The Rochester 2018 World Festival

On April 28, the Rochester International Association hosted the 2018 World Festival.This is an annual event that brings together people from various countries to showcase their countries. I was there, and had great opportunities to talk with various people about my work and about our world, which is steadily becoming a global village. There were vendors of different products and displays by different organizations. There were musical and dance performances and from different cultures.

Memories of the St. Dominic Boutique

On December 9, the School of St. Dominic in Northfield, Minnesota, hosted a fair titled St. Dominique Boutique, which I had mentioned on this blog. Sixty vendors displayed a great variety of products, such as jewelry, clothing, artifacts, and cards. I was there, with my books and other publications.








When I arrived, I was directed to my spot, and a man I didn't know came to help me set up my table. He told me that he had heard me speak at a church in Faribault. I recalled two talks I had given on a weekend at First English Lutheran Church based on my book, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences.

This man told me he was a retired pastor and since his table was adjacent to mine, we had time to talk durin the expo. His display consisted of Christian themed items such as icons, and cards.







From 9:00am to 2:00pm, people kept coming to the expo.













































The woman seen in the picture here came to my table with her older sister. We talked at length about my work and about my books. She bought the two she is holding.
















As always happens in these events, I met and talked with various kinds of people, who had interesting things to share with me. The gentleman seen in the picture on  the left told me about Andrew Jackson Foster, an African American missionary who started schools for the blind in Ghana and other African countries. I did not know about this person, but after hearing about him, I have read about him and been very impressed by his life and work.














As I mentioned on this blog, on November 23, my book, Matengo Folktales, was featured on "Jeopardy," the popular television program. Naturally, I reproduced the "Jeopardy" clue and brought it to the Expo.











I commend the School of St. Dominic for organizing this event. Although this was their first experience of holding such an event, it was very successful. Also, I was delighted that even though the Expo host was a Catholic school, it attracted people of different belief systems. I saw this as I talked with people at my table.

I felt, as other people did, that the Expo should be held again, perhaps annually.

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