Our Network

Cole Bridgeforth

Elder

Ron Cole Bridgeforth, human rights activist, has been involved in social justice, literacy, and mentorship initiatives throughout the last sixty years. His work took him to Mississippi, the Bay Area, and the Midwest. As a SNCC Field Secretary in the 1960s during the struggle for Civil Rights, he was a Project Director, organizer and educator in Mississippi as well as San Francisco. As a community college counselor and educator in Michigan, he organized student development and community education programs focusing on Africa American history and culture. He continues as an educator and advocate for social justice with the Civil Rights Movement Archive, where he facilitates intergenerational explorations of social justice and human rights issues that confront us today. In Oakland, Baba Cole has served as a Mentor and Board Member with the Alameda County Court, Crossroads Mentoring Program. He continues to serve with the Brotherhood of Elders Network, on the Leadership Council, and on the Education Committee. He remains committed to supporting the next generation of leaders.

Mosheh Milon, Sr.

Artist in Residence

Baba Mosheh Milon, Sr. is known as a master drummer, percussionist, folklorist and drum maker with over 50 years of experience. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Mosheh demonstrated a natural inclination towards music even though he was not born into a family of musicians. He began playing drums at age 6 shortly after watching professional drummers perform at Daniel Haile Williams Elementary School in Chicago. He continued playing drums each year in school and in a host of neighborhood bands. Following graduating high school from Paul Laurence Dumbar (1972), Mosheh began his life as a professional drummer and craftsman making, maintaining and repairing all types of drums (1972-present). He became a member of the Sun Drummer Company (1972-84) in Chicago and seized the opportunity to become a drummer for the Darlene Blackburn Dance Company (DBDC) (1972-80) in Chicago. It was with the DBDC that he traveled to Lagos Nigeria, West Africa to perform at “Festac” (1977) the International Arts & Cultural Festival of the Diasporas. In 1974 Mosheh Co-Founded the Muntu Dance Theatre where he was also the Music Director until 1984. He studied Music Theory and Composition at Malcolm X College (1973-74) and Kennedy King College (1975-76). Mosheh also drummed for Katherine Dunham’s African American Dance Company (1978-79) at Southern Illionis Unveristy in East St. Louis, Illinois under the direction of Mortham from Senegal, West Africa. He studied African Arts, Culture & Drumming (1986-2003) with the West African Jali Ba’s by traveling there yearly. Because of the frequency of his visits he built a compound in Talinding Kujang The Gambia in West Africa (1995) to immerse in the culture and to contribute to the improvement of the community. The mid 80’s brought about some changes including a move to California were he accepted a contract to train the Mory Nimba African Dance Company (1984-85) and trained drumming to their companies musicians to perform at the 1984 Olympics and beyond in Los Angeles. The next stop was the Bay Area which came with many more contracts such as The Learning Center (1985-87) in Marin where Mosheh taught Montessori Drum Basics & Counting to preschoolers and at risk youth. During the same period he facilitated African Drum Workshops at the Concepts Cultural Gallery (1985-87) in Oakland and drummed with Dimension Dance Theatre (1985-88) at Alice Arts Center in Oakland under Deborah Vaughn, Artistic Director as a teacher and drummer. Then he coordinated drum classes for the City of Oakland, Parks & Recreation Center’s, Cultural Enrichment After-School Program (1986-88) in Oakland. Mosheh has worked with Piedmont Middle School as a Drum instructor (1998-2002), Chabot Middle School (2002-2005), and Mountain View School of Music (2003-07). He has and continues to coordinate and perform educational and music based presentations for school age children throughout the Bay Area.

Co-founders

Founding Babas of the Brotherhood:

Leadership Council

Cole Bridgeforth

Ron Shaw

Jason Seals

Abner Boles

Rodney Brooks

Kweli Tutashinda

Howard Pinderhughes

Staff

Greg Hodge

Terrance Holliday

King David L. Walker, Jr.

Olafemi B. Akintunde

Marc Anthony Robinson

Chris Darby

Consultants

Quinton Sankofa

Kevin Hill

Stephanie Daniels

Randy Seriguchi Jr.

Todd Cooley

Kevin Butler

Mosheh Milon, Sr.

Committees

Politics

Education

Health & Education

Events

Emergency Preparedness

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