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My
people how una dey?
As
we officially enter December and are counting down to Christmas, this has been
an interesting weekend for Proud to beAfrican Clothing with Saturday being spent at TEDx Euston (although it was
at Blackfriars!), a fascinating day with the trademark TED short talks broken
into 3 distinct segments; We Are All
Leaders with Albie Sachs, Amina Az Zubair, Alcinda Honwana, Frank Njenga
and Queen Sylvia Nagginda. Business for
Change with Jacqueline Novogratz, Jason Njoku, Ndidi Nwuneli, Trevor Ncube
and then Stirring the Soul with
Cobhams Asuquo, Komla Dumor, Jepchumba and ending with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
in her now standard, intelligent and thought provoking fashion along with
poetry recitals by our good friend Inua Ellams, performances by our friend Ayan
De First and a show by Sillouettez in the Dark. Clips from the event are
available on YouTube and there is not enough space to do it justice, with stand
out presentations and performances by all. This TED franchise is wholly
operated by diaspora Africans and was a wel run, well organised, friendly
event.
I’d
like to say a big thanks and well done to the entire TEDx Euston team, Ada,
Amina, Chioma, Chuks, Chika, Chikwe Edo,
Fee, Femi, Ike, Ifeanyi, Ije, Naz, Nkem, Paddy and Winnie and the fantastic,
cheerful young volunteers who I spent the day teasing mercilessly. It is a
distinct pleasure to be around African intellectuals and professionals but it
also just nice to be at an event so well run not for profit or politics but for
ideas about Africa by Africans. It is not an event anybody serious about Africa
should ever miss without a sick note from the doctor!!
 |
| Femi Temowo and Inua Ellams |
And
now I’m back to moaning about the weather (yeah I guess that’s the British part
of me!!) for those of you that don’t know back home in Africa particularly West
Africa, this is the hottest time of the year, with the Harmattan winds bringing
dust and heat from the Sahara.
As
a child that dusty smell always got me excited as I knew Christmas was close,
no more school, presents and plenty food! We always used to laugh at the
incongruity of a white Christmas on TV as everything for us Christmas was
brown, everything covered in a layer of dust. So in the spirit of nostalgia, we
are knocking 10% off the price of everything with the voucher code BROWN10 until the end of December.
So
feel free to take advantage of my nostalgia and homesickness and get buying!!
Monday 3rd
December
From 8.45am to 5.00pm we have the Africa-UK Conference on Faith and
Development in Africa: Anew perspective on Diaspora engagement at Chelsea Old Town Hall, Kings Road,
Chelsea, SW3 5EE. This conference seeks to explore the role faith based
organisations play in promoting development in Africa and aims to bring together experts in faith based development from
across the religious spectrum, explore the limits, challenges and potential of
faith based interventions and identify best practice models, consider the
policy environment required to further support inter faith dialogue. This FREE conference is open to all faiths,
RSVP by emailing the Royal African Society.
Tuesday 4th
December
At 6.00pm we have the Black Britain Seminar Series event African Americans in Britain 1850 to
1865 hosted by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in Room 261, Senate House, Malet Street, WC1E
7HU, this is a wide ranging summary of the Black American presence in the
UK. This is a FREE event RSVP by
emailing or just turn up
Wednesday 5th
December
At 10.30am the Royal African Society
presents a Conversation with Makhtar
Diop World Bank Vice President for Africa in Committee Room 5, House of Commons, Westminster, SW1A 2TT. Chaired
by Lord Steel, president of the Africa All Parliamentary Party Group, Mr Diop
former Senegalese Minister of Economy and Finance, was appointed World Banks
Vice President for Africa earlier this year and will present his perspective on
the Banks programmes in Africa and his vision for the future. To register for
this FREE event register here.
From
6.00pm to 8.30pm The Royal Commonwealth
Society hosts The Commonwealth Carol
Service at St Martins in the Fields,
Trafalgar Square, WC2N 4JJ. This year’s theme is Connecting Cultures and
will close the Commonwealths Year of celebrating The Queens Diamond Jubilee.
The service will be a mix of carols, performances and readings including
performances by the Commonwealth Youth Choir, the Croydon Steel Orchestra and
Burntwood School Choir, readings by the Jamaican High Commissioner, actress
Chipo Chung, paralympian Stephanie Reid and the address given by the Right Honourable
Sir John Major former Prime Minister. Register for this FREE event here
From
7.00pm to 9.00pm SOAS 360° presents Landgrabbers: The New Fight Over who owns
the earth at the School of Oriental
and African Studies (SOAS) Room B104, Russell Square, Thornhaugh Street, WC1H
0EG. Author Fred Pearce launches his new book Landgrabbers with an open discussion with the audience about the
exploitation of land particularly in sub Saharan Africa by foreign and local
elites. Drinks and refreshments will be available as well as a raffle. This
event is FREE just RSVP here.
Thursday 6th
December
From
6.00pm to 8.00pm The University of West
London (UWL) African Caribbean Society will be hosting The Public Sphere: The ACS Debate at Freddies Bar, St Marys Road, Ealing, W5 5RF. Come over and engage
interested and informed minds in debate and discussion at this FREE event. RSVP via Facebook
At 6.30pm we have the West African Jam Sessions: Night of the Mandingo Griot at Passing
Cloud, 1 Richmond Road, E8 4AA presented by Jally Kebba Susso. This evening
of griot film and music starts off with an African dance class led by Aida, and
then from 9.00pm there is a West African Jam Session, with kora playing griot
Jally Kebba Susso. This groovy event is only £5.00 all night, more information here
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At 6.30pm we have Vegan Jamaican Christmas Cooking Demonstration at Towpath House, Limehouse Court, 3-11 Dodd
Street, E14 7EQ, where you’ll be shown how make a Jamaican vegan starter,
main and dessert for vegans and vegetarians and tasty enough for carnivores as
well. At the end you’ll get a tasting, recipe sheets and a free copy of the
vegan cookbook, Kirly-Sues Kitchen
with over 50 recipes. This demonstration is £40.00 from here
At 8.00pm we have Wha Gwaan’? at Bar 414,
Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW9 8LF, Brixton’s new open mic session for
poets, singers and spoken word artists, hosted by Hya Ites, with Amaziah and
Isabel Roberts and Barry Ford performing funky, jazzy, roots reggae, Proud to
be Africans favourite El Crisis, Niles Asheber Hailstones, David J, Ebonee
Onyx, Pure Feminine Energy and Cerebral Hyper. There is also a Venezuelan
vegetarian snack bar. Entry is £5.00,
with an afterparty from Midnight till late.
Friday 7th
December
At 5.00pm AFFORD will be screening Invictus at The Cinema Museum, 2 Dugard Way (off Renfrew Road), Kennington, SE11
4TH. Starting off with canapés, networking and a private tour of the
Museum, the screening starts at 6.30pm, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon,
this film charts the early days of post apartheid South Africa and how
President Mandela’s embrace of this bastion of Afrikanerdom helped bring the
country together. A special guest at the screening will be John Carlin upon
whose book ‘Playing the Enemy: Nelson
Mandela and the Game’ that made a nation the film is based. He will be
holding a Q&A and signing copies of his book. Tickets are £15.00 in advance
from here.
At 6.30pm we have the See Africa Differently Christmas Party, at 47-49 Tanner Street, Southwark, SE1 3PL. The evening will be
compered by Johnny Pitts and involve a dance performance and workshop from
Francis Angol (Movement Angol Dance Company), music and poetry from Zena
Edwards, a photography exhibition with images from BBC presenter Reggie Yates
and Raymond Antrobus. All this and a photo studio for your party pictures,
drinks and refreshment and African music from DJ’s Sloetry and SheGotSoul RSVP
for this FREE event here.
From 7.00pm to 10.00pm we have the final
VC4Africa meetup of the year at The Cape
Bar, Corner of Wood Street and Love Lane, EC2V 7JQ, where you can meet up with
fellow African professionals and people with an interest in Africa, network and
brain storm or just hang out, chill and kick back! No plans, speeches or
agendas just turn up and go for it. This is a FREE event (although a donation is politely hinted at), just
register here
At 8.00pm the London Afrobeat Collective returns to Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch, E1 6LA for their
last gig of the year, with deep bass, funky horns and excellent vocals this is
Afrobeat interpreted at its finest. Tickets are £12.00 (£9.00 earlybird) from here. Everybody say ‘Yeah Yeah!’
Saturday 8th
December
From
9.00am to 5.00pm the Society of
Black Lawyers presents Who Regulates the
Regulator? Breaking the Silence? at the Holiday Inn Bloomsbury, Coram Street, Bloomsbury, WC1N 1HT. This
conference will discuss the current issues relating to the role of the
Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board (BSB). Speakers include
John Page (National Bar Association-USA), Hugh Southey QC (Tooks Court
Chamber), Dawn Dixon (Webster Dixon Solicitors), Makbool Javaid (Simons,
Muirhead and Burton), Professor Gus John (Gus John Consultancy), Simon Woolley
(EHR), Sarah Loutfi and Roland Anderson (BSB), Jo Sidhu QC (Bar Council), Dr
Victoria Shuwonmi (Institute of Education), Nwabueze Nwokolo (Black Solicitors
Network), Peter Herbert (Society of Black Lawyers), Jide Lanlehin (Great James
Street Chambers), Sundeep Bhatia (Society of Asian Lawyers). There will be
panels and workshops. All of these contribute 4-6 points to your CPD portfolio,
ther will also be refreshment and a buffet lunch. This conference is £75.00 from here.
From
10.30am to 4.30pm 100 Black Men of
London presents the 2012 Health and Wellness Conference at Park View Academy West Green Road, Tottenham
Hale, N15 3RQ. This will be a day of debates, keynote speeches, panel
discussions, screenings, workshops, exhibitors, sports, exercise and fun!
Topics to be covered include Prostate and breast cancer, sickle cell,
nutrition, diabetes management, mental health, bone marrow donation, fitness,
cardiovascular disease, obesity, traditional medicine, cholesterol, sports,
wellness and much more. RSVP for this FREE
event here.
From
12.00 midday to 6.00pm, we have the Afridiziak Gifts and Occasions Winter Fair
2012 at Electrical Social, 40 Acre
Lane, Brixton, SW2 5SP; this unique shopping event brings together
exhibitors with affordable, unique cultural gifts for men, women and children.
The first 50 shoppers receive a complimentary goodie bag, you can sample some
Afridiziak rum cake and you browse the stall with Blaze It UP Entertainment on
the decks with an eclectic mix of tunes and the Gospel Essence Choir performing
This is the 3rd showing of this event after last years in Peckham
and an earlier one this year in Birmingham. Admission is a mere £3.00 of which £1.00 is donated to the
Sickle Cell Society (under 16s/ OAP’s FREE),
more information here
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From
12.00 to 4.00pm is the Fairetail Pop’Up Christmas Market at
the Adulis Eritrean Restaurant 112 St
Johns Hill, Battersea, SW11 1SJ, featuring high end ethical fashion, gifts
and accessories for him, her and little ones RSVP by calling or emailing FeeUhssi on 07903676648
Star100 the Ghanaian
networking group will be holding their Christmas
Dance the final event of the year from 7.00pm
to 2.00am at Sofitel London St
James, 6 Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, SW1Y 4AN. The evening will consist of a
drinks reception, 3 course Ghanaian fusion menu with wine and a diverse range
of entertainment. Tickets for this classy event are £70.00 from here.
Sunday 9th
December
At 2.30pm at the Africa Centre we have the Senegalese film Madam Brouette. A superbly balanced social drama, told partly in
flashback about the murder of a policeman apparently by his estranged wife
Madame Brouette a fruit seller who is known as a defender of women abused by
their husbands or boyfriends. This enigmatic story replete with a griot chorus
tells the story of her life, family and society and is FREE, although a £3.00 donation is generally appreciated. RSVP here
At 6.30pm is The School of African and Oriental Studies African Caribbean Society
Christmas Party at Kimos Caribbean
Restaurant, 184 Stoke Newington High Street, Kings Cross, N16 7JD. For £15.00 you get an awesome All you can
eat buffet and admission to the After party. More information here
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