Celebrating Two Black Memorial Days

About Africa Day

THE ANNUAL COMMEMORATION of the creation of the Organisation of African Unity, formerly known as African Freedom Day and African Liberation Day, is held on May 25 every year. It is a day for Africans and those who love Africa to show the world that the continent is a force to be reckoned with and that the moment has come for African youngsters to define the Africa they want, on their terms, following centuries of being referred to in a negative and degrading manner.

History Of Global Africa Day

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on May 25, 1963, the leaders of 30 of Africa’s 32 sovereign republics signed a founding charter. The O.A.U. was established to assist numerous African countries in achieving transformation, freedom, and independence. The African Economic Community was founded by the O.A.U. in 1991, and the African Union was established by the O.A.U. in 2002. A total of 21 countries have joined the O.A.U. since its inception.

On May 23, 1994, South Africa joined as the 53rd member. African Liberation Day or African Freedom Day was observed in Ethiopia, South Africa, and Ghana on April 15, 1958, following the first Conference of Independent African States. In Ghana, African Unity Day replaced this holiday in 1963. Despite being renamed the African Union, the name and date of Africa Day have been preserved, and Africa Day serves as an opportunity to honor Africa’s people and governments. Africa has a wide range of languages. Except for Ethiopia, every African country has one of the following official languages — English, Portuguese, French, or Arabic. https://nationaltoday.com/global-africa-day/

Apart from Ethiopia and Liberia, Europe colonized every country in Africa. After the colonized obtained independence, one of their official languages remained the colonizers. Liberia had previously adopted English as its official language after being founded by African-American settlers in 1847. Ethiopia was never colonized, despite being briefly occupied by Italy before WWII.

Juneteenth USA

Juneteenth is acknowledged on page xx with an article on the work of Ibram X. Kendi and here we offer a description of one way to celebrate Juneteenth.

A Joyous Juneteenth Feast Uplifts Grow Dat in City Park

THE CULTIVATED LAND around Grow Dat Youth Farm will yield some 50,000 pounds of kale, squash, tomatoes and other vegetables in a year. They are also part of a program that produces a lot more than fresh food.

From this seven-acre stretch tucked away in City Park, Grow Dat is a program that uses farming and environmental stewardship as a vehicle for personal development for local youth.

The nonprofit has been pursuing this work for a dozen years now, and this spring it’s inviting the public to two unique culinary events, both to showcase its own work and to celebrate diverse areas of excellence within the local culinary community.

That starts with its Spring Dinner on May 23 with a farm tour, cocktail reception and an outdoor meal. It’s the revival of farm dinner Grow Dat held before the pandemic, and this return has a special theme, led by a collection of women who has each made her name in the New Orleans food realm.

Then on June 19 Grow Dat will be the setting for Afro Freedom / Afro Feast, an outdoor dinner aligned with the Juneteenth holiday and led by Serigne Mbaye, chef of the modern African restaurant Dakar NOLA (and a finalist for this year’s James Beard award for Emerging Chef, a national honor). See more details on both below.

Visiting Grow Dat can be a revelation for first timers, and an oasis at the intersection of nature, community and empowerment for those familiar with its work.

Each year, the group convenes high school students from schools around the city for its youth development program. They learn to grow food from seed to harvest, and that food is sold through Grow Dat’s CSA and at farmers market stands staffed by the students and also distributed to low-income residents through the group’s Shared Harvest program.

Julie Gable, co-executive director of Grow Dat, said people often ask if the program is about teaching young people to be farmers.

“It’s more than teaching them about farming, we’re teaching them how to be leaders,” she said.. “It’s about how things work in the real world when you have a job, how you keep that job, how you communicate with people who have different experience from you, what it’s like to bring something back into your community.”

As they progress through the program, students take on leadership roles at the farm and through community outreach.

“They get to keep evolving through the program,” Gable said. “Youth who started out knowing nothing walking in are now leading programs here.”

The property occupies a piece of City Park within the Wisner Tract, which before Hurricane Katrina was a golf course. It’s now a spread of natural splendor, wildlife included, nestled in a curve in a lagoon lined by live oaks. The land itself is a teaching tool, and a unifying setting.

“Our youth is so diverse, we have young people who have never put their hands in dirt, and others who have traveled around the world – you’re putting all these young people together in one space,” Gable said.

“They learn that we need to put our hands in the ground and grow something and then we’re taking that food and giving it to people in our communities and people in need.”

Afro Freedom / Afro Feast, June 18, 3-7 p.m.

For the past few years, chef Mbaye of Dakar NOLA has organized a community dinner around Juneteenth, the holiday marking the day when formerly enslaved people got word of their emancipation. Last year, he held the event in Mississippi. This year Afro Freedom / Afro Fest is back in New Orleans at Grow Dat.

Effie Richardson, Mbaye’s partner in Dakar NOLA, said keeping the event on a farm is an important part.

“The idea is of food coming from the land, that’s what our ancestors were doing,” she said. “So

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