Afrifest Foundation Board Meeting, August 27

The board of the Afrifest Foundation held its meeting--via teleconference--this evening. We started with a review of this year's Afrifest, which was held on August 2.

We noted that the event went well, with an array of vendors and activities, including children's games, drumming, storytelling, and soccer games. The attendance was greater than last year.

We are glad to have been joined by the Multicultural Kids Network, which kept the children engaged with drumming and other activities. We look forward to the participation of Multicultural Kids Network in Afrifest next year and beyond.

We talked about what we have learned from this year and what we need to do for next year. Foremost among these is the need to start our planning early, reaching out to potential sponsors, vendors, and volunteers.

We reminded ourselves about the special nature of the mission of Afrifest, which is to showcase and celebrate the cultural achievements of Africans and the African Diaspora, promote education about the historical and global African experience. Afrifest distinguishes itself from many other organizations in that it fosters education and the spirit of Pan Africanism.

We also discussed our existing relationships with organizations such as the Council on Black Minnesotans, and affirmed our desire to cultivate relationships with various African organizations in the Twin Cities and beyond.

We are grateful to our volunteers, vendors, media partners, and the City of Brooklyn Park, whose support was crucial for the success of this year's Afrifest. We look forward to Afrifest 2016.

For photos and videos of this year's festival, please visit Afrifest 2015

Afrifest 2015, August 1

Planning for Afrifest continues apace, as the date of the festival, August 1, approaches. The board of the Afrifest Foundation held a final teleconference on July 16 to review progress.

Our plans have continued to take shape, not only in the broad outlines I mentioned in a previous blog post, but also in the specifics. The City of Brooklyn Park, which has stepped in as a sponsor of the festival, has already started publicizing the festival in various media and avenues, in addition to paying for t-shirts. The KMOJ radio station has been broadcasting a memorable advert.

We will have soccer matches, vendors, and children's games. On my part, in addition to displaying my books and talking about my work as an author, educator, and cultural consultant, and in addition to offering a panoramic view of the global African experience, I will also share African folktales. This is a new thing for Afrifest. Using traditional tales, such as Matengo Folktales, I will offer a taste of the African contribution to world culture. Traditional tales embody and express the African ways of thinking about life, the human condition, relationships, and values.

I will share something else congruent with the mission of Afrifest. For some years, I have been studying Ernest Hemingway and discovering his life-long interest in and respect for Africa. He exemplifies the kind of ideals Afrifest stands for, especially understanding, respecting, and appreciating different cultures.

Readers and fans of Hemingway might be interested to know that they will soon be able to see a documentary, "Papa's Shadow," which features me in conversation with Patrick Hemingway, the only remaining child of Hemingway--now 88 years old--about Hemingway's life, his philosophy, his travels in East Africa and his writings based on those travels.

Afrifest is more than a cultural event in the conventional sense. It fosters understanding of Africa and the African Diaspora through exhibits and performances. A family event not to be missed, Afrifest will be held on August 1, 2015, from 10am to 9pm, at the Northview Junior High School, in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.