Employees

"Sometimes, though, you just have to step out there and believe in something you can’t quite see."

 

Executive Team

O'Banion Gordon
"The Cultural Woodcraftsman"

O'Banion Gordon, born and raised in Camden, New Jersey. He was the youngest child of a family of 3 children. He has taken a life of extreme poverty which helped to manifest a well-deserved disenchantment with "the system" to become a well respected Artist/Craftsmen and Community Activist in the African American Community. O'Banion is a graduate of Rutgers University. He majored in African American Studies.

As a young child, O'Banion was presented with a few wood working tools by his mother and fell in love them. O'Banion recalls a white salesman going through "North Camden" neighborhood in the seventies, successfully selling families a framed picture of Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy and Jesus. He thought, "what could I make to sell to these same families that they would love and cherish in the same manner. He came up with the idea that every home in which a person of African Descent resides, should have the continent of AFRICA" The Motherland" displayed proudly.

O'Banion began producing this product for his people in the most rudimentary fashion. He sold them to neighbors, vending on the street corners of Camden, and then traveling with his family and friends to various cultural events throughout the country.

O'Banion's has worked through many of life's challenges that confront one who is committed to his beliefs to be self-employed and not just go with "flow." Just recently surviving heart surgery in 2003, he continues to produce new items that celebrate the culture of all people. The company, Woodcraft's By O'Banion and the beautiful handcrafted products are a testament to his love for his people and desire to help build a company that his sons and daughter and their children will have the opportunity to work for and own for years to come.

 

Marketing Team

Anthony Ray Phillips

Anthony Phillips, born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1958. That's right, OMAHA. He now resides in Camden, New Jersey by way of D.C., Willingboro, and Glassboro, NJ. Anthony's first ambition was to play professional football. The negative reality of that happening, set in at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University). He began to truly explore his next love, African History and The Life of Marcus Mosiah Garvey. While in college he read all he could in reference to our liberation struggle, pledged Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and began to help organize African-centered events to help raise the consciousness of other students and his personal friends.

Anthony graduated from Glassboro State College in 1983 with a degree in Business Administration. While holding down jobs with Acme Markets(12 yrs) & Glassboro State's College Bookstore he also created a business called Business Opportunities Through Marketing (BOTM). It was originally called Brothers on the Move. The mission of the business was to support and create a movement of Africans in America supporting their own businesses. The company never reached a level of profitability, but leveraged contracts with The Philadelphia Tribune, Georgie Woods Potato Chips, football great, Randall Cunningham and about 10 other small businesses to market their products and services.
He married his lovely wife, Chevalle in 1990 and they now have three children named Marcus, Kwame and Imani. Anthony decided his entrepreneurial spirit needed to take a back seat to insuring that the family was raised on solid ground with a full-time Mother. He put his College Degree to work and served the Delaware Valley in the Department of Community Relations for Oaktree/Oxford Health Plan, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Keystone Mercy Health Plan, and the African American Interdenominational Ministries for 7 years.

His entrepreneurial spirit never died and always beckoned his attention. Upon meeting and hearing a presentation by Our Ancestor Ken Bridges, Co-Founder, along with master strategist Al Wellington, of the MATAH Network in December 1998, Anthony joined the organization. He believed that the work and dreams of all of our Freedom Fighters could come to fruition through this vehicle called MATAH that embraced Knowledge of Self and the Re-Direction of Spending as the two key components that must be practiced 24/7, in order for Africans to reach True Freedom as a people. Through hard work, he positioned himself to become one of six group sales directors for the distribution network.
He also owns a consulting firm called ARP Consultants. The company has produced a curriculum of Life Skills Education. The program is marketed to workforce development organizations and helps all individuals seeking gainful employment to arm themselves with the tools needed to be successful in their quest.
 

Anthony says "Culture is the key ingredient that allows a group of people to properly determine the path that they must take spiritually, educationally, economically and politically, to insure the group’s survival. Woodcraft's By O'Banion wants to make a tremendous impact in winning the battle that is being waged for the African Mind."