Our History 

Spearitwurx emerged from the union of two lives with a common vision: Liberate the hearts and minds of our youth so they can stand in their greatness and achieve.

In 2001, Brothas Keeper was created by Sizwe Andrews-Abakah and Douglas Corbin as an independent support group for young men who passed through Leadership
Excellence's Camp Akili program.

In 2004, Sankofa Sistahs was created by Mizan Alkebulan-Abakah as an independent support group for young girls who attended Roots of Unique Awareness School of Performing Arts. 

Later that same year,  Sizwe and MIzan officially created SPEARITWURX and expanded their works across the Bay Area to include camps, retreats and community events such as the 2006 "Hood Carnival" in West Oakland.

Mizan and Sizwe opened Spearitwurx Academy to continue the legacy of independent African-centered primary education in 2006 set forth by years of collaborative service at Luxor Academy and Roots of Unique Awareness School of the Performing Arts. Spearitwurx Academy educated 22 amazing youth in pre-K through 4th grade in all foundational subjects, as well as art, French, music and drumming, and community awareness projects.

In 2009, Spearitwurx expanded its direct-service approach to provide innovative training and consultations to agencies and individuals who support youth development. As such, we have completed numerous trainings on such topics as crisis intervention, inter-generational trauma, classroom management and many unifying team trainings.

SPEARITWURX is now a comprehensive organization that has served 1000's of youth and provided innovative consulting and training for the hundreds people who directly serve youth.

Our Connections

SPEARITWURX has provided support services to the students and staff at:

• Asa Academy,
  
• Skyline High School,
  
• Lowell Middle School, 
  
• Lakeview Elementary,
  
• Dewey High School, 
  
• Village Academy,
  
• Cole Middle School,
  
• Manzanita Elementary,
  
• Luxor Academy,
  
• The School of Social Justice and Community Development; and
  
• Roots of Unique Awareness School of the Performing Arts.

SPEARITWURX has also worked with many non-profit and community-based organizations such as:

• Leadership Excellence,
  
• Jubilee West,
  
• Youth Together,
  
• Ujima Adult & Family Services, 
  
• Umoja Weekend,
  
• ACCESS Saturday Academy,
  
• History through Hip Hop,
  
• Oakland Unified School District/Oakland SUCCESS,
  
•  East Side Arts Alliance.

Our Two-fold Mission:

To develop our youth’s ability to actively contribute to the transformation of their families, as well as to the creation of healthy and sustainable communities in which they live.

To equip youth development professionals with the culturally-relevant tools in order to successfully engage, motivate and empower our youth toward health and wellness.

Our Principles

Guided by a genuine love for humanity, SPEARITWURX operates by these four principles:    

• Integrity
• Passion
• Understanding
• Impeccable Service

We also understand the African philosophy of Ujima which means "collective work and responsibility". In this vain, the proverb " it takes a village to raise a child" resonates  throughout  our training and consulting work: we share our Best Practices with other youth development professionals in order empower, motivate and elevate us all.