Charlotte Hill O’Neal (aka Mama C aka Iya Osotunde Fasuyi) is an internationally known visual artist, musician, performance artist, ATR priestess, film maker, poet/writer of more than three decades experience.
She was born in Kansas City, KS in 1951 and has lived in Tanzania with her husband Pete O’Neal, founder and former Chairman of the Kansas City Chapter of the Black Panther Party and co-founder of the UNITED AFRICAN ALLIANCE COMMUNITY CENTER UAACC and the founder of Leaders of Tomorrow Children’s Home, since 1972.
In addition to her decades of community activism, Mama C is a mother of two children, Malcolm O’Neal and AnnWood ‘Stormy’ O’Neal and co-founder and Director of UAACC located outside of Arusha, Tanzania.
Her poetry and performing talents have been showcased on stage, television and radio in many cities in Africa and America during the annual UAACC HEAL THE COMMUNITY Tour.
Mama C went to Venezuela twice as a delegate to the 1st and 2nd EcoSocialist International gatherings hosted by celebrated ‘maroon’ communities in Veroes and the state of Yaracuy.
She was selected for the Poetry Africa tour in 2010 that took her to Cape Town; Zimbabwe; Malawi and Durban.
Mama C is the first African woman to be chosen for a two months Writers Residency in the Shanghai Writers Association Program in 2015 and she was a featured poet at the Hangzhou China Poetry Festival also in 2015.
She launched her first book of poetry, Warrior Woman of Peace, in 2008 and her 2nd poetry book, Life Slices, in 2016. Her latest book, HOMAGE, was published by the South African publishing house, AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES in 2021.
She is presently working on her memoirs and recently completed a film titled Nyatiti Medicine about a victim of obstetric fistula.
Mama C’s love of all things ‘art’ is documented in Mama C: Urban Warrior in the African Bush by Dr. Joanne Hershfield and she is also featured in the classic documentary about Pete O’Neal, A Panther in Africa by Aaron Matthews in addition to being featured in Legacy: Spirit of the Black Panthers by Taishi Thomas and Ni Wakati a documentary about east African hip hop pioneers by Michael Wanguhu.
Mama C plays nyatiti and obokano, traditional African eight string lyres from Kenya and kamalen ngoni, a 12 string traditional harp originating in Mali. She has four albums of original music and poetry produced at Peace Power Productions and ManduguDigital.
