The music, food and wonders of the African continent took centre stage recently at the first Africa Day celebrations held at the Wildey Gardens in Wildey, St Michael.
The cultures of Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya were highlighted with a day of performances, storytelling, and culinary expressions celebrating the differences and similarities of the African diaspora.
The event, staged by The Diasporadical Initiative (TDI) was the first of what is expected to be an annual fixture on the local calendar. Founder of the initiative and organiser, Prince Bazawule, expressed his intent to unite Africans, Pan-Africanists and Barbadians in a space to connect.
“We want Africans on the island, Caribbean people who identify with African culture to have a space where we can come and listen to authentic African music, eat authentic African food, mingle with Africans and our brothers in Christ, because really, we are all related,” he said.
The Diasporadical Initiative is a non-profit organisation founded by Bazawule, who hails from Ghana, and centres on linking youth between the stages of preschool to tertiary level to different expressions of Africa. Many of their programmes involve connecting youth to other people from the diaspora, in hopes of fostering a more nuanced view of where they come from.
“As they talk to each other, they find out that they have a lot more in common. So as you grow, when business opportunities come up, I’m not looking at America or the UK, I’m looking at Africa. That’s the objective, and so we learn about each other. So even so, it’s just exciting that we have this space here for Barbados to experience the taste of Africa, so to speak,” he said.
As one of the day’s events, Barbadians were asked to choose sides in the long-standing rivalry over which West African country boasts the best Jollof Rice.
With the peace treaties broken, cooks from Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya put their best foot forward in presenting their best Jollof recipes. They also shared other delicacies like Moi Moi – steamed or boiled bean pudding, made with a mixture of ground beans, spices and often includes fish, eggs, chicken, or crayfish.
The stories of Africa were also told in performances employing classic and modern Afrobeats with Barbadian soca.
George Oo, also known as “Fishmonger”, brought his own brand of theatre and soul-stirring rhythms to share several beloved African folk tales.
The Diasporadical Initiative’ marketing and commercial manager Deidre Alleyne, who gave her allegiance to Ghanaian Jollof, expressed the wonder of exposing Barbadians to the different flavours of Africa.
“It’s very important, because we’re all descendants of Africa. To know where we’re going, we have to know where we’ve come from and we must realise we’ve all come from kings and queens in Africa. We had an unfortunate experience, but we must recognise that we have that strength.
“We have that in our blood, so knowing that will help us to be able to propel ourselves. So it’s very important that we understand where we’ve come from, so we know where we’re going,” she said.
