Programs: Minnesota Dialogue on Africa

Community Education is a necessary component of LEAD's community development model.  LEAD has historically worked with a diverse African constituency around their unique cultural adjustment and shared cultural issues of adapting to life in the United States.  It has always been the vision of LEAD to connect the work on issues in the U.S. back to issues across the African Diaspora.  This is a proposed program of action to help LEAD realize that objective.

Strategy 1: Work with the African Community Organizations to design and implement a series of public forums, conferences, and seminars to promote dialogue about the critical issues Africans face in the Twin Cities and across the state of Minnesota.  Too many organizations are attempting to tackle complex issues alone — and we can promote much better results for all Africans in the Twin Cities with a unified approach.  Such an approach is not the norm, however.

LEAD worked with a network of committed African community and organizational leaders to develop the African Community Organizations, which is now providing a series of trainings and technical assistance to build the capacity of African organizations.  One of the interests of both LEAD is to build consciousness and capacity in the broader community through the efforts and hard work of PAC members.

Strategy 2: Create a new forum to promote Pan-African unity around the issues of the African Diaspora.  The working title "MN African Dialogue/Forum" is proposed as the name for this effort.  The MNAD brings together African and non-African scholars and activists to promote consciousness and dialogue around the issues of the "African World" — what they are, what people are doing about them, and what we must consider in order to realize greater results.

The objective of the Forum is to promote African unity, rather than narrow nationalism and tribalism.  We encourage and applaud the efforts of African refugees and immigrants to keep their cultures and kinship networks vital.  We also think it is necessary to recognize that there are many common issues we face as Africans in the world, and that we can better face those issues united than divided.

LEAD Group launches this initiative in collaboration with MN Council of Nonprofits — MCN and the Center for Policy, Planning and Performance — CPPP, a series of public forums on critical issues.

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