Saturday, February 19, 2011

Pan African Group Meeting, Minneapolis

The Pan African Summit movement is gaining momentum in the Twin Cities. After several years of having only a small steering committee, we have reached a new level with the formation of the Pan African Council. Today we had a meeting at the Center for Families to welcome new Pan African Council members.

Chairing the meeting, Edmund Ocansey started by restating the mission and aims of the Pan African Summit and then we took turns introducing ourselves, stating our vision for the future of this organization. In this gathering of Africans and African Americans, everyone expressed the desire to see the Pan African Summit continue to grow and prosper.

We talked about the 2010 Pan African Summit noting some things we learned from the keynote speakers and from those attending. We also shared personal stories of contacts we made at the Summit, as an illustration of the value of the Pan African Summit.

One idea that kept coming up was the desire to learn about one another. The African Americans expressed the desire to learn more about Africa and Africans, and the Africans expressed the desire to learn more about African Americans. Another idea was that we should really start planning for the next Pan African Summit, to be held on October 8, 2011.

Those of us who have been on the Pan African Summit planning committee from the beginning assured the newly constituted Pan African Council of our support in all possible ways.

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