Afrifest Foundation Board Meeting: April 2013

Today, the Afrifest Foundation Board met at the Center for Families, in Minneapolis. I was glad to be back in the fold, after travels in Africa.

As usual, we had a rich agenda. One of the decisions we made was to appoint key directors of the Foundation, whom I have featured on this page.

Here, on the left,  is Wycliff Chakua, who will continue as Treasurer and will serve as interim Secretary of the Foundation.









Here is Nathan White, the originator of Afrifest, who will continue to serve as Executive Director and President of Afrifest Foundation.

















Here is Joseph L. Mbele, owner of this blog, who will continue in his role as Chairman of the Foundation.

We reviewed progress made towards our attainment of IRS 501c3, and it seems satisfactory.

We also took note of our partnership with ACER, the Duluth Festival, and Carifest. Everything is going well on that front. We reviewed emerging partnership opportunities, such as the possibility of working with event planner Rick Aguilar.

We welcomed Denise G. Butler, Outreach Coordinator of ACER, who wants to join the Afrifest Foundation Board.

We have come a long way, and we look forward to the future, with an increasing diversification of our portfolio of programs and activities, as well as solid partnerships with other organizations.

Farewell, Chinua Achebe

Around 8:20 this morning, my youngest daughter told me that her older sister had texted to say that Chinua Achebe had passed away. I was dumbfounded and could hardly say anything.

I have struggled the whole day, in vain, to find the appropriate way to pay tribute to this giant and icon of modern African literature.

 Achebe helped shape the direction of African literature, not only through his own writing, but also through his role as editor of the African Writers Series which launched the careers of many African writers.

Achebe was a sage, in the best tradition of the wise village elders. Watching interviews, I note that he exuded humility and charm. Committed to the idea that the artist is a teacher, Achebe helped us Africans to understand our place in the world, our weaknesses and our potential.  A profound humanist, he touched hearts and minds around the world.

Although I never met Achebe, I have been lucky to have taught his works regularly, discovering, each time, more dimensions of his creative genius and timeless lessons.

Though no longer with us in person, Achebe will continue to touch people. For the rest of our lives, we will be paying tribute to this gifted storyteller, who gave Africa a voice in the world.

Reflections on my Book Talk in Faribault

Some days ago, I posted a message about a book talk I was to give at South Central College. The talk dwelt on my book, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences. Rebecca Fjelland Davis subsequently wrote a report on her blog, including comments she published in Goodreads:
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Joseph Mbele's book AFRICANS AND AMERICANS

Our class, "Culture and History of South Africa,"  read Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences last week. The author, Joseph Mbele came to visit us on Tuesday. It was unanimously considered a DELIGHT.

The book is a fast read, and Joseph Mbele writes in a conversational, welcoming style that sucks you right in, keeps you laughing, and keeps you reading. 

In person, Joseph proved to be one of the most brilliant, funny, warm, and gentle human beings I've ever met. My students loved him; the two hours with him flew past.


Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences by Joseph L. Mbele
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the most delightful read about the differences between Africans and Americans and how we relate to each other. My students loved it, found it fascinating, and flew through it.


If you have students, friends, neighbors, classmates, ANYBODY you know from Africa, this book is for you. If you are traveling to Africa, like my students and I are, it's a MUST.

Best part? Now whenever I am late (no, that never happens), I can say I'm on AFRICA TIME.

View all my reviews

Posted by Rebecca (Becky) Fjelland Davis at 6:53 AM No comments:

A Book Talk in Faribault, Minnesota, February 26

A few weeks ago, I got an invitation to speak in Mankato, to a group of students preparing to go on a study abroad program in South Africa. The focus of my talk was to be what I say in my Africans and Americans book. The invitation came from Scott Fee and Becky Davis who teach at the Minnesota State University Mankato and South Central College respectively.

I will be speaking at the South Central College in Faribault, Minnesota, from 10:00am. Students in Mankato will follow my talk via a television connection.

Some years ago, Scott took a group of students on a similar trip to South Africa and he invited me to speak to them before they traveled. My talk then was also on cultural differences as expressed in the Africans and Americans book. I am, as always, happy to be able to share my perspective on this important topic.

Black History Expo, St. Paul, Minnesota

February 23, 2013 was a special day in Minnesota. The first annual Black History Expo was held at the River Center in St. Paul, thanks to the hard work of Karla Spencer-George and Liberation Clothing & Gifts. The event brought together many vendors, performers, and educators. It was a great opportunity to learn about the Black experience, in both Africa and the Diaspora, through lectures, performances, displays of artifacts, books and other expressions of Black intellectual contributions and creativity.  Publicity for the event was very good, as you can see here and here.
 

This photo was taken at the booth of Liberation Clothing & Gifts. Karla is on the far left.

















 The guest of honour and keynote speaker was Dr. Julianne Malveaux, a distinguished scholar and educator, who once served as president of Bennett College.











Drummers and dancers in action.


















The event was well attended, throughout the day, by children, youths, adults, and the elderly. There were programs for all age groups

















This is the space where lectures, performances, and fashion shows were held












As happens often in these events, I meet people who know me, people who have read my books. The lady on the left came to my booth with her sister, and she was delighted to see copies of my Africans and Americans book. She talked excitedly about how she bought it some years ago, and how much she likes it. Such testimonies, needless to say, touch me very much.





Here on the left I am with Sybil, another fan of my work.

It is not possible to capture in this little report the richness of this event. It is not possible to report on all the interactions I had with many people, but I should perhaps simply say that from talking to people, it was clear that they were impressed by this inaugural Expo, expressing the strong desire that it should, indeed, be an annual event.

My First YouTube Book Talk

Today I did something I have never done before: I uploaded a message on YouTube about my book, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences. Actually, I should confess that it was my daughter, Zawadi, who did all the technical work, from recording to uploading. I learned much from her. That, I guess, was my way of ringing in the New Year.

African Storytelling at St. Olaf College

On November 7, I made a presentation at St. Olaf College on African storytelling. This was part of what is called "Africa Weeks," a series of displays, performances, lectures and other events organized by Karibu, a student organization. Africa Weeks is held once a year.  It seeks to foster understanding and appreciation of Africa. Karibu was formed over ten years ago by a Congolese student. Karibu is a very significant Swahili word which means "Welcome."

 
I regularly get invited to participate in Africa Weeks, talking about African culture, especially the art, meaning and social functions of story telling. In the process, I perform some folktales and invite the audience to talk about them, through questions and observations.









On this occasion, I started with the idea of Africa as the place where humans originated, the place where technology, culture, language and storytelling originated. Humans began to name, describe, and reflect on their environment and on society, encoding their thoughts, sentiments, anxieties, hopes and dreams in proverbs, songs, tales, dances, rock paintings, and other expressive forms.




Storytelling is not just for entertainment; it is also a repository of thoughts and knowledge of different kinds. I offered several African proverbs, as examples, such as "Don't insult the crocodile's mouth before you cross the river."

To illustrate the richness of African tales as philosophical, ethical, and other kinds of reflection, I told three tales: the Maasai tale titled "The Woman and the Children of the Sycamore Tree," published in Paul Radin's African Folktales; "The Monster in the Rice Field" and "Nokamboka and the Baby Monster" both published in my book, Matengo Folktales.

At the end of the event, it was clear that we had all gained much, through thinking together about African storytelling.












It was time to go














Yet, even as we were heading out of the meeting room, the conversation continued.




(All the photos in which I appear were taken by Pumla Maswanganyi. I wish to thank her)