Ernie Hudson Jr •
Togbui Kpogo Afenya I •
Akuma Nwokorie
DEPUTY REGENT • Management Training Professional • PUBLIC SPEAKER
My professional career focuses on identifying and nurturing African Traditional & American corporate management leadership, through a framework of Talent Management training, within the traditional Ewe & Igbo Cultures, Beverage, Medical, and Fitness categories. This includes governance for Ewe & Igbo Traditional leaders; presentation, coaching, and public speaking skills for Executive & Management Leadership; strategy, implementation, and performance management for Succession & Manager-in-Training; and program design for New-Hire Onboarding & Immersion.I am a life-time member of American Mensa, and am active in various charitable activities. I continue to lecturer regularly in both the USA and West Africa. I have earned a 5th Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate, and enjoy 3 children and 3 grandchildren. Having found Igbo and Ewe DNA cousins in Nigeria and Ghana, I continue to assist others in connecting and reconciling with their ancestral African DNA families.
FILM & MEDIA CREDITS
PRODUCER
“The Karma Club” 2016 (Indie) Associate Producer
"Double Down" 2006 (Indie) Co-ProducerFILM
"The Karma Club" 2016 (Indie, Dir: Kevin Young) Principal
"Double Down" 2006 (Indie) Principal
"Our Lips are Sealed" 2001 Dir: Craig Shapiro Prod: Tapestry Films Principal
“Swordfish” (2000) (Warner Bros.) Dir: Dominic Sena Prod: Joel Silver Supporting
"The Wrecking Crew" 2000 (Lion’s Gate) Principal
"Urban Menace" 1999 (Lion’s Gate) Principal
“Hijacked” 1999 Royal Oaks Entertainment Supporting
"Corrupt" 1999 (Lion’s Gate) Principal
"Candyman: Day of the Dead" 1998 (Indie) Supporting
“Out on My Feet (w/Robt Deniro & Mark Wahlberg) Dir: Barry Primus/Tribeca
"Never Too Big" 1997 (Cinetel / HBO) SupportingSERIES REGULAR
"Oz" 1999 - 2000 (HBO) Levinson-Fontana / HBO Reoccurring Guest StarTELEVISION
“JAG” 2002 (CBS) Guest Star
"The Norm Show" 2000 (ABC) Guest Star
"Touched by an Angel" 2000 (CBS) Guest Star
“Arliss” 1999 (HBO) Guest Star
"The Practice" 1999 (ABC) David E. Kelly / ABC Guest Star
“Martial Law” 1998 (CBS) Guest Star
"Soldier of Fortune" 1998 (CBS) Bruckheimer-Rysher / Synd. Guest Star
"TJ Hooker" 1984 (ABC) Guest StarTHEATER
The Great White Hope Jack Johnson Chabot College
Ceremonies in Dark Old Men Blue Haven Chabot Theatre
West Side Story Riff Inner City Cultural Center
Guys and Dolls Nathan Detroit Inner City Cultural Center
The Me Nobody Knows Ensemble Inner City Cultural CenterVOICE OVER
BMW 2004
Johnson & Johnson 2002
Squirt Soda 2000BOOKS
"Freestyle Prophecies & Sacred Ciphers" 2016 (Self Published)
“1001 Ways to Rock Your Life” Compilation w/Craig Duswalt
Acting portrayal of hamid khan, from HBO's "OZ"
Interview as a fitness professional
Text
Official trailer of "The Karma Club"/ actor & Assoc. producer
About
Togbui Kpogo Afenya I, Deputy to the Regent of, and Chief of Youth in the Frankadua Regency of Eastern Region, Ghana, was born Earnest L. Hudson, Jr. in Michigan, USA, and has worked as a professional actor/producer under the name Ernie Hudson, Jr. He is the son of actor Ernie Hudson & Dr. Jeannie L. Hudson, Ph.D., lectures on African DNA Connections, Corporate Leadership, and Talent Management. He currently serves as President of the Akrobortu Center, a non-profit which facilitates familial reunification between African DNA carriers and their Continental DNA matches.
Togbui’s earliest creative influence was Detroit’s famed “Concept East,” of which his father was a contributing playwright/actor. Togbui’s own formal training began at Los Angeles’ InnerCity Cultural Center (ICCC), as a founding participant in their Children’s Repertory Company. As a young adult, he was a featured performer in the 1984 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremonies, then continued to pursue performance excellence by earning the 1989 National Collegiate Gold Medal Champion title in Oral Forensics, attaining the rank of 5th Degree Black Belt, and obtaining a M.Sc. in Exercise Science. Today, Togbui continues to professionally perform and produce, having expanded his skills-set as a television series regular on HBO’s, “OZ,” releasing the contemplative book, “Freestyle Prophecies & Sacred Ciphers,” producing the feature film, “The Karma Club,” and contributing as an author in Craig Duswalt’s 2021 released “1001 Ways to Rock Your Life.” His 15+ year corporate career in Talent Management has allowed him to perfect his skills of organizational leadership and corporate training.Inspired by his mother’s work as an African Studies Professor at Cal State Long Beach under Dr. Maulana Karenga, Togbui began a serious study of genealogy when members of his family matched DNA with specific individuals from Nigeria and Ghana who most likely shared a common Ancestor enslaved during Europe’s colonization of the African Continent. As much of the world’s common social perception is that it would be near-impossible to find such distant family, or to learn anything specific about one’s Continental origins beyond cultural generalities, Togbui immediately recognized the opportunity to shatter a social myth, and committed to reconnecting, reconciling, and reuniting with as many of his Continental DNA matched families as possible. In 2021, Togbui made an Ancestral Return to Ghana, meeting with 3 branches of his paternal DNA tree. Arriving in Ghana as Earnest, his Ewe family performed traditional divination on his behalf and learned that he was the reincarnation of his Ancestral Great Grandfather, Regent Kpogo Akrobortu I of Frankadua, Eastern Region Ghana. The current Regent of Frankadua, Nana Asempa Akrobortu, together with the Queen Mother of Frankadua, and the Paramount Chief of Akwamu, H.R.H. Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III, affirmed Earnest as “Kpogo Afenya I,” and honored him by bestowing the title “Togbui” (Grandpa or King) upon him. Today, Togbui operates the non-profit Akrobortu Project to revitalize the town of Frankadua, Ghana, and to educate about DNA testing, particularly among those who carry African DNA.Togbui is a Lifetime Member of the high I.Q. group American Mensa, active in various charitable organizations, and continues to lecture & train corporate executives. He currently resides in New York.
