
News 12 Brooklyn
Nicole Duncan Smith
Our Time Press
R.E.A.C.HipHop
Rev. Malika Lee Whitney
Rosa Clemente (pictured, second from left)
Shani Jamila
Starrene Rhett Rocque
Terrie W. Williams (pictured, far left)
Thysha M. Shabazz of The Shabazz Team
WBAI Radio
WBLS Radio
WHUR Radio
WLIB Radio
WNBM Radio
WNYC Radio
WYKS Radio

social justice

ACTIVISTS, ORGANIZERS, ORGS, ELECTED OFFICIALS
Baye Wilson
City of New Orleans
City of Newark
Congressional Black Caucus
Danny Glover
DJ Kuttin Kandi
Justin Hansford
Karim Camara
Kevin S. Parker
Kevin Powell
Laurie Cumbo
Letitia James
Lumumba Bandele
Monifa Bandele
Movement for Black Lives
National Action Network
National Urban League
Rukia Lumumba
Stanley Kinard

EDUCATION, PHILANTHROPIC ORGS, INSTITUTIONS, INITIATIVES
A New Way Forward by Susan L. Taylor
African Women’s Development Fund
African Women’s Development Fund – USA
Black Girl Movement: A National Conference
Blue Ridge Foundation
Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College
Congressional Black Caucus
CONNECT NYC
Dreamland with Aaliyah
Ford Foundation
FUREE
Game Changers Project
Harriet Tubman Charter School
LIFE Camp
Manning Marable Memorial Conference
Mott Foundation
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Action Network
National Alumni Association of the Black Panther
National CARES Mentoring Movement
New York City Department of Education
New York Urban League
Occupy the Justice Department
Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center

ARTS, EDUCATION, SOCIAL JUSTICE, POP CULTURE FIGURES and BUSINESSES
Adeyemi Bandele
Akwaaba Mansion
Alonzo Jones
Andrea J. Ritchie
Bad Boy Records
Baraka Sele
Bill Stephney
ByStorm Entertainment
Christopher Emdin, Ph.D.
Chuck D of Public Enemy (salute!)
Comedy Central
Donna Walker-Kuhne
dream hampton
Erica Ford
Farah Jasmine Griffin, Ph.D.
Frazier-Cohen at COMPASS
Greer Smith (pictured, second from right)
Greg Carr, Ph.D.
Ida E. Jones, Ph.D.
Iyanla Vanzant
Jacque Reid
James Mtume
Joan Morgan, Ph.D.
K. Mensah Wali
Kevin Powell (pictured, far left)
Lasana Hotep
Makola M. Abdullah, Ph.D.
Marcella Runell Hall, Ph.D.
Mark Pitts
Marta Moreno Vega, Ph.D. (pictured)
Marriott
Matthew J. Middleton, Esq.
McDonald’s
Microsoft
Motown Records
Nana Camille Yarbrough
National CARES Mentoring Movement
New York Urban League
Obrey Hendricks, Jr., Ph.D. (pictured, far right)
Quentin Walcott
Rev. Al Sharpton
Roberta McLeod
Rose Clarke
Sandra Bell
Sean "Puffy" Combs
Sister Souljah
Sonia Sanchez
Stephen Jackson
Susan L. Taylor
Tarana Burke
Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books
Universal Records
Uptown Records
William Jelani Cobb, Ph.D.
Yaba Blay, Ph.D.

American University
American University of Nigeria, Yola
Arizona State University
Ball State University
Baruch College, CUNY
Benedict College
Bowie State University
Brooklyn College
Columbia University
Coppin State University
Delaware State University
Essex County College
Florida International University
Florida Memorial University
Georgia State Univeristy
George Washington University
Howard University
Kingsborough Community College, CUNY
Medgar Evers College, CUNY
Moore College of Art and Design
Morehouse College
Morgan State University
Mt. Holyoke College
New York University
Northwestern University
Penn State University
Rutgers University, Newark
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Spelman College
State University of New York, New Paltz
Syracuse University
Temple University
The City University of New York, CUNY
The New School
University of California, Berkeley
University of District of Columbia
University of Hartford
University of Maryland, Eastern Shore
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
University of Pennsylvania
University of Wisconsin, Madison
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Virginia State University

 

  • African Methodist Episcopal Church (Social Action Commission)
  • Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH
  • Big Apple Classic Basketball Tournament
  • Bishara Wilson, L.Ac., MSTOM, Dipl. OM (Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine; NYS Licensed Acupuncturist)
  • Chief Ayanda Clarke
  • Chief Baba Lloyd Weaver
  • Community Youth Sports and Media, Inc.
  • Danett C. Bean, Doctor of Acupuncture and Asian Medicine; NYS Licensed Acupuncturist
  • Healing Truth Center by Shawna Marie Aarons-Cooke
  • Hip Hop Is Green National Conference
  • House of the Lord Church
  • Iya Tulani Kinard
  • Janes United Methodist Church
  • Kamau Kokayi, MD
  • Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center
  • Marithé + François Girbaud
  • National CARES Mentoring Movement (founded by Susan L. Taylor)
  • Nekhena Evans of New Bein' Enterprises
  • Nu Wave Kultural Kreations
  • Omo Obatala Egbe, Inc.
  • Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network
  • Scott Hayes / Gluten Dude
  • Shabazz Brothers
  • THE FADARA GROUP LLC

AKILA WORKSONGS is in partnership with AKILA Unlimited LLC. It is a member of Chief Ayanda Clarke's Integrated Wealth Alliance (IWA). For photo credits, click HERE. For a directory of links and events, visit Linktree.

Join the Ever Popular Put On BLAST! (POB!) Email List

#AKILAWORKSONGS #ArtsAndActivism #BlackLivesMatter
Our Statement in Honor of Indigenous Lands and Communities