About Okeyo Jumal

Author of“Spiritual Shackles”

Author Jumal was born and raised in Pasadena California, a city set like a crown jewel in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains with the Arroyo Seco Creek running through. The unique setting aside, Pasadena, like most “Northern” cities, was void of Jim Crow “colored” signs, but racism was silently entrenched. Legitimized segregation or apartheid in America, was finally reversed in 1954, but was obviously too stubborn to crumble on its own, it needed some help. Caught up in the peoples and attitudes of these volatile times, Jumal was part of the eclectic mix of characters that would eventually makeup the pages of his first novel, Spiritual Shackles.

Jumal attended Pasadena City College, Cal State U. Los Angeles, Cal State U. San Bernardino and moved north to attend the University of California at Berkeley. He's attained his bachelor's degree in History and his master's degree in Educational Administration.

As an educator, he has taught in and coordinated Headstart programs, a job he states was the most rewarding assignment he's ever held as an educator. He's taught first thru sixth grades, middle and high school history classes, and has served as a high school vice principal. He's also taught classes on African histories, current and ancient, at several Colleges. Jumal spent a year traveling on the continent of Africa and later, as teacher/tutor for minors in the cast; he'd spend a year touring Europe with the musical-opera, “Carmen Jones”. He's also traveled extensively in South America and the Caribbean Islands.

In Spiritual Shackles, Jumal's travels and life experiences bleed onto the pages in vivid detail, not just in the powerful writing and the meticulous histories, but in the storytelling. It's the gritty griot style stories that bind the novel and grip tightly to the reader's imagination.

Jumal currently resides in Southern California with his wife, Phyllis. He enjoys jazz, officiating track and field, both teaching and playing chess, storytelling and traveling, where he's most recently returned from trips to Bahia, Brazil and Belize.

To schedule an interview or to request a review copy of Spiritual Shackles, please contact Okeyo Jumal at (909) 466-7639 or okeyojumal@aol.com