Mama Imani Humphrey made her transition today on her birthday, exactly 84 years after she was born on March 8, 1932. Sitting by her side, holding her hand were her 4 children and two of her 14 grandchildren.
Mama Imani was an influential activist educator known through her work as a teacher and advocate for African American and African Diaspora women, children and communities. Born in Detroit, she was the middle daughter of five girls born to working class parents who moved to Inkster, a black enclave outside of the city. At Inkster High School she met her life partner and husband, Richard Adisa Humphrey Jr. She became a teacher, he became a community organizer and director of youth programs for the City of Detroit in the administration of Detroit’s first black mayor, Coleman Young.
As a public school teacher of English and literature, she wrote the first curriculum for African American literature in the Detroit school system. A pioneer in the African Centered Education Movement, she developed “The Affirmative Learning Method” a pedagogical theory and practice for teaching through honoring the culture, identity and genius of black children. She was a tireless worker for building independent black institutions. She chaired the board of Ujima School an afterschool and Saturday program blocks from the 1967 Detroit uprising and founded by her son Michael Pili Simanga and other activists. From her experience in the public school system and in community based education programs she created Aisha Shule (KiSwahili for School of Life) and the W.E.B. DuBois Preparatory
Academy. Over a 40 year period, several thousand students attended K-12 in those institutions as both private and independent charter schools. She was also a teacher of teachers, including her oldest daughter, Holly Hasina Murphy who worked closely with her in building affirmative schools and movement. As a mentor to numerous teachers, administrators and education activists, Mama Imani worked tirelessly to expand the ranks of activist-educators dedicated to excellence in African American education, culture and empowerment. For 5 decades, together with her older sister, Malkia Brantuo and several other activist women including Enowoyi Hill and Gloria Aneb House, they sought to influence the transformation of education for Detroit’s black children.
An advocate of black culture and arts, she cultivated countless young artists including her daughter, singer-songwriter Leesa Richards and independent scholars like her eldest son, Mosi Humphrey. The institutions she created often housed conferences, community meetings and celebrations and were hubs of community engagement and empowerment. Mama Imani received a Bachelor’s of Art from the University of Detroit and a Masters of Arts from Wayne State University. She was a founder of Black Women Aware and active in the anti-apartheid movement, African Liberation Day, the National and Michigan Black Political Assemblies, the Black Women’s United Front, the Council of Independent Black Institutions, the Detroit Council of Elders and numerous community and national organizations. She was a dedicated member of Fellowship Chapel in Detroit and served for many years as a worship leader. Over the course of her career, Mama Imani Humphrey taught in the Detroit Public Schools, Wayne County Community College and Wayne State University and also consulted on education and institutional development.
She was a mother of our movement and the mother of 4 children, two daughters and two sons. She had 14 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, dozens of nieces, nephews and countless daughters and sons who came to eat and learn at her table. The family is establishing an archive of her work and a foundation to continue her legacy and ensure that our children receive an education that reflects their innate giftedness, culture, identity and intelligence.
We, here family are deeply appreciative of all of the expressions of love and compassion. We invite you to post photos, thoughts, stories about this remarkable woman.
The funeral service will be held at Fellowship Chapel, 7707 Outer Dr W, Detroit, on Saturday, March, 19, at 11 a.m.
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