Musician-Writer
Oakland CA
Fellowship: 2013
AttitudinalHealingConnection
“Drum for Peace! Drum for Happiness!” says Kokomon. “In a world of increasing fear and violence, let us be in the present with sound, rhythm, and joy!”
Mindful Drumming, as Kokomon teaches it, is a tool for wellness. “This ancient technology is a portal for mishe (inner happiness),” he says. “Drumming is a cross-cultural phenomenon. All indigenous cultures use some sort of drumming in ritual ceremonies. They create synchronistic, harmonic rhythms as tools to be unbound, to be free to fly like eagles, to experience happiness and inner peace.”
Kokomon believes that we cannot find true happiness and peace in isolation. “Unleashing the human spirit always involves, on some level, inclusion of our family, friends, and the larger community. Community spirit is a potent catalytic element that inspires love and happiness, trust and respect, self-esteem and high morale, caring and sharing.”
With his wife Aeeshah, Kokomon co-founded the Attitudinal Healing Connection in 1989. Their mission is to eliminate violence by offering creative and educational programs that transform the human spirit and build peaceful loving communities. ArtEsteem, Mindful Drumming Circles, and Super Heroes Murals are just a few of their projects. They partner with elementary, middle, and high schools, and also offer after-school workshops and classes.
Although now a leader in his Oakland community, Kokomon was born to the Ga-Adagbe tribe in Accra, the capital of Ghana, in West Africa. His warm and welcoming face always underlines his words: “We are family. Period.”
Links:
http://ahc-oakland.org/
http://www.earthalive.com/ArtEsteem.html
jubilationfoundation.org 