Adaku Utah | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1984 (age 39–40) Lagos, Nigeria |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Occupation | Healer |
| Known for | Intuitive healing, Social change |
| Awards | Chicago Foundation for Women’s Jessica Eve Patt Award,2012 Center for Whole Communities Whole Thinking Fellowship Award. |
| Website | adakuutah |
Adaku Utah // (born 1984)[1] is a Nigerian sixth-generation Igbo traditional healer, speaker, writer and artist whose work focuses on gender, reproductive, race, youth and healing justice Civil rights movements for social change.[2] She is the cofounder of Harriet's Apothecary, an alternative healing community,[3] and a 2015 Create Change Fellow.[4]
Adaku Utah was born in 1991 in Lagos with father from Abia State, and mother from Imo State, both from southeastern Nigeria.[5] Utah is descendant of herbalists, and farmers who dealt in herbal treatments and ancient care, she was chronically ill as a child growing up and had to be treated with herbal medicine to better outcomes over orthodox medicines.[1] Utah received a BSc in Biotechnology and Psychology from Pennsylvania State University.[6]
As an activist, she has worked with organizations including the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, Black Lives Matter, Black LGBTQI+ Migrant Project, The Movement for Black Lives, Yale University, Planned Parenthood, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, Black Women's Blueprint, and the Audre Lorde Project.[7] As a performance artist, she had worked with Decadancetheatre[8] and founded Soular bliss.[9] Utah, who refers to herself as a queer,[2] lives in Brooklyn, New York.[10]