-
Nsumba! That literally means “I taste you!” in my Balanta language. It is used as a greeting to signify that, just like when you put food in your mouth and start to eat, the food starts to become one with you, so too when we meet, when we come into each other’s presence, we begin to become one with each other.
I had some trouble logging into the system so I’m a bit late introducing myself. Here’s my short bio:
“Siphiwe Baleka is the founder of Fitness Trucking, LLC and is recognized as the #1 Driver Health and Fitness Coach in the world. The Atlantic called him “The Fitness Guru to the Trucking Industry.” In 2017, Baleka won a Sports Emmy for “Outstanding Short Feature” for the Fox Sports documentary “Changing Lanes: The Siphiwe Baleka Story”.
Raised in Chicago by a single dad, he graduated from Yale University and is the first African American ever named to the First Team All-Ivy League Swim Team. He missed qualifying for the 1992 US Olympic Swimming Trials in the 100 freestyle by just 0.8 seconds! Since then, Baleka has become one of the best Masters Swimmers in the world. He has won thirteen US Masters Swimming National Championships, set three US Masters Swimming National Records, and has won four FINA Masters Swimming World Championship silver medals. He has served as the Director of the African Union 6th Region Education Campaign and currently serves on the National Coalition of Black for Reparations in America (N’COBRA) International Affairs Commission, its Health Commission, as well as the International Civil Society Working Group for the Permanent Forum of People of African Descent at the United Nations. He was appointed the Coordinator for the 8th Pan African Congress Part 1 by H.E. Ambassador Arikana Chihombori- Quao and also serves as the Head of Research & Strategy for the West Africa Region of the Pan Frican Federalist Movement. He is the author of several books, including five volumes on 21st Century Black Prophetic Faith and Pan African Diplomacy, three volumes on the history of the Balanta people and the landmark book, 4-Minute Fit (Simon & Schuster).”
For more extensive background Google “Siphiwe Baleka” or go here: https://www.balanta.org/about-the-president
7 Comments-
Akwaaba!
-
All good. We gotta catch up
-
81,878
Abibisika (Black Gold) Points
Akwaaba! Meda wo ase pa ara! Thank you for the thorough introduction info who you are and what you have done and continue to do!
-
Akwaaba! I believe I seen you on video some years ago. You may be aware already however there are also Balanta people in Afro’colombia’ where our people still possess the surname Balanta in the Northern Cauca and Southern Pacific Coastal regions denoting that ethnic origin.
-
@Sipiwe Akwaaba, Glad you are here. It would be good to see you getting involved and meeting other Afrikans. You will find many things to aid you in dewhitenizing ReAfrikanizing. Several Afrikan language classes are offered, lectures by Top Afrikan scholars and hard to find books on culture , language and spirituality. To help us to continue to do what we do we practice Ujamaa so your financial support is needed and greatly appreciated. Kindly provide an avatar Abibifahodie
-
Nsumna! Greetings. I am in my third year living full time here in Guinea Bissau. We have a full language curriculum available (3 books that we published on the Balanta language) to our members, including 33 free videos. Next month we are opening our Dafana Institute language school in Bissau. https://www.balanta.org/news/introducing-alante-daniel-nabicamba. If you would like to contribute, 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: https://www.balanta.org/checkout/donate?donatePageId=5d83e1204470e31e2d773eae 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐌𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞: https://www.gofundme.com/f/n7qvz-balanta-b039urassa-2020-development-program?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet
-
-
Akwaaba
-
