Description

Video Replay: Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé Kambon Interviews Baba Cashawn Myers on The Black Sustainability Summit at KASI

with Baba Cashawn & Mama Shevon Myers (HABESHA / KASI)

Recorded: Saturday, September 6, 2025
Hosted by: Abibitumi • Location: Volta Region, Ghana (KASI)

Overview

A heart-level, praxis-focused conversation on repatriation that centers brotherhood, family, and functional unity. Cashawn and Mama Shevon trace the path from HABESHA (founded 2002, Atlanta) to the Kweku Andoh Sustainability Institute (KASI, opened 2022)—an off-grid eco-resort + research/training campus giving Kmtyw ‘Black People’ a soft landing, safe space, and orientation for life in Ghana. It’s demonstration over conversation—replicable systems for housing, power, water, food, training, and community.

Key Moments & Insights

• Brotherhood & family: The work deepens when families grow with it.

• Village to village: Georgia roots → Ghana village ethos; continuity of Black love and duty.

• From HABESHA to KASI: 20+ years of programs culminating in a living lab in Volta.

• Design intelligence: Octagonal hubs, ecodomes with thatch, bamboo pavilion, symbol-rich planning (Adinkra, frequency forms), solstice alignment, airflow from walking the land before building.

• Circular & off-grid: ~40kW solar; biogas → cooking fuel + liquid fertilizer; waterworks; 500+ fruit trees.

• Hands-on pedagogy: Eco-blocks (KNUST press), masonry labs, plant-based cuisine & medicinal tinctures, solar & bamboo courses—scalable from campus to backyard.

• Healing spaces for Kmtyw ‘Black People’: Clear boundaries, Abibitumi ‘Black Power’ and Abibifahodie ‘Black Liberation’ as operating ethics.

• Replication > pedestal: KASI as proof-of-concept others can copy—scale up/down and keep the ethics intact.

Black Sustainability Summit 2025 @ KASI

Dates: October 18–19, 2025 • Theme: Traditional wisdom meets modern application (Hi-TEK)

• Why KASI: Aligns with Jojo May Fest (KASI’s nature celebration) and the Summit’s 10-year milestone.

• Who’s coming: ~60–65 builders across the global Kmtyw diaspora.

• What happens: Practicums (eco-building, solar, agroforestry, water, plant medicine), tours (farms, renewables, markets, partners), community protocols (language, elders, reciprocity).

• Aftercare: Black Sustainability Network houses, meetups, skill directories, joint purchasing, and a bias toward 90-day pilots.

How to Engage

1. Use the soft-landing roadmap (docs, SIM/ID, banking, transport, health, safety).

2. Pick a pilot (biogas 55-gal scale, eco-blocks, rain/greywater, medicinal garden, bamboo joinery).

3. Join the Network for year-round support and accountability.

4. Build with family so children normalize the work.

5. Measure what matters (local hires, kWh generated, acres restored, households served).

Speakers

• Cashawn Myers — Executive Director, HABESHA, Inc.; Co-founder, KASI.

• Mama Shevon Myers — Culinary & wellness lead at KASI; plant-based cuisine trainer; co-architect of campus operations.

Chapter Markers (add timestamps as needed)

Brotherhood & families • Georgia → Ghana • HABESHA → KASI timeline • Site design & symbols • Off-grid stack • Hands-on courses • Summit 2025 • Replication & aftercare • Q&A • Closing charge: walk into the storm