Senior OPIC Executive and New America Foundation Fellow on Africa Rising

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Africa Rising, Booker T Washington, Dayo Olopade, Ethiopia, Josh Keating, Mimi Alemayehou, New America Foundation, Sino - Africa, technology in Africa, The Brightest Continent, World Health Organization

 

Olopade (L) and Keating (R). The very short dress is worth acknowledgement.

After a long day on Capitol Hill (post to follow) yesterday, I ventured to Dupont Circle, where I learned that Arizona State has an office, for an event with a former Fellow of the New America Foundation.  Dayo Olopade, spoke on her new book, The Bright Continent: Breaking Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa.   I wasn’t able to get an especially clear picture of Olopade’s book from the talk, but it seemed that she has traveled widely throughout east and west Africa during her Fellowship and sought to challenge assumptions of Africa as a stagnant continent lacking the capacity for innovation (although the way she articulated this didn’t particularly resonate with me).  Mimi Alemayehou, Senior VP at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was also on hand to provide refreshingly candid remarks for a government official and Josh Keating of Slate moderated.

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Africa at the Annual Conference of the Association of International Education Administrators

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AASCU, AIEA, Arlene Jackson, Cheryl Francisconi, Clara Priester, Comoros, EducationUSA, Ethiopia, Ghana, higher education, institute of international education, international education, International Education Association of South Africa, Kumasi, Kwame Nkrumah University, Minnie Battle Mayes, NC A&T, Nelson Mandela University, Nico Jooste

Yesterday I crashed the meeting of the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA), an organization that primarily counts US-based institutional leaders engaged in international education as its members in downtown DC.  Tuesday had several panels on Africa and Kwame Appiah had been a keynote speaker on Monday.  I missed a panel on ‘Optimizing International Collaborations in Africa‘ and ‘Opportunities for Transformative Change of African Higher Education: Implications for US Higher Education Institutions‘, but heard a speaker from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and another panel on collaborative partnerships in Africa.

DC and Addis Ababa Mayors Drink Sparkling Water to Celebrate New Sister City Agreement

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Addis Ababa, African Union, Diriba Kuma, Ethiopia, Sister Cities International, UN Economic Commission for Africa, US Africa Sister Cities, Vincent Gray

 

Signing the Agreement

Yesterday, the US and Ethiopian capitals entered into a 5 year agreement of sister cityhood. Mayors Vincent Gray (DC) and Diriba Kuma (Addis Ababa) gave brief remarks, cut a celebratory cake, exchanged gifts (the Ethiopians were more generous), and observed  ‘Ethiopian dance and vocal entertainment.’  I was particularly impressed by Mayor Gray’s relaxed manner and his pointed remarks about DC’s second class status in the USA.

Homage to Tom Friedman & Latin/Ethiopian Fusions

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Ethiopia, Latin, Spanish speaking Ethiopians, taxi drivers, Tom Friedman

Certain individuals frequently assess the pulse of a community or society by their conversations with taxi drivers.  While these tales can make for interesting reading at times, my general position is that this approach is a socially acceptable way for these writers to admit to being out of touch.

On a related note, I took a rare taxi ride Saturday night (technically Sunday morning), from West Hyattsville to my home.  My driver was from Ethiopia (had been in the US for less than 5 years) and he loaded three separate fares in his vehicle.  The other two were middle aged Latina women, with whom he conversed entirely in Spanish, a language that he said he had learned since moving to the US.

He noted that he had recently started driving a taxi, his only source of income, after working at gas stations and convenience stores.  He was very self-conscious about his English language ability and noted that it was difficult to develop his English as he circulated primarily in the Ethiopian Diaspora community.  He added that many caucasian customers had spoken to him very rudely, often noting that he should not be in a customer oriented position with weak English language skills.

In the events that I typically write about on these pages, (with some exceptions), I rarely encounter Ethiopians.  This opportunity was a little awkward.  Aside from that, I’m not sure what to make of it.  Does that make me less intelligent that renowned columnists like Tom Friedman who often distill crucial nuggets from such scenarios?  Does this encounter signal a looming Ethio-Latino political or cultural union?

Ethiopia in DC

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Ethiopia, Ethiopian community DC, Habesha market, little ethiopia silver spring

I won’t offer any commentary to go along with this, but I thought I’d share a link to this 3 minute BBC clip on the Ethiopian community in DC.  I think the restaurant scene is shot at Habesha Market & Carry-out, which is my favorite in the area. While I know next to nothing about Ethiopia, I will do a brief post on the Ethiopian nightlife scene in Silver Spring shortly.

Most of this footage was shot around U Street, where I dined at a west African restaurant last night.  Expect a review of that up later today.