Edafe Blackmon / Biography

Edafe pronounced (AY-dah-fay) means "rich man" in the Uhrobo language. Edafe's father, a Nigerian economist, his mother, an educator from Mississippi and his siblings moved to Nigeria when he was barely a year old. When he was seven, his parents separated and he moved back to America to live in his mother's hometown of Meridian, Mississippi.Moving from Nigeria to Mississipi was quite a culture shock for young Edafe. To fit in, he quickly learned the American accent by imitating his mother's speech patterns. It was in Mississippi at St. Patricks elementary that he would play his first role as Aaron, Moses' sidekick in the school play. He had one line: "Moses, the people are worshipping a golden calf!". Edafe wanted to play Moses but the prospect of the upstart African boy playing Moses was too much for the nuns at St. Patricks.His parents later reconciled and the family moved back to Nigeria where he would attend an English styled boarding school in the oil rich Delta State. Edafe would return to the United States during his final years of high school where he attended The Piney Woods Country Life School, one of four black boarding schools in the United States. Prior to that he spent a semester at a public school where he was amazed to find students didn't wear uniforms, drove cars and even had jobs.After attending Morehouse College, Edafe boarded a greyhound bus with three hundred dollars in his pocket and headed to Los Angeles and within two months landed his first role on A Different World after famed dancer and choreographer Debbie Allen discovered him in a black history parade. While playing that role Jada Pinkett Smith, recognizing his talent, introduced him to her agent. Edafe would go on to star in the classic romantic comedy For Your Love for four seasons.Edafe then decided to reinvent himself, penetrating the world to see what he could discover. He is an avid reader and student of mythology, cinema, photography, history, meditation and Kundalini Yoga.