Ghanaian/Diaspora Film from Akosua Adowa Owusu at the Anacostia Arts Center

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Accra, Akosua Adowa Owusu, An African City, Anacostia, Esosa E, Ghana, Kwaku Ananse, My White Baby (Me Broni Ba), Parallel Film Collective, Save the Rex, Zachary Rosen

Owusu at L during Q&A

After nearly 3 1/2 years of living in DC, I visited Anacostia for the first time yesterday.  The Ghanaian-American (she is the only member of her family born in the US and I understand she has a northern VA background) filmmaker Akosua Adowa Owusu was on hand to discuss 5 (or was it 4?) of her short films at the Anacostia Arts Center (sponsored by the Parallel Film Collective).  Esosa E, who I recognized from her appearances on An African City (which I rather enjoy, although I am behind a few episodes), sat directly in front of me in the audience.

Local blogger Zach Rosen, who first brought the film and Owusu’s campaign to save the historic Rex Cinema in Accra to my attention, was also in attendance.

The Q&A covered a range of films, although Owusu’s latest, Kwaku Ananse, received top billing.  Owusu noted that this modern adaptation of a Ghanaian/diaspora fable drew inspiration from the recent passing of her own father and her trips back to Ghana.  On a similar note, she added that My White Baby, was inspired by her sister’s experience immigrating to America and being fascinated by the texture of Caucasian hair.

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A Day on Capitol Hill with Young African Leaders, Power Africa, and the Library of Congress

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Africa Policy Breakfast Series, Cote d'Ivoire, Ex-Im Bank, General Electric, Ghana, Heirs Holdings, IVLP, Karen Bass, Liberia Newspapers, Mimi Alemayehou, OPIC, Power Africa, Power Africa focus countries selection criteria, Rwanda, Shaka Ssali, Symbion Power, Togo, Tony Elumelu, YALI

The room was dominated by portraits of old white men, including one holding a poodle.

Yesterday feelings of patriotism stirred in my bosom as I attended the Africa Policy Breakfast Series sponsored by Rep. Karen Bass (D – CA), a two panel Senate hearing on Power Africa, and I then passed a few hours reading Liberian newspapers at the Library of Congress before venturing over to New America and Arizona State.  It still strikes me as pretty cool that I can rub shoulders with prominent dignitaries and attend congressional hearings in person.

The Wilson Center on African (Global) Governance Challenges

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Boring Political Analysis, Fana Gebresenbet Erda, Ghana, Ghana think tanks, Mike Jobbins, Monde Muyangwa, Paul Mensah, Search for Common Ground, Southern Voices, Wilson Center

Lots of folks taking notes and listening more intently than I

After watching the Heart of Iron on the Wilson Center’s 6th floor, I walked down one flight of stairs for an event sponsored by the Center’s Africa Programs, ‘Patron – Client Relations: A Challenge to Africa’s Development and State Building.’  Although I was a minor in political science, I’ve been out of school for several years, so I’m not even sure what Patron – Client relations are. Paul Mensah, a Wilson Center Southern Voices scholar and Programs Officer at the Center for Democratic Development (CDD), one of Ghana’s most respected think tanks, was very erudite in his analysis of clientelism and Mike Jobbins of Search for Common Ground served as discussant.

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.

Conversing with Nina Oduro on African Development Jobs, Afropolitans, the Diaspora, Kwame Nkrumah & More

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African Development Jobs, African Diaspora, African Literature, African networking in DC, Afropolitan, Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, Nina Oduro, Posse Foundation, Shake Shack

Nina Drinking Something Other Than a Milkshake in Ghana

I recently sat down for a fascinating conversation with the amazing Nina Oduro of African Development Jobs over a peanut butter milkshake (she had a caramel one) at Shake Shack.  Like my recent conversation with the indefatigable Winslow Robertson, I was surprised to note that Nina and I share some similar ties – she also went to school near my hometown, we both hold a strong interest in international education, question the term ‘Afropolitan’, and we have devised eerily similar Fulbright applications.

Doyen of Sino-African Affairs in DC: Winslow Robertson’s Journey of Scholarship, Romance, and Life in China and West Africa

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Australia, Chinese Immigrants in Africa, Chinese in Africa, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia Rubber, New York TImes, Niamey, Nigeria, Sino - Africa DC, Syracuse, The Corporate Council on Africa, The Economist, Winslow Robertson, Xu Jianxue

Podcaster, Hip-Hop Dancer, and Sino – Africanist: Winslow Robertson

I recently sat down for my first (and long overdue) leisurely chat with Winslow Robertson, an amazing guy who I have been promising to profile for some time. Winslow is based in northern Virginia and is the founding father of Sino-Africa DC (SADC), a networking group for local Sino-Africanists.  The archives of the SADC newsletter can be found here.  Winslow is also a podcaster and recently wrapped up an internship at The Corporate Council on Africa.  Over a conversation of several hours, I had the pleasure of learning about the genesis of his interest in Sino – African affairs, his thoughts on U.S. perceptions of Chinese engagement in Africa, and other more interesting tidbits, such as how he met his wife and I discovered that we share close academic and geographic ties as well as shopping habits (Jos A. Banks suits).