There was no explicative card with the deck, so it's hard to tell if the figures on the courts mean to represent actual African royalty. The whole design is based on the international pattern. There's a suicide king and 2 one-eyed jacks and a colorful  geometrical center design. Even the attributes of the kings and jacks are the same as in the international pattern, but with an African twist. 
The deck is titled "Afrocentric", so it is obvious that the deck refers to the African roots of the US Afro-Americans.
The deck consists of 52 cards and 2 jokers. It was published by the Blacks Factor Inc. for the first time in 1988.
Designed by H(arold) Russell Smith. 
In 2023 on p17 of the 100th issue of CardCulture, the 52+Joker e-zine, there's an extensive interview by Rory Rennick with the designer.