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Akindele Akinyemi
Akindele F. Akinyemi (born November 16, 1974 in Detroit, Michigan) is a controversial Nigerian-American conservative educator, motivational speaker, researcher and political commentator. He is currently the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the A-1 Network and Management Company (the One Network), a non-partisan conglomerate of small businesses that exculsively wants to build what is known as "urban regional networks" to gain conservative economic and political power. He is well known for his hardline conservative views on education and his "blunt" way of expression.
Akinyemi is mostly known in the community as "Mr. A", Mr. Akinyemi, Brother Akindele, Minister Akindele or the Controversial One.
He is a former Black Muslim who converted to Christianity, then became a strong spokesman for conservative Christian political issues. As a champion of educational options Akinyemi promotes altenative methods to education. He also opposes the welfare state that he believes is a dependency trap, while he promotes stable families and self-reliance as the best antidote to poverty, and supports the pro-life message.
Akinyemi is the author of "Academic Revolution", a series of essays dealing with the neeed for more specialized charter schools in urban communities. He has a B.S in African American Studies from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan and a M.A. in Education with an emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction.
He is a regular political commentator on Hipolitix on Internet radio in Los Angeles, CA.
>== Early Years==
Akindele Akinyemi was born in Detroit, Michigan. His father is originally from Nigeria and his mother is from Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 5 Akinyemi began to draw an interest in astronomy and geography. It is at this point in his life this interest in social sciences would carry him throughout life. By the time Akinyemi was 9 years old his friends would call him a "book junkie" because he would read newspapers and books daily.
Akindele Akinyemi credits his grandmother for getting him interested in politics at 11 years old.
By the time he entered the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy in the ninth grade he was studying the political and cultural history of African Americans.
Black Militant
Akinyemi would become politically active during his teen years.
He was exposed to conscious hip-hop music and culture. Groups like Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions and X-Clan had influenced him heavily. Akinyemi began to study about Nigeria (his roots), Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad and Marcus Garvey. But none had an effect on him more than Dr. Malachi Z. York (then known as As Saayid Al Immam Issa Al Haadi Al Madhi) of the Nubian Islamic Hebrew Mission (Ansaar Community). It is here where he would receive his religious foundation.
In 1990, Akinyemi became a full member of the Nubian Islamic Hebrew Mission and studied over 72 religions. He has stated many times "he never wanted to be left in the dark again." Akinyemi studied Black Nationalism, Socialism, Taoism and Hinduism. After transferring to Mumford High School on Detroit's west side in 1990 he would further his Black Nationalist rhetoric fused with religion. Combined with conscious hip-hop and the Rodney King incident in 1991 (where King was beaten 56 times over the head by police) Akinyemi had preached anti-semitism. His anti-semetic remarks on Jews was so intense that Jewish teachers at Mumford High School requested to the principal at the time that he should be removed from the school. This never happened and Akinyemi went on to graduate in 1992.
MAD Writer Productions (1992-1997)
One of the most acclaimed movement that Akinyemi was his MAD Writer Productions. MAD was an acronymn which meant Mentally Armed and Dangerous. MAD Writer Productions was a writing movement that four (sometimes five) young men from Detroit, Michigan would go to the college campuses and pass out literature on issues that were affecting the African American Community.
MAD Writer Productions orignated from a concept called "the Madwriter." A friend of Akinyemi originally called himself the "Madwriter" but did not know how to write clear commentaries. Akinyemi adopted the name and begin his MAD Writer Productions in the fall of 1992 when he returned from Tennessee State University. Akinyemi would gather his friends on a weekend drive to help him pass out literature at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He began to go every Sunday to the campuses across the State of Michigan promoting the MAD Writer Productions. MAD Writer Productions was so popular on campuses like the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan that they were frequent guests at parties, rallies and speaking engagements.
The rest of the MAD Writer Productions were:
1. Andre Besteder (a.k.a Madcat the Nocturnal) 2. Eric Besteder (Eric B) 3. Derrick Quinn 4. Chris Vaughn (not a member of MWP but a support member)
MAD Writer Productions first literature was the "New World Order." This dealt with the coming One World Government, Trilateral Commission and population reduction. many have said Akinyemi was way ahead of his time in publishing this because of the information on the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Area 51. Even though he was not the first to reveal such information it is said he was the first to reveal it in a "compact" way to young people.
The most controversial literature produced by the MAD Writer Productions was the now infamous "Message To The Black Woman." The langauge was so inflammatory that several Black women on Michigan State University's campus requested a resolution at their Black Caucus meetings to have MAD Writer Productions banned from the residence halls that they were passing out literature. Other literature pieces included health, diet and religion. Akinyemi later decided to discontinue the "Message to the Black Woman."
Akinyemi later pushed the MAD Writer Productions at local venues at the request of one of his team members Derrick Quinn. Every week MAD Writer Productions would perform poetry at a local (now-defunct)poetry joint called Pour Me Cafe. Pour Me had local artists reciting poetry including Jessica Care Moore, a nationally acclamed poet. They would take the MWP to almost every local poetry venue and house party venue in the City of Detroit.
The latter years of the MWP would end up online as Akinyemi enrolled at Eastern Michigan University in the fall of 1995. MWP had reached a national audience via online and Akinyemi would travel to speak at different venues across the Midwest.
Black Leadership Clashes
It is said the term "Controversial One" came from a African American female who attended the University of Michigan. Akinyemi was always controversial, especially at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. This is where he would began to help redefine Black leadership not just on campus but in the Ypsilanti community as well. He had known the memebers of Redemption Inc. on Eastern Michigan's campus two years earlier but did not want to join the group because he felt they were more "centrist" than hardcore left-wing politics that Akinyemi was into. His controversial columns in the Eastern Echo Newspaper (campus newspaper) would trigger angry rebuttals from other Black student activists.
None was more controversial than his Akinyemi's criticisms against the Black leadership at Eastern Michigan University. Akinyemi called Black organizations the "Anti-Christ" and dictators without a purpose. This sparked campus-wide and city-wide outrage not just from the student leadership but the African American Studies Department. Even student leaders at nearby Wshtenaw Community College and the University of Michigan condemned his actions as "counter-revolutionary and counterproductive."
Black Christian Nationalism
Akinyemi joined the Shrines of the Black Madonna in Detroit in December 2001. At the Shrine he was indocrinated into the Black Christian Nationalist movement. Understanding that Black Theology was instrumental in helping Black people he began to take part of the church ministry. This included preaching and co-heading the youth ministry at the Shrine.
While at the Shrine he was introduced to the Black Slate, a political public relation service. This is where he met James W. Ribbron (who would later helped develop the One Detroit Network). While on the board of the Black Slate,Inc he was the Black Slate's radio co-host for four years that broadcast at WHPR FM 88.1 in Highland Park, Michigan.
It was the Black Slate Radio that gave Akinyemi a broad scope on what was going on the the urban community. He became totally dismayed at how Black people were always complaining about the conditions in the community but always relyed on government to bail them out. Akinyemi also began to become disenchanted with the both the old and new gurard of leadership in Detroit.
It was within the ranks of the Black Slate and the Shrines of the Black Madonna where Akinyemi was introduced to conservative politics. After spending four years bashing Republicans and their policies Akinyemi realized that the neither the Shrine, Black Nationalists or Black Grassroots had an answer to the problems that existed in the urban community. He was influenced to the Republican policies by meeting Tara J. Wall in person at a NAACP event in April, 2003 (who was the Public Affairs Director at UPN/50 in Detroit who also hosted a show called Street Beat). Akinyemi was impresssed with Wall's ability to articulate urban issues from a conservative viewpoint in a hostile Democratic audience at Cobo Hall.
Furthermore, the philosophical differences between Akinyemi and the Shrine began to grow. This was brought to a head when Mayor Kwame Kilaptrick was running for re-election in 2005. All on the Black Slate supported Kilpatrick except Akinyemi. He supported Freman Hendrix and after Hendrix's defeat in 2005 by Kilpatrick Akinyemi realized that the Democratic Party was no place for him. He was put out by the Black Slate and eventually parted with the Shrine in 2006.
When asked about his reason for leaving the Shrine, Akinyemi has stated:
"Anyplace where they are not teaching relationship building, do not allow a conservative viewpoint or keep pushing the youth to the back of the bus is not a church but a social gathering. That is what the Shrine is to me. When I joined I thought I can make a difference. I did nothing but waste my time."
Presently, Akinyemi's position on churches is this:
"We need to support churches in the urban community that teaches family building, relationship building and prosperity to help him create a balanced viewpoint."
According to Akinyemi:
"When I visit churches that are teaching prosperity, family values and promoting biblical and educational values I feel right at home. I do not hate Black or White people. We are all God's people. Had I known anything about family values and relationahip building perhaps I would have never gotten divorced in the first place."
The One Detroit Movement
Akinyemi began the current One Detroit Movement (also known as the One Detroit Network or One Detroit)in 2002. It originally started as a political organization but Akinyemi evolved it into a civic education organization with an emphasis on conservative leadership. This was due to Akinyemi's changing political and personal philosophy on how Blacks should achieve power in this country.
When Akinyemi became a Independent Conservative in late 2003 (Akinyemi votes Republican and has helped Republican candidates in Michigan but still supports conservative Democrats) he realized that the only way Blacks were going to achieve any socio-political power in this country was to revolutionize the way education was being taught. He is a staunch advocate for educational choice and is against teacher unions. His pro-life stance is very controversial. Critics in the gay community views him as a threat because of his extreme stance on same sex marriage.
A reporter once asked Akinyemi why he was an Independent Conservative who voted Republican and Akinyemi stated the following:
"Democrats in this city has used me for political gain. They needed me for endorsements but would not allow me to come into their circles, meetings or even give me information that I needed to help their own people. Why roll with the Democrats when they are out to use Blacks in the first place?"
He used the One Detroit Network as a base for his philosophical and political ideologies to reach people nationwide by way of his blog (which he utilizes daily on his personal thoughts). Presently,it is one of the most controversial conservative blogs in the United States.
The One Network Movement
The One Network is the evolution of the One Detroit Movement. This is a larger network, mostly made up of conservatives, who stress the importance of educational and family values. The Network's strategy is building what is known as Urban Regional Network or URN's. This is a collective group of economic and educational resources that can be funneled in smaller urban communities to create change through political power. Akinyemi's strategies for these URN's are communities with a smaller population of 6,000-35,000 residents. So far, Benton Harbor and Berrien County, Michigan has been picked by the Network to be part of the Urban Regional Network.
A major strategy of the Network is to revamp the educational system by setting up educational empowerment zones. This is based on the Buckeye Institute's formula for educational empowerment zones in the State of Ohio. The difference, as Akinyemi pointed out, is that the educational empowerment zones will only be a mix of traditional and charter schools with parents receiving Universal Tax Credits. The Buckeye's EEZs consists of traditional, charter and vouchers.
The other focal point of the Network is to bring families together through conservative values and principles. Akinyemi believes in building strong families by applying core Christian values in the home. He also believes in building up the self-esteem of Black men by demonstrating leadership through biblical principles. Health and wealth creation are also focal points in rebuilding the family structure in the Black community.
Akinyemi on Black men:
"It is necesssary to build up the Black men in our community. Our sisters are a reflection of us. When we are out of order the family is out of order."
Currently, Akinyemi is working on the State House races in 2008. He has said that he will not support any Presidential candidate on either side (Democrat or Republican). He is also helping family advocate groups build support for personal responsibility within the home.
Genesis Project
The Genesis Project is the most creative and innovative project Akinyemi has ever worked on. The Project is a non-profit ministry that is geared towards building college preparatory public school academies that are based on family character values and entrepreneurship. The Genesis Project fits in Akinyemi's theory of transformation: family values through educational choices that will generate wealth creation in urban communities.
The Project is also geared towards raising money for scholarships for children as well as providing educational opportunites for families who are dealing with relationship problems in their personal lives.
Controversial Quotes
"People are gay and lesbian because they sat down, watched a porno, touched each other parts and turned each other out."
"Gays and Lesbians do have rights. They have a right to get married to the opposite sex."
"We should abolish the Detroit School Board and regionalize the schools."
"Charter schools and vouchers will give us educators more choice to go into educational entrepreneurship."
"Did I stutter? I said we should privitize the water department, sell the buses and regionalize Detroit and Wayne County into one government."
"I do not have time for paranoid Black people and their boogeyman politics."
"Why should I vote for the party of my oppressor (Democrats)?"
"Detroit has fallen to insurgents. Hamas is running city government."
"If you're single, get up off your ass and find a mate."
"Detroit will never go anywhere because we have a 6th grade education and can't read worth a damn."
"The Twilight Zone is living in poverty in Detroit."
"I live in New Jack City where my car insurance is like paying for a house note."
"Why should I go out and help change Detroit when most of these people cannot spell change in the first place?"
External Links
One Detroit Network Blog One Network Website Mr. Akinyemi's MySpace Page
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