Nana Kwasi Scott Douglas Morrow
- Writer
- Director
- Visual Effects
Nana Kwasi Scott Douglas Morrow is part of a husband and wife creative
team, known as the Nanas Morrow, with his wife Nanahemaa Akosua Brenda
Berg-Morrow. They are pro-Africa humanists and Pan-Africanists who have
had multifaceted careers as choreographers, filmmakers, educators,
scholars and human rights activists. Above all, they consider
themselves spiritual children of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and
have dedicated their lives to realizing his vision of the Beloved
Community, a calling they received and answered many years ago. As one
response to this calling, they founded and direct the traveling "Jazz
Dance Ministry for Racial Reconciliation, Peace and Healing," through
which they developed a framework for using the art form of jazz dance
within a workshop setting to break barriers, build bridges and create
community between the various peoples of the world. Recognized as
groundbreaking and transformational, this interactive approach to
peacemaking has been experienced in communities across the U.S. The
most recent manifestation of this calling is the stage presentation
"Realizing the Dream! One Community at a Time ~ A Journey into the
Heart of Humanity," which is being hailed as a seminal, non-traditional
pedagogical vehicle for inspiring individuals to contemplate
alternative visions and pathways by which racial reconciliation, peace
and healing can become possible in the 21st century. The presentation
is a full-evening length tapestry woven of live dance performance,
storytelling, poetry, music and lecture, and at its heart, the
screening of the Nanas Morrow's film, "Of One Blood: Returning Home to
Africa," which chronicles the historically unprecedented and wondrous
events of their holy pilgrimage to the Motherland, all with the sole
purpose of serving as a catalyst for exploration into the roles
individuals must play in moving humanity into harmony with Rev. Dr.
King's vision.
Enstooled (installed) into the Royal Family of Sekyere Kwamang Traditional Area, Asante Nation, Ghana, West Africa as Aboafuohene and Aboafuohemaa (special advisors) to the King and Queen Mother of Sekyere Kwamang Traditional Area in 1997, the Nanas Morrow are founders and Ministers-in-Chief of the New York City-based Embassy of Sekyere Kwamang Traditional Area, a traditional entity (as opposed to an establishment of the Ghanaian national government) which represents the interests of the people of Sekyere Kwamang to the American public.
The Nanas Morrow are recognized as authorities in the field of "higher education as a multicultural experience." They were named Ambassadors-in-Residence for a Culture of Peace at the Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, and for a decade (1991-2001), they served as Senior Faculty at the National Lilly Conference on College Teaching at Ohio's Miami Univ. They have lectured and taught widely at numerous universities, institutes and scholarly conferences, including California State Univ. System's Institute for Teachers and Scholars; St. Olaf College's Harambe Conference, Minnesota; the National Association for Multicultural Education; Univ. of New Orleans; Pace Univ., New York; Youngstown State Univ., Ohio; American Association of Higher Education; Univ. of the Virgin Islands; National Theatre of Ghana; New Jersey Institute of Technology; Virginia State Univ.; Ghana's Center for National Culture; the Association for the Study of Higher Education; Virginia Tech; Sarah Lawrence College, New York; Southern Conference on Afro-American Studies.
Recipients of numerous honors and awards, their artistic and scholarly endeavors in the fields of film, choreography, education, human rights and peacemaking have been nationally and internationally recognized by such organizations as the U.S. Education Department, Smithsonian Institution, Harvard University, Association for Childhood Education International and Amnesty International. Their documentary, "Of One Blood: Returning Home to Africa," had the honor of being the featured presentation in observance of the 1999 United Nations Day at the Queens Museum of Art, New York, the original site of the UN General Assembly. That same year it received its Canadian premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival, at which the Nanas Morrow also presented a lecture and dance performance in conjunction with screening. Also in 1999, the film received its Italian premiere at the Festival Internazionale di Videodanza Coreografo Elettronico and its Hungarian premiere at the Film Fest Budapest. A multi-award-winning film, it was further honored in 1999 when it was screened in the main event at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and was selected to be presented in a featured showcase of the Philadelphia International Film Festival -- a special two hour event which also included a lecture and performance by the Nanas Morrow.
The film poster the Nanas Morrow conceived, designed and created for "Of One Blood: Returning Home to Africa" was exhibited at the Place des Arts in Montreal, Canada in 1999 as part of an international exhibit on film posters as art. The poster is housed in the collections of numerous libraries and archives worldwide, including the McKissick Museum, Columbia, South Carolina; Fountainhead Tanz Theatre Archives, Berlin, Germany; German Dance Film Institute National Archive, Cologne, Germany; Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi, Republic of Ghana, West Africa.
The Nanas Morrow's current book-in-progress, "Answering the Call of the Motherland: A Daughter and Son Return Home to Africa," will provide an in-depth understanding of the Nanas Morrow's world view and approach to realizing Rev. Dr. King's vision of the Beloved Community. An excerpt was published in the magazine "Lifestyles: About Women of African Descent and Their World" and distributed worldwide.
In recognition of their life's work, the Nanas Morrow were honored with the 1st annual African Profiles USA Magazine's "Pan-African and Humanitarian Vision Award," during the 2001 Black History Month gala celebration in Harlem, New York.
Enstooled (installed) into the Royal Family of Sekyere Kwamang Traditional Area, Asante Nation, Ghana, West Africa as Aboafuohene and Aboafuohemaa (special advisors) to the King and Queen Mother of Sekyere Kwamang Traditional Area in 1997, the Nanas Morrow are founders and Ministers-in-Chief of the New York City-based Embassy of Sekyere Kwamang Traditional Area, a traditional entity (as opposed to an establishment of the Ghanaian national government) which represents the interests of the people of Sekyere Kwamang to the American public.
The Nanas Morrow are recognized as authorities in the field of "higher education as a multicultural experience." They were named Ambassadors-in-Residence for a Culture of Peace at the Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, and for a decade (1991-2001), they served as Senior Faculty at the National Lilly Conference on College Teaching at Ohio's Miami Univ. They have lectured and taught widely at numerous universities, institutes and scholarly conferences, including California State Univ. System's Institute for Teachers and Scholars; St. Olaf College's Harambe Conference, Minnesota; the National Association for Multicultural Education; Univ. of New Orleans; Pace Univ., New York; Youngstown State Univ., Ohio; American Association of Higher Education; Univ. of the Virgin Islands; National Theatre of Ghana; New Jersey Institute of Technology; Virginia State Univ.; Ghana's Center for National Culture; the Association for the Study of Higher Education; Virginia Tech; Sarah Lawrence College, New York; Southern Conference on Afro-American Studies.
Recipients of numerous honors and awards, their artistic and scholarly endeavors in the fields of film, choreography, education, human rights and peacemaking have been nationally and internationally recognized by such organizations as the U.S. Education Department, Smithsonian Institution, Harvard University, Association for Childhood Education International and Amnesty International. Their documentary, "Of One Blood: Returning Home to Africa," had the honor of being the featured presentation in observance of the 1999 United Nations Day at the Queens Museum of Art, New York, the original site of the UN General Assembly. That same year it received its Canadian premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival, at which the Nanas Morrow also presented a lecture and dance performance in conjunction with screening. Also in 1999, the film received its Italian premiere at the Festival Internazionale di Videodanza Coreografo Elettronico and its Hungarian premiere at the Film Fest Budapest. A multi-award-winning film, it was further honored in 1999 when it was screened in the main event at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and was selected to be presented in a featured showcase of the Philadelphia International Film Festival -- a special two hour event which also included a lecture and performance by the Nanas Morrow.
The film poster the Nanas Morrow conceived, designed and created for "Of One Blood: Returning Home to Africa" was exhibited at the Place des Arts in Montreal, Canada in 1999 as part of an international exhibit on film posters as art. The poster is housed in the collections of numerous libraries and archives worldwide, including the McKissick Museum, Columbia, South Carolina; Fountainhead Tanz Theatre Archives, Berlin, Germany; German Dance Film Institute National Archive, Cologne, Germany; Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi, Republic of Ghana, West Africa.
The Nanas Morrow's current book-in-progress, "Answering the Call of the Motherland: A Daughter and Son Return Home to Africa," will provide an in-depth understanding of the Nanas Morrow's world view and approach to realizing Rev. Dr. King's vision of the Beloved Community. An excerpt was published in the magazine "Lifestyles: About Women of African Descent and Their World" and distributed worldwide.
In recognition of their life's work, the Nanas Morrow were honored with the 1st annual African Profiles USA Magazine's "Pan-African and Humanitarian Vision Award," during the 2001 Black History Month gala celebration in Harlem, New York.