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)

Another Visit to the School of Environmental Studies

Today, I visited the School of Environmental Studies in Apple Valley, Minnesota, to speak in Todd Carlson's class. The class deals with indigenous knowledge and mythology











Todd shares with the students the mythologies of various traditional cultures, such as Native American, Aboriginal Australians, and the Khoisan of Southern Africa.

He also shares with the students some parts of my Matengo Folktales. Whenever I visit the School, I meet students who are well prepared.



 

As in the past, we had a great experience today. After my brief introduction, highlighting Africa as the original home of humans, the cradle of technology, language and other specifically human accomplishments, I talked about the emergence and evolution of storytelling.

The students had, as usual, engaging questions, spanning the spectrum from the intriguing similarities among different folklore traditions, to the modalities and ethics of folklore field work to the vexed question of translation.

Afrifest Foundation Board Meeting, November 3

Today, the board of the Afrifest Foundation met at the Center for Families, in Minneapolis. Attending the meeting were--from left to right in the photo--Kechi Bisong, Joseph L. Mbele, Wycliff Chakua, Teddy Kobingi, and Beatrice Adenodi.

In the absence of Nathan White, Afrifest Foundation Executive Secretary, who is traveling around Africa,  Wycliff Chakua chaired the meeting.

Teddy is a new member of the Board, who brings much experience in the financial and non-profit world. Beatrice, CEO and chief marketing specialist of Mirror Ink Productions, joined the Foundation a few weeks ago, bringing valuable expertise in various fields, such as marketing, promotions, and fundraising.

Today's agenda centered on planning for the 2013 Afrifest Festival. We are starting the planning process earlier than in the past, and we want to do things somewhat differently. We are excited to have established partnerships with Carifest, the Duluth Reggae Festival and ACER Inc. We will work together in various ways, including jointly promoting our events and programs.

The Afrifest Foundation will conduct two fund-raising events before the main Afrifest festival, which we have scheduled for mid-August, 2013. One of these events will be held in March and the other one in June. Unlike in the past when members of the board did all the planning and implementation of the festival, now we will have a festival coordinator as well as a music coordinator.

With all the work that has been done to build the Afrifest Foundation to its present level, we are all excited about the Foundation's future. We look forward to very successful fund-raising events, the August festival and other programs.

A Friend Who Inspired my "Africans and Americans" book

Two days ago, I had the opportunity to meet my dear friend, Professor John Greenler of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He came to visit St. Olaf College with his daughter. If you have read my book, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences, you probably have seen Professor Greenler's name in the "Acknowledgements" page.

Professor Greenler and I have known each other for over ten years, from the time we both served as advisors on the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) Tanzania program. When we first met, Professor Greenler was teaching at Beloit College. We used to meet in Chicago with advisors from other schools, planning and evaluating the program. I would constantly elaborate on cultural issues faced by American students in Tanzania.

When the time came for Professor Greenler to take students to Tanzania, he asked me to write down some cultural hints, even if only a few paragraphs, so he would have something to fall back on while in Tanzania. I was touched by his request, and I started writing.

While the manuscript was still quite rough and rudimentary, it fell into the hands of other people who take Americans to Tanzania. They eagerly started using it. When I discovered this, I was embarrassed, because the manuscript did not reflect my abilities as a writer.  Instead of complaining and doing nothing else, I decided to revise the manuscript as much as I could. After working intensively for four months, I published Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences in February 2005. It was, actually, Professor Greenler who suggested the subtitle "embracing cultural differences," and I liked it instantly. I am
 grateful that the book is widely read and used. Writers want to be read, and, on this score, I cannot complain.

As we met, I reminded Professor Greenler about how he inspired me to write this book. I made sure to let his daughter know that this is what happened. We enjoyed talking about Tanzania, my beloved country, which Professor Greenler and his family like very much.

Professor Greenler told me about ACM students he took to Tanzania who continue to be involved with Tanzania in one way or another. We advisors of study abroad programs are aware of these dynamics. We are always gratified and feel vindicated, since one of our main dreams is building positive relationships between the people of our countries.