About DTOA Designs — Descendants of the Taken Ones
Our History Deserves to Be Seen
DTOA Designs is a Black history, African heritage, and cultural storytelling brand created to honor the people, civilizations, struggles, achievements, and stories that have shaped the African diaspora.
Through educational artwork, apparel, calendars, books, wall art, drinkware, and other culturally inspired products, we transform history into something people can see, wear, display, share, and pass on to future generations.
Our purpose is not simply to sell products. Our purpose is to preserve memory.
What DTOA Means
DTOA stands for Descendants of the Taken Ones.
The name recognizes the millions of African men, women, and children who were taken from their homelands through the transatlantic slave trade and other systems of forced displacement.
They were separated from their families, languages, cultures, names, and nations—but their descendants survived.
DTOA honors those ancestors and the generations that came after them. It represents remembrance, resilience, identity, and reconnection.
We are the descendants of people who endured what was designed to destroy them. Their lives did not end with captivity. Their courage, knowledge, creativity, spirituality, and determination continue through us.
DTOA is a declaration:
We remember who they were.
We honor what they endured.
We continue what they began.
Our Mission
The mission of DTOA Designs is to preserve and promote Black history and African heritage through art, education, literature, and cultural products.
We seek to:
- Introduce overlooked historical figures to new audiences.
- Celebrate African kingdoms, leaders, inventors, scientists, artists, soldiers, educators, and freedom fighters.
- Correct incomplete or misleading historical narratives.
- Inspire children and adults to learn more about their ancestry.
- Create meaningful products that encourage pride, curiosity, and conversation.
- Preserve important stories for future generations.
- Support a deeper connection between people of African descent and their global history.
History should not be limited to a single month, classroom, museum, or documentary. It should be present in our homes, schools, libraries, workplaces, and everyday lives.
Why We Use the Name Alkebulan
DTOA Designs uses Alkebulan as a cultural and symbolic name for Africa.
For us, Alkebulan represents the ancestral homeland, the birthplace of civilizations, and the historical connection shared by people of African descent throughout the world.
The word reflects our commitment to looking beyond colonial borders and colonial interpretations of African history. It reminds us that Africa's story did not begin with slavery, colonization, or European contact.
Long before those events, Africa was home to powerful kingdoms, sophisticated cities, centers of scholarship, international trade networks, scientific innovation, spiritual traditions, military leaders, architects, artists, and political systems.
By placing Alkebulan within the DTOA identity, we honor Africa not merely as a place on a map, but as a source of ancestry, civilization, knowledge, and cultural memory. Explore our Kings of Alkebulan and Queens of Alkebulan collections to meet the rulers who shaped it.
More Than Black History Month
Black history is world history.
The stories presented through DTOA Designs span Africa, the Caribbean, North America, South America, Europe, and other regions shaped by the African diaspora.
Our work includes stories of:
- African kings and queens.
- Black inventors and scientists.
- Military heroes and freedom fighters.
- Abolitionists and civil rights leaders.
- Writers, musicians, actors, and artists.
- Educators, entrepreneurs, and community builders.
- Ancient African civilizations and kingdoms.
- Overlooked women who changed history.
- People who resisted slavery, segregation, colonialism, and injustice.
- Modern pioneers whose contributions continue to shape the world.
Many of these individuals never received the recognition they deserved. DTOA Designs helps bring their names, faces, and accomplishments forward—starting with our Black Innovators collection.
Who Creates the Artwork?
The creative direction, historical concepts, product development, and visual storytelling for DTOA Designs are led by Tobe Sweeney Jr., founder of Descendants of the Taken Ones.
Tobe Sweeney Jr. is a retired United States Army Chief Warrant Officer, author, entrepreneur, researcher, and cultural storyteller. His work is driven by a commitment to preserving overlooked history and making it accessible to younger generations.
DTOA artwork is developed through a creative process that may include historical research, original concepts, digital illustration, design technology, artistic direction, and careful visual composition.
Every design is selected and prepared to support the larger DTOA mission. The goal is not only to produce an attractive image, but to create a visual doorway into a person, event, kingdom, or chapter of history.
Whenever possible, historical photographs, documented physical descriptions, traditional clothing, cultural symbols, geographical settings, and period details are considered during the design process.
Some historical figures have few surviving images—or none at all. In those cases, artwork may be an interpretive representation rather than an exact historical portrait. DTOA Designs strives to distinguish historical information from artistic interpretation and encourages customers to continue researching the people and events featured in our work.
Art With a Purpose
Every DTOA product is intended to do more than decorate a wall or complete an outfit.
A calendar can introduce a family to twelve overlooked historical figures.
A T-shirt can cause someone to ask, “Who is that?”
A piece of wall art can inspire a child to research an African kingdom.
A book can help a reader imagine Black people at the center of fantasy, science fiction, adventure, and world-building.
A mug, tote bag, or poster can become the beginning of a conversation that might not otherwise happen.
That is the purpose behind DTOA Designs: to turn products into opportunities for education, remembrance, and cultural pride.
Our Books and Storytelling
DTOA Designs also develops original books and creative stories featuring Black characters, African-inspired civilizations, fantasy worlds, advanced societies, historical themes, and questions about identity, memory, power, and survival.
Representation matters not only in history, but also in imagination.
Black children and adults deserve stories in which they are kings, queens, scientists, explorers, warriors, inventors, protectors, leaders, and builders of worlds.
Our literary work expands the DTOA mission beyond documenting the past. It also helps create new possibilities for the future. Browse the DTOA bookstore.
Our Commitment to Historical Integrity
History is complex, and historical sources do not always agree.
DTOA Designs is committed to responsible storytelling. We seek to use credible historical sources, identify uncertainty when necessary, and avoid knowingly presenting legends, social-media claims, or artistic interpretations as verified facts.
As new information becomes available, we may revise descriptions, narratives, or educational materials to improve their accuracy.
We welcome thoughtful corrections supported by credible documentation. Preserving history requires humility, research, and a willingness to learn.
Our Vision
Our vision is to build DTOA into a trusted cultural platform where people can discover history, purchase meaningful products, explore original stories, and reconnect with the achievements of African people and their descendants.
We envision DTOA Designs becoming:
- A source of educational Black history products.
- A home for overlooked historical narratives.
- A platform for African diaspora art and literature.
- A resource for parents, educators, students, veterans, and community organizations.
- A bridge between ancestral memory and future generations.
We want every person who encounters DTOA Designs to leave knowing something they did not know before.
Continue the Story
The people featured through DTOA Designs were more than names in a textbook. They were thinkers, builders, survivors, leaders, creators, protectors, and visionaries.
Their stories belong to all of us.
Explore the collections. Read the narratives. Share the history. Introduce a young person to someone whose courage or imagination changed the world.
We are the Descendants of the Taken Ones.
We carry the memory forward.