Images of the Motherland Interactive Theater

Causes: Arts & Culture, Dance

Mission: The Mission of "Images of the Motherland: Interactive Theatre" (IMIT) is to educate and expand public awareness and appreciation of African and American Traditions and History through authentic presentations of drama, art, music, dance , culture and storytelling by creating “living history”of an entire people to pass from generation to generation Dignity, Self-Esteem, Tolerance and Mutual Respect

Results: We have been fortunate to reach a total diversified audience of approximately 3000 with an aggregate total of 7 productions and numerous performances presented in 2009-2015. "The Life & Times of Omar ibn Sayyid" has over 60 performances presented since 2009. We have also dramatically improved our outreach efforts by receiving “2014 Arts & Culture Awards” , “2014 Top Rated Non Profit Awards” and “2014 Great Non Profits Top-Rated Awards” from Great Non Profits. Additionally our current rating with Guidestar is”Guidestar Exchange Bronze Participant”. We have received a considerable number of reviews from laymen and professionals attesting to the quality and impact of our productions. Your lives, and the lives of your children and grandchildren will be forever touched by these truly excellent presentations. Audience Reviews: “The Life & Times of Omar ibn Sayyid”. “Timbuktu African Artifacts Exhibit”, “Living History Heritage Project”, “Emancipation Proclamation Jubilees Celebration”, "Muhammad Ali ibn Sayyid-292 USCT", "Bilali Muhammad-Almamy", "Freedom" and "Sesquicentennial". “I think that the program was captivating! We need more productions for our children, families, and the community! I love this production!” Kim P. Ward “The program is very informative with knowledge and information that can be passed on to the next generation, to help them rise above their circumstances!” Cleo Young “Excellent lectures! Excellent dramatic presentations! Actors were wonderful! Enjoyed the presentation on the life of “Sojourner Truth. Fantastic!” Joan Harris “It was a wonderful program and deserves to be performed all over!” Leah Clouden “This was a really great show! It was very informative and very realistic! It helped me to understand the horrors of slavery! Very historical!” Derek Washington "I have been teaching my students about the Civil Rights Movement during Social Studies. My students were very impressed with "The Life & Times of Omar ibn Sayyid". It helped them to understand more about what I am trying to teach them. When we returned to school, my Supervisor came in and the students couldn't stop talking about it. I was amazed at how much information they took with them and really appreciate it." Christine Stickney-Belmont Charter School-5th Grade Learning Support Teacher "We very much enjoyed and recommend "The Life & Times of Omar ibn Sayyid". Our Middle School students were moved by the dramatic portrayal of this little known historical figure. This presentation is very much in keeping with our mission as a Friends School, and nicely fit with this years theme of "integrity". Judy Smith-Newtown Friends School-Head of Upper School "The silence in the auditorium shouted words that only the sould could speak. The crowd was captured by an astounding performance about the sojourns of an enslaved man who refused to let the conditions at hand, defer the freedom of his heart." Mel Leaman-Associate Professor of Religion-Lincoln University

Target demographics: General Public/UnspecifiedEthnic/Racial Minorities -- GeneralBlacksFamilies

Geographic areas served: Based in Philadelphia, PA with touring throughout the United States.

Programs: “Living History Heritage Project” Program Descriptions “The Life & Times of Omar ibn Sayyid” (1770-1863) is professionally reenacted by Baba Kenya from Images of the Motherland-Interactive Theatre. Time: 1 hr + 15 minutes /1 Act performance with no intermission. This journey is replete with authentic costuming, artifacts, and props. *Special feature for educational institutions includes “Timbuktu African Artifacts Museum & Workshop” an interactive museum artifacts workshop and Q&A. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhG_C9mQLWU A gripping American saga that explores the life of an extraordinary African Fulani (Peul) Arabic scholar, teacher and religious leader from the Fulani State of Futa Torro, who was one of the last Africans sold into slavery in the United States during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. This is the life journey of a man from the land of Futa Torro (West Africa), to Mecca, to Charlestown SC, to Fayetteville NC to Wilmington NC. Omar ibn Sayyid endured 59 years of slavery in South Carolina and North Carolina. He died at 96 years of age during the year 1863 prior to the end of the U.S. Civil War. Omar ibn Sayyid would astound America with his writings from the Qur’an from memory, as well as his own handwritten autobiography written in the Arabic language and other literary samples that are available today. Omar ibn Sayyid was one of the few documented literary personages from W. Africa that endured slavery in the United States. He is the only documented African slave who wrote his autobiography in the Arabic language while in captivity. Omar ibn Sayyid’s autobiography is American Literature. This dramatic presentation is based upon his autobiography. Lesson Plan PDF available for all presentations. “Muhammad Ali ibn Sayyid-#292 United States Colored Troops” portrayed by William J. White-Images of the Motherland-Interactive Theatre. Time: 1 hr /1 Act performance with no intermission. “Muhammad Ali ibn Sayyid-#292 United States Colored Troops” (1833-1882) is the resurrection of an “untold story”… a “Legacy of Forgotten Roots”. A truly unique chapter in early American History. This journey is replete with authentic costuming, artifacts, and props. *Special feature for educational institutions includes additional 30 minute Quiz, Q&A. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF_thrASmlE Muhammad Ali ibn Sayyid , was an extraordinary African Fulani (Peul) who was enslaved at 16 years of age and even made the Pilgrimage to Mecca with one of his masters. Muhammad Ali ibn Sayyid was born in 1833 in the Fulani State of Kanem-Bornu, near Lake Chad in Central West Africa. He was the son of a famous Kanem-Bornu horseman and General known as “Barca Gana”. Captured by Tuareg slavers at 16 years old and sold into slavery of the Arab World and Europe, his story reads like a “world tour”, before he would ultimately end up in the Union Army during the Civil War fighting for the freedom of African-Americans. He came to America as a “free man”. Muhammad Ali ibn Sayyid had learned to speak and write at least 12 different languages. He wrote his own autobiography while in the United States. “Muhammad Ali ibn Sayyid-#292 United States Colored Troops ” is based on “The Autobiography of Nicholas Said”, written by Muhammad Ali Ibn Sayyid. It is an amazing comparative journey across the “then known world” of Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. Muhammad Ali ibn Sayyid speaks to your heart and soul from languages of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe brought forward “full-circle” to current African-American descendants culminating the fulfillment of our dreams. Muhammad Ali ibn Sayyid was 1 of the 292 Muslim African-American Union Soldiers listed in the 1865 US Muster Rolls who fought for the freedom of African-Americans. Lesson Plan PDF available for all presentations. You, your children and grandchildren will never forget this truly profound “untold story”… a “Legacy of Forgotten Roots”. “Sojourner Truth: Forgotten Roots” (1797-1883) The gripping unforgettable story of a woman, born of African parents, whose family would be ripped apart by the brutal cruelties of American slavery. Her parents were from Ghana and Futa Djallon. She was born into slavery “up north”, in New York, her son would be kidnapped and sold “down south”, and although she never learned to read or write, she would be the only African American woman to successfully fight in US Courts to have her son returned to her. She would rise to legendary fame among Abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown, Harriet Tubman and Lucretia Mott. She became a champion of the freedom movement, civil rights and women’s rights. She was born “Isabella Baumfree”, but the world would remember her forever as “Sojourner Truth”. The Story of “Sojourner Truth”: Forgotten Roots 1 Hour-No Intermission Portrayed by Jasmine Morrison “Bilali Muhammad” (1770-1857) “Bilali Muhammad-Almamy of Sapelo Island, GA” is the resurrection of an “untold story”… a “Legacy of Forgotten Roots”. A truly unique chapter in early American History. Bilali Muhammad was born in 1770 in one of the five Fulani States of West Africa, known as Futa Djallon (Guinea W. Africa). Futa Djallon was the Fulani State that existed on the southern end of the Senegal River in present day Guinea W. Africa. Bilali Muhammad was born in 1770, which was also the same birth year of another famous Fula, known as Omar ibn Sayyid, who would be born in the other Fula State known as “Futa Torro” at the northern end of the Senegal River in present day Senegal. Bilali Muhammad was an extraordinary African Fulani who in 1782 was enslaved at 12 years of age and sold into the “Middle Passage” section of the “Trans Atlantic Slave Trade” which would take him to the Caribbean Islands. Both men, Omar ibn Sayyid and Bilali Muhammad, linked by tribal ancestry, culture, and religion, would leave an impact by way of their numerous “literary documents” written while enslaved in America. Geographically, they wound up enslaved on the opposite side of the world, in states sharing the same border…South Carolina and Georgia. Bilali became a leader among men, and would be hailed as the Ancestor of the Gullah people. This Story of “Bilali Muhammad-Almamy of Sapelo Island, GA” 1 Hour-No Intermission Portrayed by Malcolm Clark