The Koolzeum Archives
Virtual Tour Shop the Archive
Cleveland 'Uhuru-Sasa' Brown holding the gold locomotive trophy before the Kool & The Gang gold-records wall

The soundtrack of a culture, kept whole.

The Koolzeum Archives is an extension of Cleveland Uhuru-Sasa Brown. The sentiments & opinions expressed here are mine and they do not reflect any person or company other than me. I don’t need partners, approval, permission, or endorsements from anyone to express my life’s work and my personal mission. It has been consistent for seven decades.

From the Koolzeum Archives

The awards & honors.

The gold Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award locomotive trophy

Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award

Presented to Cleveland “Uhuru-Sasa” Brown & Koolzeum, LLC — Kool & The Gang’s Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award for Sustained Excellence.

National Recording Registry — Celebration by Kool & The Gang, Class of 2020

National Recording Registry — “Celebration”

Kool & The Gang’s 1980 single, inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry, Class of 2020.

Cleveland Brown at the Kool & The Gang star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Ronald Khalis Bell Thanks Cleveland Brown & Koolzeum

While receiving the Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award — at Kool & The Gang’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Ronald Bell Thanks Koolzeum at Hollywood Star On Walk Of Fame

Ronald Bell Thanks Koolzeum at the Walk of Fame
The Grammy Museum Experience display of the 1969 Kool & The Gang stained glass

Kool & The Gang at the Grammy Museum Experience

The 1969 stained glass on display at the Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey.

In Loving Memory

Dedicated to the ones who built it.

Ronald 'Khalis' Bell performing on saxophone Ronald Bell with his saxophone Ronald 'Khalis' Bell on tenor saxophone, in bandana, on stage

Ronald Bell

Brother Khalis Bayyan

Koolzeum, LLC, The Koolzeum Archives & koolzeum.com (uhuru-sasa.com) will forever be dedicated to Mr. Ronald Bell — Brother Khalis Bayyan. My life’s work has been a clear reflection of Bell’s life’s work since 1969. His friendship, brotherhood, and consistent reference to me as his co-pilot will continue to define me, as it has for over five decades.

The acronym I grew up considering before important decisions was WWKD? — it simply stood for “What Would Khalis Do?” That level of respect & reverence is reserved for a contributor of exceptional intelligence, generosity, & integrity. He was truly a king among kings.

I’m honored, and so grateful, that Khalis was my teacher, my friend, and my brother. “A dedication to last throughout the years.” — C. Uhuru-Sasa Brown

Ronald Bell thanks Koolzeum at the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star installation

Ronald Bell thanks Koolzeum at the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star installation. Please visit Kool & The Gang’s Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — 7065 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028-6041.

Dennis 'Dee Tee' Thomas portrait holding his saxophone Dennis 'Dee Tee' Thomas and Cleveland Brown, backstage Dennis 'Dee Tee' Thomas performing live in polka dots

Dennis Thomas

“Dee Tee”

Koolzeum, LLC, The Koolzeum Archives & koolzeum.com (uhuru-sasa.com) will forever be dedicated to Mr. Dennis Dee Tee Thomas — a heart of gold. One of the greatest human beings of my lifetime. One of my best friends ever. A real brother and a real brotherman.

His sense of style was from within, which powered his sharpness to a real and permanent pitch. His leadership, musicianship, and showmanship was his own brand. He balanced the frontline lead of Kool & The Gang for 57 years.

He steadied, and tempered, me through life’s unspeakable losses, while broadening the greatest events and victories of our lifetimes. His wisdom will guide me forever. His light is eternal. — C. Uhuru-Sasa Brown

Hands That Built It

Contributors to the Koolzeum.

Mr. Kelly Fawaz
Mr. Kelly FawazOfficial Graphic Artist
Mr. Luis San Martin
Mr. Luis San MartinOfficial Stained Glass Artist
Cleve and JD
Cleve & JDDr3am Systems — web & build
The Janet Jackson Zoological Center inc.
The Janet Jackson Zoological Center inc.D/B/A Erskine-Brown Private Zoo
A woman in a red dress — Nina Simone changed my life
“Nina Simone Changed My Life”— C. Uhuru-Sasa Brown
Betty Wright tribute to Cleveland Brown
Betty Wright“You are family, Cleve.”

Five halls of the Koolzeum

Kool Pages

A Koolzeum hero — a white-haired woman among red flowers

Heroes

The giants of the culture
A stained-glass portrait of a musician

Stained Glass

Players set in leaded glass
A candid photo from the archive

KoolPics

Candid history
Celebration in the Koolzeum — a tour film still

Videos

The virtual tour
The Koolzeum graffiti tee in Irish green

Shop

Wear the archive

Honored & held across the culture

National Recording Registry GRAMMY MUSEUM Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award trophy SOUL TRAIN AWARDS
Kool & The Gang Stained Glass at the Grammy Museum Experience, Newark
Kool & The Gang Stained Glass — conceived by Cleveland Brown & handmade by Olimpia Perez, on display at the Grammy Museum Experience, Prudential Center, Newark, NJ.

01 — The Heroes of the Koolzeum

The giants the funk stands on.

Icons of Black music, art, and resistance — kept here in portrait, paint, and tribute.

Enter the Heroes hall
A Koolzeum hero — a white-haired woman among red flowers

Koolzeum Hero

Enter the hall →
A Koolzeum hero in a black hat and shades

Koolzeum Hero

Enter the hall →
A Koolzeum hero in a jeweled headpiece

Koolzeum Hero

Enter the hall →
A Koolzeum hero by the waterfront

Koolzeum Hero

Enter the hall →

02 — The Stained Glass of the Koolzeum

Built to be lit from behind.

Each window is a player soldered by hand and colored like a record sleeve — made to hold the light the way the music does.

Enter the Stained Glass hall
Stained glass — Amir, a guitarist

Amir

Leaded glass & light
Stained glass — a singer with congas and the map of Africa

Mother Africa

The frontman
Stained glass — two horn players

The Horns

Two-man section
Stained glass — a band with a crowd

The Gang

On the one
Stained glass — a trumpet player

The Trumpet

Solo in glass
Stained glass — a vocalist in red

Lead Vocal

In full color

03 — Kool Pics

Candid history.

The people, the rooms, the nights — the record of a life lived beside the music. 164 photographs.

Enter the KoolPics hall
A candid moment from the Koolzeum archiveFrom the archive A candid moment from the Koolzeum archiveFrom the archive A candid moment from the Koolzeum archiveFrom the archive A candid moment from the Koolzeum archiveFrom the archive A candid moment from the Koolzeum archiveFrom the archive A candid moment from the Koolzeum archiveView all 164 →

04 — Kool Videos

Take a virtual tour through the Koolzeum.

The stories, told out loud — from Rashad Muhammad’s Koolzeum 2020 to walks through the African Artifacts Gallery.

Enter the Videos hall
A Tour Through The Koolzeum Archives
A Tour Through The Koolzeum ArchivesA walk through the collection
 Koolzeum Archives 2020
Koolzeum Archives 2020The 2020 walkthrough

05 — Koolshop

Wear the archive.

The Koolzeum graffiti tee in three colorways — one history you can carry.

Enter the Shop
Koolzeum classic tee in Irish green

Koolzeum Green

The funk
Shop Now →
Koolzeum classic tee in royal blue

Cleve Blue

The keeper
Shop Now →
Koolzeum classic tee in navy / black

Black Beauty

The culture
Shop Now →

The Koolzeum Archives is an extension of Cleveland Uhuru-Sasa Brown. The sentiments & opinions expressed here are mine and they do not reflect any person or company other than me. I don’t need partners, approval, permission, or endorsements from anyone to express my life’s work and my personal mission. It has been consistent for six decades.

Estella
Estella Tine Howard

Koolzeum Mission

The Koolzeum is an encomium to African American culture & the untainted history of it. The Koolzeum Archives, Koolzeum, LLC, and Koolzeum.com are each truthful, unapologetic displays of a royal, traumatized culture. In that effort, my passion, knowledge, experience, and loyalty to the culture that I’ve spent my entire life in — is strongly expressed with commitment, honor, accuracy, and grateful, respectful regard.

The Koolzeum Archives also showcases my pride, and my lifetime, as part of Kool & The Gang, the most prolific band in the history of the entertainment industry. They are also the world’s most sampled band ever. My affiliation with them, for over half a century, is proportionately a defining part of who I am. As Kool & The Gang’s Executive Archivist, Band Historian, exclusive liner note author, and family, I designed the Koolzeum from within — as a respectful tribute to the band, as well as to Black America. My life’s work is also my personal mission; to spread awareness and long overdue reverence. We all stand on the shoulders of 30 million living Americans, and countless ancestors, that built this country on their backs. Those are the real heroes & patriots. We should all be civil rights activists.

“A dedication to last throughout the years…”

Opinions and viewpoints expressed through the Koolzeum Archives and Koolzeum.com are my own.

C. Uhuru-Sasa Brown — September, 2018

Keepers of the Zeum…

Gene & Geoff Erskine in front of the Koolzeum mural
Gene & Geoff Erskine are significantly responsible for helping me to create the Koolzeum Archives and Koolzeum, LLC. They are my family and they’re vital to the Koolzeum… and to me.— C. Uhuru-Sasa Brown

Erskine & Brown

Erskine & Brown — Hear the Roars emblem
Hear the RoarsThe Erskine & Brown emblem
Erskine / Brown Private Zoo — The Janet Jackson Zoological Center, animal brokers, Miami Gardens, FL
Erskine / Brown Private ZooThe Janet Jackson Zoological Center, Inc. · Animal brokers · Miami Gardens, FL