JPS welcomes Ebony “Es” Webster and Iya Adetoyesi Adebanjo aka “Mama Nia” as our Ritualists in Residence.

Biography: Iya Adetoyesi Adebanjo aka “Mama Nia” is the daughter of Ronald [Iba aiye]and Elmira and the mother of Heather and Paul. Raised on Connecticut saltwater air, concrete stairs, crab cakes and Campbell's pork and beans, Iya Ade is a gifted healer, story weaver and cultural alchemist, as well as the co-author and producer of the SpiritHouse Inc original production “Collective Sun-Reshape the Mo[u]rning.” She is a practical nurse who specialized in pediatric and psychiatric nursing, but found a much stronger calling working with Black youth and their families strengthening and amplifying the power that exists in their bones. Read more about Iya here.

Biography: Ebony Monae Webster has been going as Es these days. Es is an Afro Caribbean; all encompassing, all embracing, all inclusive, womb being, belonging to first herself as God and then God themselves. Ebony is an embodied performance artist called to guide the ascension of the collective consciousness into the new paradigm through: artistic expression that explores the body as a portal, black liberation, afro-futurism, multidimensional spirituality, memory as a healing technology; by being quiet and being loud. Read more about Es here.