Manners Will Take You Places Money Won't: My Journey From the Backwoods of Georgia to the Rainforests of West Africa is the extraordinary life story of Cashawn Myers, a man shaped by community, guided by spirit, and committed to African liberation, sustainability, and service.
Born to a fifteen-year-old mother in Brunswick, Georgia, Cashawn's life began in conditions where many expected limits. Instead, he grew into a leader whose work would impact generations across the African diaspora. Raised among elders who treated him as their own, he spent his childhood on dirt roads and farmland, absorbing the power of legacy, family, and culture long before he ever understood the wider world.
By the late 1990s, as a student at Howard University, Cashawn became rooted in the Washington, D.C. Nyahbinghi House, where his brotherhood with like-minded Ras Tafari youth ignited a lifelong devotion to service. He went on to cofound the Ethiopian Ras Tafari Community (E.R.C.) and began a decades-long journey dedicated to repatriation, empowerment, and truth-telling.
That path ultimately led him to co-found and serve as Executive Director of H.A.B.E.S.H.A. Inc. (Helping Africa by Establishing Schools at Home and Abroad), a groundbreaking nonprofit that merges African cultural heritage with environmental sustainability. For over twenty years, HABESHA has trained youth, adults, and elders in urban agriculture, healthy living, and sustainable practices-making Cashawn a cornerstone in both education and food sovereignty movements in Atlanta and beyond.
Now, in his 50th year, Cashawn tells his story in his own words. In the tradition of H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I recording his reflections during exile, Cashawn documents his journey from rural Georgia to the rainforests of Ghana, West Africa, where he continues his mission to uplift African people worldwide.
This is not a typical memoir. Manners Will Take You Places Money Won't is a communal story-woven with the voices of family, elders, peers, and lifelong comrades whose wisdom, sacrifices, and love shaped who he became.
This book is for anyone navigating identity, legacy, healing, or purpose. It is for the youth seeking direction, for the elders safeguarding tradition, and for all who believe in the power of community. Through themes of service, inheritance, spiritual guidance, and self-definition, Cashawn offers a model of leadership rooted not in ego, but in responsibility.
At its heart, this book is an offering-a testament to what becomes possible when we honor those who came before us, walk boldly in our purpose, and commit ourselves to building a world where future generations can thrive.
The lion tells his own story.
