Yah’Kwame Kariuki Nii Ayi Kushi Amaa Blackwell, professionally known as Yahu Blackwell, has been crowned as “Osu Noryaa Mantse” — the Development King At Large — for the Osu Monarchy by HRM Nortse Nii Nortey Owuo IV (Paramount Stool). The newly crowned monarch and chieftain will be in charge of all Osu Empire development matters.
Blackwell, who was reared in Baltimore, Maryland (USA), is a member of the “400-year diaspora” but has direct ancestors from the Gadangme, The Ashanti (Osu Ashanti), Mali, Anjiru, and Senegal Tribes. The “Ashanti’s” live north of Accra, including “Osu” on the coast.
Many slaves from Ashanti and Osu were transported to coastal cities in order to join slave ships bound for the Americas. After 400 years, a chief who is descended from slaves has emerged.
Yahu Blackwell is now widely and historically regarded as the first “Osu Chieftain and Monarch” of the African Diaspora.

The “Blackwell” family heritage began when the ship “Doddington” landed at Yorktown (VA) in 1735. Jack (Odofo) of the Ashanti Tribe (West Africa) and Tabitha from the West African Republic of Senegal arrived on that ship.
The ship commander sold Tabitha and her daughter to James Glen Blackwell, a plantation owner. Jack Odofo married Tabitha, and they acquired the Blackwell name from the plantation owner.

Hamit Blackwell, born in 1839, contributed to the family’s growth by having 36 children from two marriages. The Blackwells grew in Virginia, Washington, DC, and Maryland over time.

Yahu Blackwell is a WBC and WBA-ranked professional boxing champion. According to sources, Blackwell will fight again on October 27, 2023. With a net worth of $10 million, the chieftain is also a serial entrepreneur who invests in franchises.
He is the proprietor of;
- Rita’s Italian Ice
- Auntie Anne’s Pretzels
- Jamba Juice…..With multiple locations in the Baltimore, Maryland area.
The final stages of coronation are in motion and projects have already begun for the benefit of the Osu people. This is a historical moment, where the African soil reconnects with its missing limbs, the African diaspora.


