Africa in Silver Spring: Upcoming Movies and Entertainment Awards

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AFI, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Half of a Yellow Sun, Liberia, Lumumba, Montgomery Community College, New African Films Festivaal, Politics & Prose, Raoul Peck, Silver Spring, TransAfrica Forum

On a walk to Silver Spring today I passed by the Montgomery Community College which had an announcement for the Liberian Entertainment Awards this Saturday scrolling outside its performing arts center for all passersby on Georgia Avenue to see.

A few minutes later I passed by the AFI Theatre where TransAfrica Forum’s 10th annual New African Films festival will screen in a few weeks.  Half of a Yellow Sun, the film adaptation of a book by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (who has me thoroughly mesmerized after I saw her at Politics & Prose in May) will be screening as part of it and AFI also has a film introspective by Raoul Peck coming soon.  Peck has made a film on Lumumba, and as I recall, he is a Haitian who grew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Antoinette Sayeh, IMF Africa Head at SAIS: ‘The Region is Catching Up’

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African agriculture, African governance, Antoinette Sayeh, Burkina Faso, Deborah Brautigam, IMF, Infrastructure in Africa, Liberia, SAIS, Shanta Devarajan, Uganda, World Bank

The last time I heard the head of the Africa division of a global financial institution speak on Massachusetts Avenue (Shanta Devarajan of the World Bank at Brookings), I was thoroughly displeased.  Yesterday, I heard Antoinette Sayeh, former Finance Minister of Liberia and currently the Director of the Africa Department at the IMF speak on “Drivers of Growth in Middle and Low-income sub-Saharan Africa.”  Although one can almost always find a bone to pick (keep reading for what it was this time), on the whole, I found her macro-economically focused remarks to hit most of the notes I would like to hear.

CSIS Africa Notes

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CSIS Africa Notes, CSIS Africa Program, Liberia, west African youth, Zimbabwe

I received word yesterday of the announcement of the electronic release of “more than 200 issues of CSIS Africa Notes, the monthly program newsletter published from 1982 to 2006.”

The Africa program of CSIS is my favorite of any major DC think tank and I am a lover of history more than current affairs, so I am very excited for this material (each thematic briefing is about 5 – 10 pages long).  It is always interesting to evaluate claims with foresight (hopefully someone will do that with my work here one day) so I will commit to publishing analyses of at least 4 of the pre-2000 pieces before September.  There are several pieces on Zimbabwe and Liberia, the focal point of my African interests, so expect those to be among the Notes that I analyze.

In other news, I’ve been building on yesterday’s pledge to diversify Africa in DC coverage.  I just had my first interview with a very dynamic west African youth, who has just arrived in DC for a year long fellowship.  Expect a profile of her shortly.

Remnants of DC’s American Colonization Society in Liberia

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American Colonization Society, Americo-Liberian, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Liberia, William VS Tubman

I’ve spent some time in two African countries profoundly shaped by foreign settlers.  Zimbabwe was populated by Europeans in the 20th century while Liberia was the destination of black Americans primarily in the 19th century (supported by the ACS, based in Washington DC and various state colonization societies as well).  While tributes to White Zimbabweans are somewhat rare in present day Harare, the Americo – Liberian influence in Monrovia remains more prominent.

Find inside pictures of a statue of Liberia’s first president, JJ Roberts (sandwiched between the ruins of the Ducor Palace Hotel and the ruin by appearance, but very much functioning Masonic Lodge) and of Liberia’s longest serving President, WVS Tubman on the grounds of the University of Liberia.  And finally, a monument of the two of them together.