‘A Classical People Deserve a Classical Art’: Hugh Masekela and Howard University Honor Nelson Mandela

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Akua Allrich, Apartheid, Ebrahim Rasool, Howard Dodson, Howard University, Hugh Masekala, jazz, Keorapetse Kgositsile, Larry Willis, Nelson Mandela, South Africa, South Africa poet laureate

Masekala performing with Mandela slide in background. Several of the slides had Mandela in rugby garb.

Like coffee, jazz is not particularly my thing, but I’m quite pleased that the same friend who took me to Harrar Roastery convinced  me to go just a bit further down the street yesterday to Howard University and hear Hugh Masekela, South African jazz musician and activist perform ‘A Musical Tribute to Mandela.’  Masekala and a variety of performers capped off Howard University’s Mandela Day, which celebrated the 24th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990.

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The World Bank and the Ambassador of South Africa on Sports and Development in Africa’s Great Lakes Region

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African soccer, Ebrahim Rasool, Great Lakes Africa, Sarah Farhat, South Africa Ambassador to US, Sports and Development, World Bank

Yesterday I attended the World Bank’s Africa Film Series’ screening of ‘Scoring for Peace’.  It was followed by a panel discussion featuring the filmmaker Sarah Farhat, South Africa’s Ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, and some gentleman who worked at the Bank whose name I did not catch (another engaging World Bank staffer moderated).  I arrived late and had a very short time to consume the impressive spread of cheeses, deli meats, and beer that the Bank had laid out.  It was my first time inside the bank and I was quite taken back by both the refreshments and high level of security.