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Honorary Mothers of KA
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The Revered Queens of Malika Kambe Umfazi Sorority, Inc. believe in the importance of celebrating and learning from our elders. Since 1996 we have sought out women of excellence and experience to receive the rare distinction of being an Honorary Mother of KA.
Our honorary members are women whose lives exemplify the principles mission and objectives of MKU Sorority, Inc. These women have been conferred membership in our sisterhood because they have made meaningful contributions to the Afrikan/Latino communities and because they are role models for leadership, integrity and their commitment to utilitarianism.
To date, the following women have been inducted as an Honorary Mother of KA:
KA Nkechinyere Oriaku (1996)
KA Dr. Bahati Kuumba (1997)
KA Dr. Gail V. Wells (1997)
KA Ms. Vera Martin (1997)
KA Mrs. Judith Dawson (2000)
 2010 Honoray Mother of KA Inductees
 KA Abeena Taaliba Asantewa (Jo Ann Peters) JoAnn was born and raised in Buffalo, New York but spent summer and winter vacations in New York City. She graduated from Buffalo State College earning a degree in Secondary English Education. JoAnn currently works for the Board of Education and is assigned to the John F. Kennedy Recreation Center site. Here she works as a General Education Development (GED) Instructor for the Adult Learning Center. JoAnn worked previously for the American Red Cross where she was in Emergency Management and was a National Trainer for Emergency Services. She traveled throughout the United States instructing Emergency Services staff and volunteers. She is a lover of history, civic involvement, cultural preservation and the arts. She has been a volunteer for the annual Juneteenth Festival since 1983. She has served on both the Board of Directors and on committees where she was instrumental in establishing the annual Health Fair and Run for Health, the Underground Railroad Mini Tours, and the Book Sharing event. JoAnn is a former student of yoga at the Himalayan Institute. She also attends adult drawing classes at the Locust Street Neighborhood Art Center. Her work has been shown at Jammin', the yearly art show and fundraiser for the art center. Jazz is a passion for JoAnn, especially traditional Jazz, and she is interested in creating paintings featuring jazz scenes. She works in acrylics and is interested in abstracts. JoAnn is trained as a docent for the Forest Lawn Cemetery Tours and plans to spearhead a committee to publicly acknowledge the burial of "colored" Civil War veterans interred at the cemetery. She is a former member of the YWCA's Racial Justice Committee and a current member of the Sunday @ Five Book Club. She is also a member of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations at the national, regional and local levels. She has two sons, James and Jay. She is also a member of the African Consciousness Workshop, an eighteen-member group that meets on Mondays at the Jefferson Library to discuss issues related to being African.
KA Elise Rhodes Elise was born on February 13, 1965, in Buffalo, New York. She is the eldest of three girls born to mother, Frances Arlene, a long time employee of New York Telephone, and father, Roosevelt, a higher education administrator, community activist, and minister. Throughout her childhood and young adulthood, she participated in demonstrations, marches, meetings and think-tanks, all geared at helping promoting the equal treatment, access, education, and rights of minority communities (i.e., African American/Black and Hispanic.) From 1991-1995, she was a member of the Buffalo School Health Project Advisory Board whose sole purpose was to ensure that children and adolescents attending inner city schools were receiving adequate health care and health education. From 1994 to 1998, she served as a member of the Buffalo Urban League Guild; from 2001-2004, she volunteered with Brush-Up Buffalo, an collective effort that painted houses, for free, in low-income neighborhoods; and from 1997 to 2003, she volunteered in several initiative to address the need for health education and awareness in low-income communities through her church, job, or school. Today, Elise work's diligently to ensure that underrepresented minority college students reach their academic potential and reach their academic, personal and professional goals. After a successful career as a Licensed Practical Nurse and administrator at several hospitals and universities, Elise chose to pursue a Ph.D. in Higher Education, with an emphasis on Student Development and Student Affairs. Currently, she is Assistant Director of Academic Skills Services at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
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