Shrines of the Black Madonna of the
Pan-African Orthodox Christian Church
Our History and Mission
The Shrines of the Black Madonna of the
Pan-African Orthodox Christian Church
This legacy of dynamic youth programming extends far into the legacy of the church. In 1971, Alkebu-Lan Academy began with a mission to prepare Black youth for leadership in the Pan African World Community. It was a holistic, self-affirming program that engaged the youth in: Sacramental worship experiences, systematic socialization for communal values, harmonious integrated development of the mind, body and spirit (aka The Science of KUA), moral and faith development, and the acquisition of basic skills as preparation for effective and creative inclusion in the emerging technological and information era.
The Black Christian Nationalist movement, program and position were developed by Rev. Albert B. Cleage Jr. at the Shrine of the Black Madonna in Detroit, MI over a period of years, and received national attention in the mid 1960’s through the columns of The Illustrated News, a monthly publication. From the very beginning the Shrine offered a realistic analysis of the way society functions and began to define a position for black people in terms of the continuing power struggle in which we are engaged.
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