A GWU Primer on African Development with NDI and Vital Voices Staffers

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Africa Rising, AU, Christiane Yelibi, DRC, George Washington University, Gina Chirillo, National Democratic Institute, OAU, technology in Africa, Vital Voices, Yvonne Captain-Hidalgo

From L to R: Captain – Hidalgo, Chirillo, Yelibi

George Washington University’s Honor Society for International Studies held an event last night on ‘Trade, Gender, and Politics: An Introduction to African Development.’  Panelists included GW’s Professor Yvonne Captain – Hidalgo, Christian Yelibi, a Vital Voices staffer of Ivorian origin, and Gina Chirillo, who supports programs in Mali and Burkina Faso at the National Democratic Institute.

The ‘Residual, Awkward Thing Called Global International Terrorism’: Examining Soft Power Use in Muslim Africa at GWU

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al-Shabab, Albany Associates, Boko Haram, George Washington University, Mali, Robert Fry, Simon Haselock, Somalia, Todd Haskell, William Youmans

This morning I attended a discussion on ‘Soft Power in Countering Extremism from the Horn of Africa to the Western Sahel.’  The talk (I left before Q&A) was sponsored by George Washington University’s Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication.  It featured two elderly representatives from Albany Associates, a London-based firm that is ‘about trying to communicate in different environments’ and where it ‘sort of helps’ to be an ex-Royal Marine (in the words of its Chair, Sir Robert Fry).  Oddly, as you see above, Albany was also a co-sponsor of the event.

In Observance of Black History Month: A Comment on De Facto Segregation

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de facto segregation, George Washington University, Howard University Africa, Jim Crow in DC, Mali, South Africa

I previously blogged about the segregation of Africana entertainment events in DC, with whites tending to go to more mainstream venues in northern Virginia and downtown DC to hear ‘traditional’ African music, while those of African origins go to venues in NE and Maryland to hear a different set of tunes.  With the increasing lip service to globalization and emphasis that many non-Africans in DC place on exploring African cultural products, I find this lingering division to be disturbing.