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).

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Friday Night Africa in DC: Networking in a U Street Bar and Nigeria’s Embassy

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Bala Mohammed, Bamanga Tukur, Embassy of Nigeria in US, Howard Jeter, PDP Nigeria, Semhar Araia, Sino - Africa DC

I’m not a natural when it comes to networking, but I’ve been trying to push myself in that regard lately and having the blog gives me a good talking point.  To that end I attended the third #DCAfrica Tweetup yesterday at Lost Society on 14th and U and instead of taking the 14th street bus home, I then continued the festivities at the Nigerian Embassy, where there were some major heavyweights in attendance.

Inaugural Sino – Africa DC Lecture: The Threads of Chinese Engagement in South Africa

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AGOA, China in Africa, Chinese during Apartheid, Chinese in South Africa, Fong Kong, Sino - Africa DC, Taiwanese in South Africa, Winslow Robertson, Yoon Jung Park

I’ll confess, I wasn’t originally too excited about a lecture on ‘The Chinese, the Taiwanese, “Fong Kong,” and Labor in South Africa’ and a harsh day at work and a rainstorm didn’t help either.  However, I’m quite glad that I attended (alas, I had to leave before Q&A) the inaugural lecture of Sino – Africa DC, which is led by the indefatigable Winslow Robertson (I was quite taken back to see him fiddling with his phone throughout the talk – I only belatedly realized that he was live tweeting the event, I’m officially passé).