NANA SULA SPIRIT
Priestess Singer Songwriter Workshop Facilitator Performer Author Artist Black Masking Indian
Women Rebirthing The World
Thu, Jun 25New OrleansA Celebration of Mami Wata and her Sisters from the Four Directions
Meet The Mothers
Mami Wata's Sisters From The Four Directions
These are the Mothers who will be sharing their medicine throughout the weekend. These woman have been serving our communities from New York to New Jersey to Missouri to Florida on down to New Orleans, Louisiana and across the African diaspora. Take a moment to learn about them and ready yourself for this sacred experience.
Priestess of Mami Wata (Mamisi)
Queen Mother Mami Ablo | Nana Sula
Queen Mother Mamisi Ablo is the CEO of Sula Spirit, LLC, a multidisciplinary cultural and spiritual arts company that houses her original music, temple workshops, published works, global talks and both beaded and painted visual artwork. Nana Sula is the founder and Mamisi Priestess of the Temple of Light - Mami Ablo's Afeme, a spiritual house for the elevation of all. She was initiated at the Temple of Mami Sika Apukesi in Ghana, West Africa and has served as a lightworker for the past 41 years.
Nana Sula is author and producer of the book and cd project Spirit of the Orisha - a Yoruba song preservation study guide. She is Vice President of the Congo Square Preservation Society and a Medicine Queen with the Mandingo Warriors - Spirit of Fi-Yi-Yi.
Connect with this mother on IG: @sulaspirit
Yemaya Priestess - Lucumí Tradition
Nana Anoa Nantambu
Nana Anoa is an Earthmother, working with you to help and support us. She prays, sings, works, teaches and travels for a world in which dignity, respect and right relation prevail for all sentient beings and Mother Earth. She appreciates wisdom teachings from Christianity, African and Indigenous lifeways/spirituality, Buddhist teachings and meditation practices from nature and divine downloads. She melds these with her life experiences from the different arenas and spaces in which she has lived, learned, and taught.
Nana Anoa uses mind-body-spirit medicine techniques including meditation, prayer and food as medicine. In 2025, Nana Anoa earned certification as a mindfulness and meditation teacher through the two-year MMTCP program. She has been an initiated priest of Yemaya in the Lucumí lineage of the Yoruba African Traditional Religion for nearly 25 years. Her beloved Godmother, now Ancestor, was Iyalosha Fulani Nandi Adegbalola Sunni Ali. Nana Anoa aspires to live wholly, simply, naturally and joyfully in service to the community.
Nana Anoa Nantambu is a native of New Orleans, LA and was born to Roy, Sr. and Mary Booker Cains, both now Ancestors. She is Mama to her two sons, Serwaa to her eight grandchildren and kin to many.
Tibetan Buddist & Obatala Priestess
Lopön Karla Jackson-Brewer (Iya Oduneye)
Lopön Karla Jackson-Brewer is a senior teacher with Tara Mandala Buddhist Retreat Center. She is a long-time student of Lama Tsultrim Allione. She teaches numerous Vajrayana Buddhist practices focused on the Sacred Feminine. She is also a Chöd practitioner and teacher of the Chöd from Chogyal Namkai Norbu Rinpoche.
She is also an initiated priest in the African tradition of Ifa and has been a Priestess of Obatala for 30 plus years.
Connect with this mother on multiple platforms.
IG: @Goddessdiva & @sine_qua_non2122
FB: Karla Jackson-Brewer
Haitian Vodou Manbo of Erzulie Danto
Manbo Charlene Desir, PhD
Dr. Charlene Désir is a full professor at Nova Southeastern University, Vodou Manbo (Priestess), and social activist dedicated to empowering communities through education, mental health advocacy, and cultural preservation. Dr. Desir is a Harvard graduate and is initiated in the Sosyete Nago Lakou in Jackmel, Haiti.
As the founder of The Empowerment Network (T.E.N.) Global, she leads initiatives that address systemic inequalities and foster healing through culturally rooted practices.
Bridging scholarship and activism, Dr. Désir uses Vodou epistemology to document and uplift marginalized voices, creating spaces for liberation and collective empowerment.
Connect with this mother on IG @charlenedesir
Priestess of Mami Wata, Yemoja, Olokun
Mami Okunsola M. Amadou, CPM (R), Folk Midwife™
Okunsola M. Amadou, a multi award-winning Midwife, Pioneer, Priestess, Author and Museum Chief Curator, is a graduate of the Midwives College of Utah and the University of Iowa Museum Studies Program. She is the Founder of The Historic Jamaa Birth Village Cultural Heritage Center (Jamaa Birth Village) & Founding of the African Indigenous Midwifery Museum located in Ferguson, Missouri.
Okunsola is Missouri's first African American Certified Professional Midwife and first Black Registered CPM Preceptor, with over a decade of clinical practice, founding Missouri's first Black Midwifery Clinic and School. A dedicated midwife, writer, visionary and folklorist, she focuses on research and historic preservation of midwifery, connecting African Indigenous , cultural and spiritual birth practices with public health and cultural heritage. Her recent work includes The Black Midwife Oracle™ (2025), a cultural project honoring Black midwives across the diaspora.
Connect with this mother on multiple platforms
IG: @jamaabirthvillage & @blackmidwifemuseum
FB: @jamaabirthvillage & @AfricanIndigenousMidwiferyMuseum&Library
Yemaya Priestess - Lucumí Tradition
Iya Omidina | Maelinda Turner
Iya Omidina, known in the world as Maelinda Turner, is a Lucumí priestess initiated in Cuba and crowned to Yemayá for over twenty years. Rooted in deep devotion to the Mother of Waters, she carries the sacred wisdom of the tradition with reverence, love, and a life fully given to healing.
A Reiki Master, author, and creative visionary, Maelinda has spent twenty-eight years as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and psychotherapist holding space for profound transformation.
Her work weaves together clinical mastery, energy healing, and spiritual wisdom in ways that honor the sacred wholeness of every soul she touches. She comes to this gathering in service — to the waters, to the tradition, and to the beloved community.
Connect with this mother on IG: @maelindaturner
African Diaspora & Brazilian Professor
Egun/Ancestor Shekere Medicine Keeper
Dr. Kim Butler
Dr. Kim D. Butler is a historian specializing in the African diaspora, with a focus on Brazil. Her work connects with the knowledge of many generations of Ancestors who found creative ways to challenge the persistent legacies of slavery and colonialism that continue to impact us today. She is especially interested in the healing power of joy. Much of her work involves talking with elders.
In this Mami Wata experience, she will help us connect with the deep wisdom of our mothers, grandmothers, aunties and other elders who carry generational insights about how to heal, live fully, and find joy even in the most difficult of times.
Mama Kim teaches at Rutgers University in the departments of Africana Studies and History. She has a background in the cultural traditions of the African world, speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese, and studied shekere with Madeleine Yayodele Nelson of the Women of the Calabash.
Connect with this mother on IG: @brooklynsista