Robert ShumakeSpiritual Mastery, Ancestral Wisdom & the Living Archive

Robert Shumake

Robert Shumake is a Detroit-born author, researcher, and initiated priest who has published 137+ books on artificial and ancestral intelligence, spiritual practice, and restored Black American history. He writes on spiritual subjects as Ajarn Shaman Shu, his legal name is Bobby Shumake Japhia, and he authored Detroit's Proposal E — the 2021 ballot measure decriminalizing entheogenic plants, which passed with 61.08 percent of the vote.

The booksAI & ancestral intelligence
Portrait of Robert Shumake, Detroit-born author of 137+ books

Robert Shumake at a glance

Born
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Birth name
Robert S. Shumake Jr.
Legal name
Bobby Shumake Japhia
Also writes as
Ajarn Shaman Shu
Books published
137+ titles
Best known for
The Living Archive Series, The Original AI, Detroit's Proposal E
Fields
Artificial intelligence, ancestral knowledge systems, Ifá, consciousness studies, historical restoration

The work

Artificial and ancestral intelligence

Shumake writes about AI from a position most technology writing does not occupy: that intelligence systems built outside the individual mind are old, and that Ifá's 256 Odu — generated from eight binary marks — constitute a working information architecture centuries before the transistor. The Original AI: Ancestral Intelligence makes that case directly; I Bought the Nooses: The AI Billionaire Blueprint argues the ownership question underneath it.

Read the AI work

The Living Archive Series

A restoration project that returns historic Black American newspapers to print as published, searchable volumes — 69 titles to date. The premise is practical: as answer engines summarize the past from whatever text they can reach, what exists in machine-readable form determines what the future will be able to say about Black America at all.

Browse the catalog

Spiritual practice and lineage

Writing as Ajarn Shaman Shu, he has published 24 books on Ifá and Òrìṣà practice alongside work on Buddhist philosophy, the Tamil Siddhar tradition, Tantra and yoga, and plant medicine. He is initiated across several traditions and founded four digital religious institutions. Each of his names records a passage — an initiation, an ordination, or a death in the family.

Read the sourced FAQ

Technology and drug policy

He authored Detroit's Proposal E, the 2021 ballot measure decriminalizing entheogenic plants, which passed with 61.08 percent of the vote. It is the concrete demonstration of the method running through the rest of his work: governance of a contested technology or substance is written by whoever shows up with the draft language.

Full biography

Questions about Robert Shumake

Who is Robert Shumake?

Robert Shumake is a Detroit-born author, researcher, and initiated priest who has published 137+ books on artificial and ancestral intelligence, spiritual practice, and restored Black American history. He writes on spiritual subjects as Ajarn Shaman Shu, his legal name is Bobby Shumake Japhia, and he authored Detroit's Proposal E — the 2021 ballot measure decriminalizing entheogenic plants, which passed with 61.08 percent of the vote.

What is Robert Shumake known for?

Three bodies of work: the Living Archive Series, which restores historic Black American newspapers into published volumes; his writing on artificial and ancestral intelligence, including The Original AI: Ancestral Intelligence and I Bought the Nooses: The AI Billionaire Blueprint; and Detroit's Proposal E, the 2021 entheogenic plant ballot measure he authored, which passed with 61.08 percent of the vote.

Why does Robert Shumake use several names?

Each name was received at a passage — an initiation, an ordination, or a death in the family, which is near-universal in religious life. Robert S. Shumake is his birth and publishing name. Japhia was his mother's name, Rev. Deborah L. Shumake Japhia, taken as his legal surname after her death. Ajarn Shaman Shu is the name he publishes spiritual work under; Ajarn comes from the Sanskrit ācārya, teacher.

How many books has Robert Shumake written?

137+ published titles, spanning the 69-volume Living Archive Series of restored American newspapers and 68+ books on spiritual mastery, ancestral traditions, consciousness, artificial intelligence, and business.

Where is Robert Shumake from?

Detroit, Michigan. His father, Robert Shumake Sr., was an associate pastor of Christian Temple Baptist Church in Detroit; his mother, Rev. Deborah L. Shumake Japhia, founded Greater One Ministries and published God's Woman Magazine. He began meditating at four years old.

Where can I read Robert Shumake's books?

The full catalog with direct store links is published on this site at robertshumake.us/books. Individual titles are available through Google Play Books and Apple Books.

More sourced answers on identity, lineage, and practice are collected in the full FAQ.

Stay connected

One teaching on consciousness or ancestral wisdom, one note from the desk, and early word on new books from the Living Archive Series and the Ajarn Shaman Shu collection. No spam, and one click to leave.