Afrikan Diaspora Dialogue

Est 2008

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       The Afrikan Diaspora Dialogue Series is the flagship of Afrikan Unity Initiative and our vessel used to help spread the mission of unity among people of Afrikan descent. The series began at Atlanta Metropolitan College in 2008. It was then taken to Georgia State University in conjunction with the Sankofa Society. After years of hosting the event on college campuses it was time to open the event to the broader community which inspired the creation of Afrikan Unity Initiative. Now the program is free from collegiate affiliation and is open to the public. The goal of this program is to inform and educate people of Afrikan descent of the intentional divisive methods that continue to separate us to this day. We believe that together we can work as a collective to help solve the problems plaguing Afrikans globally. The Afrikan Diaspora Dialogue has been expanded into a series with the following subtitles: Bridging the Gap, Black2Love™, and Black2Health™. The series will be hosted three times a year with each installment being done once.
Bridging the Gap
               The Afrikan Diaspora Dialogue: Bridging the Gap installment is the original panel discussion, which focuses on raising the awareness of the many Afrikan retentions that exist within the Diaspora. We use these cultural retentions as a linking factor to promote unity among all people of Afrikan descent. Afrikan Unity Initiative also acknowledges that a comprehensive and accurate history of the people and places within the Afrikan Diaspora would create a consciousness necessary to desire Afrikan unity. Because knowing the past highlights and pitfalls of our brothers and sisters from other countries would explain why certain issues persist in those areas.  The panel is comprised of people representing various regions that have a strong presence of Afrikan descendants as in the Afrikan continent, the Caribbean, Latin America, and The United States.
Black2Love™
               The Afrikan Diaspora Dialogue: Black2Love™ installment focuses on the commitment it takes to seek Afrikan liberation and unity globally. This particular discussion focuses on the unifying power of love, and how it is a necessary component of any effort toward unity. We discuss how some people become arrogant and pompous once they attain a bit of Afrikan consciousness. This is not love and instead the person who knows should venture to teach those who are unknowing. It is the beautiful burden of those who gain knowledge to pass it forward in order to empower others to grow.   
Black2Health™
The Afrikan Diaspora Dialogue: Black2Health™ installment focuses on raising the awareness of the various ailments that affect people of Afrikan decent around the globe. We have the panel discussion portion in addition to a health fair with free HIV/AIDS testing, Diabetes screenings, Mammograms/Prostate Exams, etc. combating diseases common to people of Afrikan descent. The panel discussion will be about taking preventative measures to avoid these ailments as well as ways to live if you have the sicknesses.
We envision this discussion to serve as a catalyst to action in the communities of Afrikans. Our hope is to travel to different places in the Diaspora to host this event and stream the event live over the internet for others to view. Through the streaming there is also a hope for an interactive internet experience where online viewers could join the dialogue through submitting questions via Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc. and we will address those questions and comments live during the discussion.

Est. 2011

Afrikan Unity Initiative's community development component is manifested through the "Bringing the Neighbor Back 2 da 'HOOD"™ Campaign. This consists of hosting Community Assessment meetings which are hosted at community centers with the intent on empowering people to be the agent of change they desire to see in their lives. During the Community Assessment meetings community members are asked to outline the priorities in the area of things they would like to see improve, things they would like to maintain, and things that they would like to eradicate. An action plan is developed to ensure that these concerns and ideas are successfully translated into action. The primary people responsible for the completion of these projects will be the community members under the facilitation of Afrikan Unity Initiative.

In addition, there will be an entertainment component, which is done by hosting various events where we cultivate the social bonds within the neighborhoods i.e. (urban carnivals, screen on the green movie nights, community concerts, etc.). We will also promote economic empowerment by hosting networking functions in order to help entrepreneurs advance their businesses and to assist aspiring business owners to get established.
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Many of the communities that serve people of Afrikan descent have come to be known as the ‘Hood, which implies impoverished residents and substandard housing accommodations. Through this campaign, we hope to bring the spirit of community back to these areas and foster a sense of ownership within these areas. Through these and other activities, we plan to change the face of activism across the globe. This model will work for any community because through the Community Assessment meetings each community gives us what their specific priorities are in that area, and this will be enforced internationally to truly live up to our purpose of Afrikan Unity. 

 
Afrikan Diplomatic Ambassadors Fellowship™
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Coming Soon 2020 
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Afrikan Diplomatic Ambassadors Fellowship™ is our program offering youths from the ages of 17-21 the opportunity to cultivate their interests in international development. Bridge Builders will craft a relationship between 4-10 youth from 3 countries with a strong Afrikan presence in order to bring to fruition the vision of Afrikan Unity Initiative. We at Afrikan Unity Initiative believe that the people living in so-called developing nations have as much insight into building better nations as those living in developed nations. Afrikan Diplomatic Ambassadors Fellowship™ defies the conventions of international development by creating a 360⁰ exchange program where youths from developed and so-called developing nations both serve as host country nationals and guests in the process of the fellowship. Fellows are empowered to promote hope and the possibility of better realities for Afrikan people. The fellowship will be divided into three phases each focused on building and maintaining bonds that will create strong unity within the community of the Afrikan Diaspora. Bridge Builder Fellowship™ creates the unique opportunity for youths from developed nations and so-called developing nations to equally exchange ideas and best practices in international development.

Phase I
The fellows will start by being introduced to the concept of The Fundi Effect™, which is the development methodology utilized by Afrikan Unity Initiative. The Fundi Effect™ describes the Honorable Ella Baker’s approach to activism as she always looked to create leaders rather than simply have followers. The fight against oppression around the world has and will continue to drastically change over time. The Fundi Effect™; however, goes beyond the concerns of the present and serves to prepare people to flow with the inevitable changes that occur in life. The Fundi Effect™ is a method of activism that is capable of being applied inter-generationally, and has the ability to address the reactionary manner with which injustice is dealt in attempts at social movements at present.

Fellows will focus on the areas of starting and maintaining a successful enterprise, proper nutritional practices, creating balanced meals, and disease prevent i.e. (HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Ebola, Diabetes, etc.). The ability to write a complete business plan will be covered as well as grant writing for non-profit ventures. Proper nutrition competencies will be to create nutritionally balanced meals on a budget and methods to teach healthy practices. Fellows will be educated on certain diseases that plague their international counterparts’ communities and will also display the ability to debunk certain myths about various diseases with cultural sensitivity.   

The fellows will also receive language training to be able to adequately communicate with their international counterparts. For example: A partnership between fellows from the U.S, Haiti, and Guinea would require the representatives from Haiti and Guinea to be proficient in spoken and written English, and the U.S. fellows will in part need to be proficient in spoken and written French.  The language learning process will be interactive involving multimedia resources along with classroom strategies.

When fellows have shown an understanding of The Fundi Effect™ the three focal areas, and have exhibited the proper language proficiency they will matriculate to Phase II. Fellows must commit to the full 12 month term of Phase I in order to be considered for continuation into Phase II.

Phase II
Phase II will begin with the virtual introduction of the fellows from all 3 nations and will have a 12 month duration just as Phase I. The fellows will then be put in groups of 3, one fellow from each nation, in order to build a more personable working relationship. There will be communication through snail mail, e-mail, and video chat capabilities. The fellows will share ideas of development and discuss ways to improve relations across the Afrikan Diaspora. Fellows will also assess some of the major issues that they feel are plaguing their home communities and along with their international counterparts discuss these problems using the tools learned from their trainings in The Fundi Effect™. All of the activities and trainings offered in Phase I will continue into Phase II. The fellows will also be introduced to in-depth facts and figures about the countries of their international counterparts and begin to apply for Passports, Visas, and fundraising in preparation for Phase III.

Phase III
Phase III is the cross-cultural exchange component of the Bridge Builders Fellowship™. Each group of fellows will host their international counterparts in their country of origin for 4 weeks respectively totaling in a 3 month tour abroad. Fellows will live with host-families during their time abroad in order to fully experience the daily life of the nation’s citizens. Fellows will address their community concerns discussed virtually in Phase II. Fellows will also host Community Assessment  meetings to assess the concerns of the communities in which they are stationed and participate in community service activities to tackle the matters discussed in those meetings.

Fellows will be challenged to access the knowledge of the key focal points of Phase I; nutrition, enterprise and disease prevention using this information to serve as peer-educators at local youth centers training youths of the local community on these topics.
The youths serving as hosts will benefit from the fresh views of their counterparts being able to visualize new possibilities within their neighborhoods that may go unnoticed by being accustomed to the norms of one’s home environment. Ideas may be exchanged and hope has the potential to be inspired to challenge injustices that have locally been reluctantly accepted simply because there persists to be a lack of a sense of empowerment felt by host country nationals.

The youths abroad as guests will benefit from the opportunity to travel to two foreign nations and be exposed to new ways to view the world. They also receive the opportunity to work directly in the field of international development, actualizing the theory learned in Phases I and II.

The Housing Project™
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Comming Soon 2019

The Housing Project™ is a program with the objective of promoting home ownership for people of Afrikan descent. The program is comprised of two components. The first component is an eighteen-month course that teaches people what it takes to own and maintain a home. Basic principles of ownership, property management, and budgeting are covered in this course. The second component begins after the course ends. Upon graduating this course along with a $20,000.00, down payment people will be recommended for a home loan given by the Afrikan Unity Initiative.  Once in the home people will be required to go through home maintenance training for the first thirty months, which will reiterate the basic principles learned in the class, along with the learning of socio-political power that comes with home ownership. 

  Afrikan Unity Initiative is an organization catered toward creating a better world for Afrikans and all people through interactive service and education. We are called an initiative because the word exemplifies proactiveness, which is a necessity when fighting injustice. Our model of empowering people to be the leaders they seek is attributed to the Great Fundi Ella Baker and her participatory democracy methodology. All of our initiatives are designed to work in any place around the globe in order for the organization to help people of Afrikan descent wherever they may be in the Diaspora.