Why we started All African Festival in US  — Olanrewaju

Olasunkanmi Olanrewaju the Chief Executive Officer of Signal Media Links, has said that hosting the annual All African Festival (AAF) in the United States has helped Africans in diaspora promote their unique cultural heritage while also helping their children to appreciate their roots.

Olanrewaju said that he decided to come up with the international festival to showcase the genuine and indigenous rich African culture.

The cultural ambassador from Ibadan, Oyo State and alumnus of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State said that the maiden international festival held recently in the US holds a very promising future as participants were serenaded with various African performances, dances, cuisines, displays by masquerades (Egungun), among other captivating displays.

Speaking during the post-festival briefing, Olanrewaju said that with the continuous increment in the population of the African immigrants in the United States of America, it was very important stakeholders to develop a project like this, to remind everyone where we came from and provide African children with a glimpse of their ancestral roots, beyond what they read on the internet.

He said, “This festival will serve as a mirror of reflection on our indigenous socio-cultural values and uniqueness, and also orientate and imbibe in our kids, the importance of mastering their history and know true story of their origin. We have various and related African cultural events in the United States, but what makes the All African Festival unique, is the genuinely and indigenous showcase of Africa artifacts and working with all African departments to make it inclusive. The interactive sessions with our children is something that is also very significant to the project.

“While I was in NBC media school in the USA, I witnessed different African events across the country and found out that most of these events and festivals were not really indigenous as titled. However, the All African Festival is here, to work with all African communities or groups in showcasing and continuously promoting our socio-cultural heritage values by re-affirming to the global community that our African culture is the best in world.

“It would also serves, as an opportunity for the African immigrants and US-born alike to come together, share their experiences, and support each other year after year. This maiden edition allowed the African children to demonstrate their talent in music, dance, art and crafts as a means of “stepping into the future, dismissing racial barriers” that hold them back in the reality of race relations in the United States.

“Lastly, we believe that the All African Festival 2025 would be bigger, greater and better, as we intend to work with various reputable private and government cultural departments, to make it more relatable to everyone”.

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