Meet Akuyoe Graham

We recently connected with Akuyoe Graham and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Akuyoe, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

From my meditation and prayer practices; from my yoga practice; from the youth that I mentor.

Without meditation, I literally feel as if I Am sleepwalking… meditation literally wakes me up. The youth I mentor are some of the most compassionate people that I know- incredibly forgiving of some of the most heinous crimes committed against them. One young girl, incarcerated on drug offenses; had been neglected and abandoned by her mother- only asked one thing of me- to make sure her mother was alright- to make sure her mother was not on the streets and that the mother had a place to call home. I did reach out to the mother- whom was on the streets battling addiction, and the motjher told me to tell her daughter to forget about her – (the mother)- and to get on with her life. The daughter, even after all the hurt and neglect, forgave the mother and just wanted to make sure her mother was seeking help… this young girl- (young woman now)- is extraordinary..

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I do many things. I Am a multidisciplinary artist originally from Ghana, West Africa. I act. I teach. I write. I mentor. I produce. I direct. The most valuable and important thing I do- is – love. I love. I Am a lover of Life and am deeply grateful to have this life and existence. I love what I get to do in this life of mine. I get to lead a group of artists as we mentor and teach teens and young adults through dynamic arts programs that are grounded in meditation practices. I get to perform- and make commercials and independent films. I’ve been doing all this for the past 30 years now. I Am an avid meditator- meditation anchors and grounds me- gives me the clarity, strength and sense of well being so I can thrive.

I Am in the upcoming film “The Angel,” based on a true story of a man that saves people from committing suicide; it’s independently produced and will be released this year. I Am also in the final stage of editing my own film, Spirit Awakening – from which my foundation, Spirit Awakening Foundation was born. The film Spirit Awakening, takes us on a journey of self-discovery as the main woman in the story confronts childhood abuse, and through memory and an unseen spirit is guided back to her sanity.

We are celebrating 30 years of the Spirit Awakening Foundation, this arts organization that trailblazed trauma informed arts programs for incarcerated youth; the 30th year celebration takes place on October 3rd, 2025 at the Skirball Cultural Center. Also happening this year, I Am being honored by the organization Turning Point in April at a private event for their donors.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. Fearlessness. Be fearless.
One of the most valuable areas of growth that I’ve experienced is- finally- being fearless. Make a decision and trust- and even if it doesn’t work out as hoped for- its okay- what matters is that a decision was made and you trusted yourself.

2. Self-Love
Love yourself. Support you. It’s okay if others don’t like you- or agree with you- or don’t like your decisions- so what? It’s your job to like and love you.

3. Integrity. Integrity matters and is the difference
Above all else- do not compromise your integrity.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

The matter of integrity. We work with artists; we have created schedules for our artists that gives them freedom to have subs and to be able to pursue other creative endeavors; that being said- our model is vulnerable and can be taken advantage of; so we are having to adjust and put certain requirements in place… We are now asking for more of a lead time when an artist wants time off; we are doing more reviews of work output and including more associates in those reviews.

I’ve had to grow in my ability to give honest feedback without worrying about being liked; Also, we must let those go that abuse the privileges; – we’ve given too many passes and will now release patterns of behavior that do not serve the mission of our organization.

(Thank you so much for the opportunity to share. GRATEFUL).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.spiritawakening.org; www.akuyoe.com
• Instagram: @akuyoegraham; @thespiritawakening
• Facebook: Akuyoe Graham; Spirit Awakening Foundation
• Linkedin: Akuyoe Graham; Spirit Awakening
• Twitter: @akuyoegraham

Image Credits

Image Credit: Spirit Awakening Foundation