Los Angeles, CA | July 4, 2018
by Danielle Leach


The Origin of FDMG Academy Vision
At the end of 2013, Dr. Umar first introduced the idea of opening up a residential academy for Black boys at the Meeting of the Minds (Think Tank) in Norfolk, Virginia meeting. During this meeting, Dr. Umar and members of the Black community brainstormed different schools that were up for sale and available which would make a good location for the FDMG RBG Academy. One of the schools was St. Paul's College. Saint Paul's College is a historically Black college in Lawrenceville, Virginiaopened in 1888 by James Solomon Russell, freed slave and friend of Booker T. Washington. The school started with a dozen students and gained a steady enrollment over time. St. Paul's last graduating class was in June 2013.

One day, Dr. Umar received a call saying that St. Paul's would be going up for auction. Dr. Umar called the president of St. Paul's College to negotiate a bid on the college for $3 million. They wanted 4% down (~$150,000 down payment). The college didn't sell at the auction. So Dr. Umar was invited to visit to negotiate a deal.

Why St. Paul's?
90 miles from Richmond. 90 miles from North Carolina border
Southern Virginia
137 acres (of 500 acres. They sold 300 acres, which Dr. Umar initially intended to build a Black Wall Street on the excess acres).

“Black Wall Street” would consist of teacher and parent houses, gas station, supermarket, daycare, cleaners, fire department, police department. The ultimate vision? To incorporate into a city. The school would be the “foundation for a 21stcentury Black Wall Street Operation” proclaims certified School Psychologist, Dr. Umar Ifatunde.

The school is “small enough for a college, but big enough for the vision.” It has dormitories, brand new state of the art student center (built by alumni), a gymnasium cafeteria, and most importantly it's surrounded by undeveloped acres in a rural area, enclosed by an African-American community. The operating expenses were reported at $40-$60,000/month.

While on the tour, Dr. Umar was told by the realty company that he had until July-August to raise 2.5 million dollars.

FDMG Academy Fundraiser began on May 20, 2014 and nearly $150,000 was raised in 30 days.

School Objective: To teach youth knowledge of self (African Identity) and leadership

Key Curriculum Components:
Core: math, science, social studies, language arts
Agricultural science (farm)
Raw Food* Organic (no oven, microwave, or stove)
Natural Hair care
Clothing Manufacturing
Hospitality/Tourism/Hotel and Restaurant Management
Financial Economic (9th grade taxes*, 10th grade real estate, 11th grade business plan, 12th grade stock market/multi-trading, international commerce)
Military science (how to survive off the land)

To Make a donation, make checks payable to:
FDMG Academy
P.O. Box 6872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19132
drumarjohnson@yahoo.com

Include name and mailing address so you can be honored for your donation. If you contribute $1000 or more, you will be named as one of the founding mothers/fathers.


To apply:
Send resumes to FDMGresumes@gmail.com. African-centered, pro-heterosexual applicants are encouraged to apply.

Degree required:
-certified math teachers, science, social studies, language arts
(bachelor's degree required; 18 college credits specific to content area you will be teaching at the school)
-social workers, nurses, building engineers, stock brokers, economists

Degree not required:
special skilled jobs
secretaries
security guards
natural hair care stylists
organic/raw food chefs
farmers
janitors
painters
bus drivers
classroom assistants

Other cities of interest: Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta

School suggestions? Send your school suggestions to Dr. Umar Ifatunde via text at 215-989-9858
School specs: 500-3000 student capacity

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyFuIfSPml4

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
12.31.2017 | 3:00 p.m Pacific Standard Time

​UBAWA's Top 100 Authors is an annual list published at the end of every year to celebrate the many talented authors whose work often goes unnoticed. Congratulations to the following authors below who were nominated and chosen by readers as UBAWA'S Top 100 Authors of 2017.

UBAWA'S Top 100 Authors of 2017 will be published in the 24th issue of the UBAWA Magazine and featured in the next edition of Who's Who in Urban Literature. If no one else takes the time out to recognize the hard work that many independent authors put in day-to-day, we will. It's been our mission and commitment since 2010 and we are happy that you and thousands of others can join us in giving these authors their props. ​

Mi’kea, a native of Many, Louisiana, has been writing since she learned sentence structure.  Initially, she planned to become an English teacher, but earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Houston-Downtown instead.  She is married and the mother of three sons and one daughter.  If only given one word to describe herself, the word would be survivor. What is the author’s favorite word of all? Edify. Mi’kea believes that what comes out of your mouth should always build up and never tear down. Mi’kea’s first series, Rock Bottom, debuted as a bestseller on Amazon.  S.A.M. Addict was Mi’kea’s fourth release after the three-part Rock Bottom series.  Essential, a spinoff of Rock Bottom, is also a three-part series.  Having recently parted with her publisher, Mi’kea is currently negotiating a contract with a new publisher.  The author is also a poet and playwright. Mi’kea recently signed with VOMA Publications.
 
About her book, S.A.M. Addict 
​
Sometimes it seems that all hope is lost. In Mi’kea’s Sorry A** Man Addict, Hope returns. She comes without invitation and is unfazed by the opinion of those around her. Hope does not need permission to invade their space or to illuminate what was once hidden. Hope is boldly in their faces with her painful truths; breaking into closet doors, exposing skeletons, and opening wounds. Hope delivers her analysis of the Sorry A** Man with brutal honesty. While Hope gives her testimony and turns the lives of those around her upside down, she continues to cling to her addiction. Just like when hope shows up in daily life, Mi’kea’s Hope shocks her audience with her presence. She admits, without apology, that she is an addict and her drug of choice is the Sorry A** Man!

 
I was born in Rochester, New York; I now reside in Clearwater, Florida. I knew I wanted to be an author since I started elementary school. I started writing books in the third grade because my teacher made it a weekly project. Over the years I’ve wrote poetry, love songs and R&B, and raps songs for other artist. I enjoy writing. I can write in almost every genre. I love motivating and inspiring others with my writing. I’ve helped a couple first time authors get started and also I help with marketing services. My focus is to hopefully get blessed to getting my books to the big screen.

About his book, Broken Child Broken Woman
​
Everyone has a story; this book just happens to be a glimpse into the story of my life. I guess you can say it's the story of many lives. As I traveled through life's journey, I met many who had similar, if not the same story. My life was tumultuous; I grew from a broken child to a broken woman. Despite the trials and tribulations life threw at me, I was blessed with five beautiful children, and I embraced every ounce of good times when they did happen. I was the oldest, as a child I had adult responsibilities and I had to grow up fast. I am a survivor of molestation, some may call themselves a victim, but not me...
Website: http://amazon-CharlesLeeRobinsonJr.com
www.crobinson1968.wordpress.com

​Crystal Wooten has always has had an eye for creativity. At a young age, Crystal began to write poetry and short stories. Writing proved to be Crystal’s way of healing from heartbreak and loss. After having two poems published in the Greenville Daily Reflector, Crystal recognized her gift in her ability to  inspire, empower, and help encourage others through her words. In addition to writing, Crystal uses her ability to inspire others as a Certified Nursing Assistant. In pursuit of higher education, Crystal is currently enrolled as a nursing student at Pediment Community College.  Her latest writing project is an urban fiction romance novel releasing in the Fall of 2017.

www.authorcrystalwooten.com
 

LeTresa Payne always dreamed of becoming an author. She is the published author of six titles from three genres of Young Adult Historical Fiction, Urban Fiction, and Religious Self-Help. The titles of Daughter Cry No More, Secrets Within Her, Motions, Emotions, Prayer Warriors, and Her Lethal Desire can all be purchased on Amazon and Kindle. Born in Chicago, IL and raised in Ripley, TN, she began reading at the age of three years old and fell in love with fiction. She loved writing short stories and began creating fictional characters at the early age of five. All throughout grade school she wrote stories and allowed her classmates to read them. During her senior year of high school she decided that one day she would make her dream of becoming an author come true. LeTresa is a graduate of Austin Peay State University and the University of Memphis where she earned her master's degree.
 
Website: www.amazon.com/author/letresapayne
 
Book Blurb: Daughter Cry No More- As a young African American girl residing in rural Louisiana in the 1960s, Raine Jackson faces numerous challenges as she struggles to find love and inner peace within her own mind. As the young girl searches for love from her father who holds a grudge against her mother she wonders if she will ever live up to his standards and gain his affection. Jealously and rage engulfs her as she watches her father share his love with everyone but her. The young girl faces numerous issues with bullies, racist remarks, and self-doubt. A mysterious letter from an anonymous sender and visions with premonitions of the future embarks Raine on a heart thrilling quest to discover buried secrets about her family. Will she ever discover how to love herself and make sure her broken family becomes whole again?
 
About her book, Daughter Cry No More Synopsis- LeTresa Payne
 
The story begins with 12 years old, Raine Jackson, sitting on her grandmother’s porch in the countryside of a small Louisiana town in the early 1960s. She is plagued with troubling thoughts about being so dark skinned in a family full of light skinned, Creole individuals and living in a world haunted by the infamous Jackson curse that has been held over her mother’s family for a century. A storm is quickly approaching as she reminisces on better times in her life when her mother, Bianca, and father, Edward, were a couple and she was the apple of her father’s eye. Since the breakup of her parents, Raine and her mother, have been residing with Raine’s wicked grandmother, Grandma Rosie. As the rain begins to fall, Raine’s naturally long hair which has been pressed out starts to recoil and she knows that Grandma Rosie is going to whip her for messing her hair up.

Raine is teeming with jealously towards her little sister, China, who is her father’s child with a white lady he married after leaving Raine’s mother. Raine is hurt that her father decided to marry a white lady instead of her mother and she despises all of the attention and love that China receives from their father. When her sister falls ill, Raine suddenly has a change of heart towards her mistreatment of her sister.

Bianca, envious of Edward’s new relationship with his wife, plots to destroy their relationship. When Raine discovers her mother is sleeping around with her father, she tries to warn her stepmother before it’s too late. During this time period, racial inequality is at its peak and Raine begins to have vivid dreams and premonitions of white supremacists harming her father and family. She tries to warn her family of future troubles to come, but the only person who believes her is her new neighbor, Roger. One night as she sleeps, her mother’s oldest daughter, Natalie, appears to her in a dream. She informs Raine that she will inherit special powers of seeing beyond and into the future and that the Jackson Curse must be ended.
When Raine’s white stepmother turns up dead, trouble for their family only intensifies as Edward is arrested for her murder. Since Edward descends from a wealthy Creole family full of prestige, he posts bail and takes China with him as they move in with Raine and Bianca in a wealthy neighborhood. Bianca is pregnant with her third child, but will not name who the father is, although Grandma Rosie and Raine believe that it is Edward’s child.

Children at Raine’s school begin to bully her more about her dark skin color and the fact that there are rumors going around town that her father is a murderer. Raine becomes so distraught that she runs back to her Grandma Rosie’s house and discovers her mother’s diary which holds a surprising truth, Raine is not Edward’s child and her mother had been raped as a child by her father, Raine’s grandfather. When she returns home, she finds that her mother has gone into labor and is beaten by a drunken Edward.
Before her stepmother’s murder trial could begin, Edward is murdered by his wife’s racist family which causes Bianca to have a mental breakdown. She is confronted with her sins at Edward’s funeral before she commits suicide in front of the congregation leaving Raine an orphan. The story ends with Raine travelling by motor coach bus up North to escape her horrible past, but she carries with her a devastating secret that will rock the entire Jackson family and could possibly put an end to the Jackson Curse in the sequel, Secrets Within Her.

​Joy Elan is an award-winning author and spoken word artist. She won third place in Oakland's Got Talent in June 2014 for her spoken word piece, "I'm A Survivor." She won twice at the National Poetry Awards for Poetry Video of the Year (2015) and Poet of the Year (2016). Also, she won second place for Children's Nonfiction Book Cover in the 30th Annual The New York Book Show for Silence Is Not Always Golden: The Power of Spoken Words (2016).

Joy Elan is from Oakland and Berkeley, California. She received her Bachelor’s of Arts degree in African American Studies at UC Berkeley and her Master of Arts degree in Education at Stanford University. She was born with a hearing loss and has been wearing hearing aids since she was 15 months. Despite the obstacles she faced, she overcame many of them and continues to overcome obstacles. Her mother always told her that she had three things against her: Black, female, and disabled. Joy Elan went through life prepared for what she would face and has smiled throughout everything she has been through. She is currently working with urban youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

About her book, Silence Is Not Always Golden
 
The Power of Spoken Words is a collection of poetry that is defying the norm. Written words have power because anyone can refer to them. However, spoken words are more powerful because the words are brought to life once they leave the body or a piece of paper. Instead of writing what people want to hear, I wrote what people need to hear. The truth! Sometimes the truth can be beautiful and sometimes it can be ugly. My words and my voice are my weapons and I have to speak up on my beliefs. Other people may not feel as powerful to speak up so I speak up for them. I could not sit there and not say anything. I was taught that you cannot do what everyone else wants; you have to do what YOU want. To be YOU is as original as there can be and people will try to put you down because you are different. I say try because only YOU can let them. My words are my way of fulfilling my purpose because I am making my dream a reality and I am showing you that you can do the same. This edition is slightly different from Silence Is Not Always Golden: A Poetic Revolution because there are clean versions of the poems and a few new poems that were written after I published it.
 
Website: www.authorjoyelan.com