[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TRIBUTE TO KENYA AJANAKU, A MULTIFACETED CULTURAL LEADER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. WM. LACY CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 28, 2005

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to an article 
that appeared in the July 15th edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 
which pays tribute to a man of abundant and diverse talents, Mr. Kenya 
Ajanaku. Not only has Mr. Ajanaku played an important part in my 
personal life as an admired relative, he has been a huge asset to the 
city of St. Louis. As the executive director of the Harambee Institute, 
and a professional jewelry maker, drummer, singer, dancer, storyteller 
and educator, Mr. Ajanaku has proven that pursuing one's passions can 
be personally rewarding as well as beneficial to one's community. The 
article, aptly entitled ``Multifaceted'', delivers Mr. Ajanaku the 
proper recognition he deserves.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that the entire text of the St. Louis Post-
Dispatch article be placed in the Record.

              [From the St. Louis Dispatch, July 15, 2005]

                              Multifaceted

                           (By Kathie Sutin)

       Some of the best things in life happen by serendipity, that 
     accidental, happy discovery that comes when you're looking 
     for something else.
       Take Kenya Ajanaku, a multi-talented man--a professional 
     jewelry-maker, drummer, singer, dancer, storyteller and 
     educator.
       Ajanaku, 57, is executive director of the Harambee 
     Institute, a nonprofit organization he created in 1994 to 
     pass on to others what he has learned about making jewelry 
     and the performing arts. He also performs a 45-minute 
     interactive program incorporating drum-playing and the 
     storytelling of African folk tales to groups around St. Louis 
     and the country.
       Except for singing, which he has done most of his life, he 
     came upon each of his other professions by chance.
       ``I became a jeweler at 25, I became a dancer and drummer 
     at 31, and I became a professional storyteller at 41,'' says 
     Ajanaku (pronounced ah JAHN ah koo).
       ``It has enabled me to have heaven right here on Earth: he 
     says. ``I do this for a living, and it's really a blessing. I 
     can't call it a job because a job is something you hate to 
     do. I have to call this a profession because it's something I 
     love to do.''
       Not that the path was easy. In the '70s, when Ajanaku 
     started, it was almost unheard-of for an African-American to 
     make a living selling jewelry.
       ``Most people said, 'He has gone crazy talking about he 
     gon' make a living making jewelry,'' he said with a laugh.
       Ajanaku understands the skepticism of those days.
       ``Our people hadn't seen anyone making a living doing 
     this,'' he says. ``And then I got involved with the drumming, 
     and my mother--bless her soul--says, `Bi-State is hiring. 
     You're 31 years old. What are you going to do with a drum?' 
     ''
       He credits his wife of 38 years, Weyni, who learned 
     jewelry-making with him and who does the paperwork and 
     teaches at the institute, for believing in him. The couple 
     sell necklaces, bracelets and rings they handcraft from 
     copper, brass, silver and 14-karat gold. They also set 
     semiprecious stones from around the world such as obsidian, 
     turquoise, malachite, black onyx and tiger's eye. Ajanaku 
     also fashions antique sterling silverware he finds at 
     auctions into bracelets and rings.
       After graduating from Vashon High School in 1966, Ajanaku 
     headed to Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., on 
     a swimming scholarship. Shortly thereafter, he married Weyni. 
     Then, three years into college, he moved back to St. Louis to 
     become a barber.
       A few years later, he and his wife decided to sell their 
     possessions and the barbershop to move to Panama with friends 
     to open a business.
       But there, their plans were stymied when they learned that 
     to open a business, they needed a Panamanian partner. They 
     decided to go back to Charlotte, where they opened a small 
     variety store across from the university Ajanaku had 
     attended.
       After going to a movie one day, the couple encountered two 
     African-American men near the theater. They had big boards 
     shaped like Africa, and they had black velvet on them, and 
     they had their jewelry pinned on the front, Ajanaku says. One 
     of them said, ``Hey, would you be interested in some 
     handcrafted jewelry?''
       Ajanaku was amazed.
       ``It was the first time I had seen hand-crafted jewelry, 
     especially made by someone who looks like me,'' he said. ``Up 
     to then, I had never conceived that I could become a jeweler. 
     You see, when I was growing up in my community, you didn't 
     see any professional jewelers.''
       He was also impressed by the jewelry.
       ``I was just flabbergasted at the beauty and the time and 
     effort that went into these pieces that they made,'' he said.
       The couple learned that the men, part of a communal group 
     called the Ajanakus, made their living traveling from city to 
     city and selling jewelry. They bought some jewelry and 
     invited the men to dinner. Later they would change their last 
     name to Ajanaku, a Nigerian term meaning ``strong-willed 
     person.''
       After dinner, the men brought out their tools and materials 
     and showed the couple how they made jewelry. That night, 
     Kenya Ajanaku made his first piece of jewelry--a pair of 
     earrings.
       Ajanaku and his wife were captivated by the lifestyle, as 
     well as the jewelry.
       So they sold their business and eventually headed for 
     Washington, where he met a man who taught him how to solder 
     and set stones in silver.
       ``I remember our first piece of sterling silver we bought 
     in Philadelphia,'' he says. ``It was 1 foot of 16-gauge round 
     sterling silver wire. Man, you would have thought that was 
     gold to us because we had never worked with sterling 
     before.''
       The family returned to St. Louis in 1979 and began to sell 
     jewelry at craft shows.
       Here, Someone told him about renowned dancer Katherine 
     Dunham and a Senegalese man she brought to East St. Louis to 
     teach African drumming. Ajanaku signed up for the class.
       ``I became a pretty good drummer, and fortunately Miss 
     Dunham hired me as one of the drummers for the Katherine 
     Dunham Dancers. That was really a help because when I first 
     moved back to St. Louis, the only way I had to make money was 
     through the jewelry. When I got involved in the performing 
     arts, it helped me to diversify.''
       Ajanaku later played percussion behind St. Louisan Bobby 
     Norfolk, one of the first African-American professional 
     storytellers, who was on the roster of Young Audiences. When 
     Norfolk went on to national and international gigs, the group 
     asked Ajanaku to come up with a storytelling presentation.
       Though the Ajanakus spend a lot of time teaching children 
     and adults at the Harambee Institute and at classes they 
     teach through the St. Louis Parks and Recreation Department, 
     the Ferguson-Florissant School District and at Mark Twain 
     Elementary School in St. Louis, they still sell their jewelry 
     at festivals. That includes such events as the Festival of 
     Nations, which will be held July 23-24 in Tower Grove Park, 
     and the Best of Missouri Market at the Missouri Botanical 
     Garden and Ottertoberfest at the St. Louis Zoo, both in 
     October.
       Ajanaku sees the institute as a way to enlighten the 
     African-American community about professions in the arts and 
     others about African culture.
       ``Nowadays, I tell people, `The cotton has been picked; 
     automation is here, so the need for unskilled laborers 
     nowadays is zero,'' he says. ``Nowadays you need some type of 
     skill or some type of service you can provide.''
       The Harambee Institute is at 5223 Raymond Avenue. To learn 
     more about it or to make an appointment to visit the gift 
     shop, which features items from Africa and the Ajanakus' 
     jewelry, call 314-454-6584.

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