Amefika “Baba” Geuka most recently gained acclaim in 2009 when he completed a 1,069-mile walkathon from the site of the charter school he founded, Joseph Littles-NGUZO SABA Charter School (JL-NSCS) in West Palm Beach, to Washington, DC. The purpose of his historic walk was to dramatize the urgent need for African-Centered Education for children of African descent. Additionally, the trek was intended to raise much-needed money to close a persistent funding gap at JL-NSCS. He departed West Palm Beach on Wednesday, July 15th at 9:00 AM, and arrived in DC on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 11:30 AM.
Geuka and his associates were awarded the charter for JL-NSCS on December 8, 1998, and started operations on January 20, 1999 in temporary space courtesy of the Urban League of Palm Beach County. The school was in continuous operation through June 2014, with Baba Geuka serving as Headmaster until his retirement in July 2006. He subsequently served as Board Chairman.
The decision to pursue a charter to operate a public school was inspired in part by Baba Geuka’s having attended the Million Man March (MMM) convened by Minister Louis Farrakhan in Washington, DC on October 16, 1995. He spearheaded a local follow-up to the MMM named the “Family Pilgrimage in Palm Beach County.” An avowed Black Nationalist and Pan-Africanist of the Marcus Garvey persuasion, Geuka has been active in the Black Liberation Movement since his mid-teens. Along the way, he was active in the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); established the Center for Black Awareness in Utica, New York; co-founded the Marcus Garvey Memorial Black Solidarity Committee; and established the Pan-African Cultural Exposition (PACE), an annual cultural event held in Rochester, New York.
He later founded the GoldenRule Housing & Community Development Corporation, a community-based organization that built affordable housing for low and moderate-income families in Sanford, Florida. His success with that program led to him being asked to serve as Executive Director of the newly-formed “Neighborhood Development Initiative” (NDI), a similar but larger low-income housing program serving six (6) municipalities in Palm Beach County, Florida.
In August 2006, Baba Geuka, his wife Felisa, and their youngest son, Diriki, traveled to Egypt and Ghana. Upon his return, he authored a book about the experience titled: “Reflections on My Pilgrimage,” described by his publisher as “…the most truthful account of one man’s pilgrimage to Africa.”
After writing his first book, Amefika collaborated with his friend, Professor James ‘Jim’ Clingman, to organize a gathering of Black self-determinists from throughout the United States which was held at Cincinnati State College on December 9, 2006. Those assembled there resolved that Blacks in America needed a national “Black Nationalist” organization to serve as a vanguard for their peoples’ movement towards self-reliance. The movement to bring those aspirations to fruition was dubbed the “Movement to Bring Back Black” or “BBB.” That movement subsequently gave birth to an organization named the NATIONALIST Black Leadership Coalition (NBLC). The convention for that purpose was held in Kernersville, North Carolina on October 13, 2007. Four chapters of the NBLC were established thereafter: in Detroit (the “Flagship” Chapter); Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; and Palm Beach County, Florida.
Amefika Diriki Geuka, née Lawrence Edward Taylor (b. 1940), was born in Belle Glade, Florida, and grew up in Utica, New York. After graduating from high school, Geuka attended Mohawk Valley Community College and eventually earned his bachelor’s degree in urban studies from Syracuse University in 1972. Geuka went on to attend SUNY Brockport, where he pursued a master’s degree in public administration. He started a consulting business in Rochester called ADG and Associates, and he developed the Pan-African Cultural Exposition (PACE). Geuka was heavily involved in the Rochester community and participated in the Black United Fund, the Model Cities Program, the Bamako-Rochester Sister Cities Committee, TransAfrica, and the Masonic Lodge
"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots."
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