By Olóyè Adéyẹlá Bennett My sweet mother, Queen Esther, gave birth to me 63 years ago, in August 1963, at Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau, The Bahamas. I’ve heard the story of my birth so many times that I could vividly see it in my third eye. Of Mammy’s seven children, I am the middle one, and the only one she named. Together with my Godmother, a British expat who worked with Mammy at the Guardian newspaper, Mammy named me after the Beautiful Rose of Sharon. “Sharon” never resonated...

By Olóyè Adéyẹlá Bennett Ìyalájé Ọbàtálá ni Ifè In the cosmological system of the ancient Yorùbá Empire in present day southwest Nigeria -- and now in the global Yorùbá dispersion -- Olódùmarè is the silent, unseen and ever-present Supreme One. Olódùmarè is the Author of Peace, Love and Bliss. Olódùmarè requires no worship. No praise. The Essence of Olódùmarè can only be experienced by Living with Divine Love. In Yorùbá, this quality is called Ìwà Pẹlẹ́, Divine Character. Olódùmarè is too...

In December 2025, Iyalaje Adeyela Bennett enlightened people of different faiths about Yoruba spiritual and cultural practices at the Interfaith Montgomery hybrid monthly meeting. People from Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Bahai faiths, as well as Yoruba practitioners, listened respectfully and engaged in dialogue about Chief Adeyela's message. Chief Iyalaje Adeyela Bennett is the author of Only the Strong Survive: A Womanist Journey . The anthology is a tribute to mythical and ordinary women...