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As we celebrate Black History Month in the UK, have you ever wondered who was the mastermind of it. Well,  his architect is Ghanaian born Akyaaba Addai-Sebo. After visiting the US in the 1970s and being inspired by the Black History Month US held in February, Akyaaba Addai-Sebo initiated Black History Month in the UK in 1987, which is celebrated in October. Its initial aim was to support Black children sense of self esteem and social construct. October was chosen because it was shortly after the UK summer vacation and was the traditional harvest period and time when African leaders gathered to settle differences and appraise the state of the community.

Akyaaba Addai-Sebo also worked to promote diversity in a variety of roles for organizations including the Greater London Council, African Refugees Housing Action Group, Notting Hill Carnival, and Organization of African Unity. In 2014, he was executive producer of "One Humanity," a documentary on the 1988 and 1990 Wembley concerts for Nelson Mandela.

For further reading: Akyaaba Addai-Sebo - Black History Month 2021

Flashback to a special interview with Soul singer, songwriter and musician Noel McKoy where he shares with Caro Sika his earliest memories of Black British Music talking about Lovers Rock, Reggae, Soul artists and more.

Click below to watch the interview.

Noel McKoy is a British-based soul music singer. His music is a collection of soul, R&B, gospel, funk and Northern soul. Born in South London, he fronted the James Taylor Quartet in the early 1990s and has worked and duetted with several artists such as Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Cliff Richard, Lenny Henry, Jessie J, Mica Paris, Beverley Knight and his favourite - Stevie Wonder, as well as being known as the Dutch Pot owner, a nightclub located in London. He is currently part of the British Collective and also continues to tour and collaborate on a number of musical projects, one of the most recent being an international production with EEDB in collaboration with artists from Brazil and the US called "What are we gonna do? "

 Click below to watch the video clip

Tiramagan Traoré was a general of the great Soundjata Keïta, founder of the Mandinka empire, also referred to as the Mali Empire at the end of the twelfth century through to the sixteenth century.

The story goes that Tiramagan Traoré went to the heights of Kabul (present-day Guinea-Bissau which was formerly a territory of Gambia) with his griot Djelimadou Woulen Diabate and two hunters. During this expedition, Tiramagan spotted a Jinn, in front of a cave, which is a spirit in a form of a woman, living in the mountains. When she saw the expedition, the Jinn became frightened and took refuge in the cave.

Back home, Tiramagan told Waligelenjan, a descendant of Kamisoko, about his adventure. All decided to leave the next morning with a fishing net in order to catch this famous Jinn. When they arrived on the scene, the spirit woman was sitting in front of the cave. Immediately, the hunters launched the net on her to capture her. She, once more, took refuge in the cave and came out with a Kora. Tiramagan married this very beautiful woman and gave the Kora to his griot since he was a nobleman and wasn't permitted to play it. Djelimadou Woulen then exclaimed: "Nobleman, that's an instrument of ours, which belongs to the Mandika people".

It is from this story that the Kora, a stringed instrument of twenty-two strings with crystal sounds, draws its feminine gender. The first person to play it was this griot. When he died, in his honour, a string was removed. Since this time, the Kora has twenty-one leather strings. From the time of the first griot Djélimadou Woulen Diabaté, the Kora has been transmitted from Father to Son and has known more than 70 generations of griots.

Here is below an interview that took place at the Jazz Cafe couple of years back with a griot from the Cissokho family "Diabel Cissokho" by Caro Sika. Enjoy :)

Aujourd'hui, c'est #blackouday2021, une journée mondiale pour la valorisation du savoir-faire africain sur le continent et dans la diaspora. Tout au long des dernières semaines, nous vous avons fait découvrir des afropreneur(e)s. Voici maintenant nos recommandations shopping.

Vous aimeriez acheter des produits de beauté naturelle aux huiles essentielles concoctés avec le savoir-faire artisanal de nos aïeux; nous vous proposons OKHAMARE. Nous avons essayé leur savons et sommes très satisfaits. La fourchette de prix est aussi très raisonnable et vous bénéficierez de 10% de réduction supplémentaire aujourd'hui pour #blackoutday2021.

Cliquez ci-dessous pour accéder au site OKHAMARE et bénéficier de 10% de remise pour #blackoutday2021

Vous aimeriez un sac fait main avec des designs uniques, nous vous proposons la boutique ANSHAWAL que nous avons découvert par le biais de la Marketplace LobbyNoir. Victorine est une afropreneure très sympathique et réactive et nous avons eu un petit cadeau supplémentaire lors de notre première commande passée. Les prix sont également très raisonnables pour des articles customisés et vous pouvez obtenir 10% de réduction supplémentaire pour #blackoutday2021.

Cliquez ici pour accéder au site ANSHAWAL et bénéficier de 10% de remise pour #blackoutday2021 avec le code promo ASW10

Vous cherchez tout et rien, nous vous recommandons la MarketPlace LobbyNoir qui est notre Amazon pour consommer auprès d'entrepreneurs afrodescendants. Nous y achetons nos articles de sport, notre mousse de mer dans la rubrique alimentation, nos accessoires beauté, bijoux etc.. en bref, nous y achetons un peu de tout :). Vous pouvez également obtenir 10% de réduction sur l'ensemble de la Marketplace pour #blackoutday2021.

Cliquez ci-dessous pour accéder au site de MARKETPLACE LOBBYNOIR et bénéficier de 10% de remise pour #blackoutday2021.

JOINDRE L'UTILE A L'AGRÉABLE

Qui n'a pas besoin de créer un site de nos jours ou de 'sachants' pour optimiser les outils marketing des réseaux sociaux. On vous recommande DEME AGENCY et leurs solutions digitales. Ils proposent aussi du coaching et de la formation pour vous accompagner dans votre démarche entrepreneuriale. Et ils vous offrent également 10% de remise aujourd'hui pour #blackoutday2021.

Cliquez ici pour accéder au site de DEME AGENCY et bénéficier de 10% de remise avec le code PROMO DA10 pour #blackoutday2021

https://demeagency.com/shop/

SOUTENIR UN ARTISTE

Nous vous recommandons l'artiste londonien MIC ASSASSIN qui vient de sortir son single 'INVEST' et qui nous exhorte à croire en nous et à investir dans la capital humain pour que nous réussissions ensemble. En plus, vous ne sortirez pas ruinés de l'expérience, le téléchargement coûte moins d'une livre sterling.

Téléchargez le single de Mic Assassin pour #blackoutday2021

RENCONTRER L'ÂME SOEUR

et ça, ça reste notre coup de coeur pour #blackoutday2021: UMOJA AFRO DATING, une agence à mi-chemin entre le site de rencontre, le speed-dating et l'agence matrimoniale. Vous êtes célibataire et vous voudriez rencontrer l'âme soeur, touchez-en un mot à Muriel, la fondatrice et son équipe. En plus, ce samedi, vous aurez la possibilité de participer à un 'Meet and Sip' dans une ambiance cosy, à ne pas manquer!

Cliquez ici pour réserver votre place pour l'évènement du dimanche 11 juillet

Vous participez à #blackoutday2021, nous adorerions en savoir un peu plus sur votre expérience pour un prochain article. Vous pouvez nous envoyer vos photos et témoignages de la journée à info@afroculture.co.uk.

En vous souhaitant à tous une excellente journée de célébration.

Mohamadou est un Franco Sénégalais né à Kanel au Sénégal, diplômé d’ingénieur en Génie des Systèmes industriels et maîtrise des risques. Mohamadou commence sa carrière comme ingénieur Qualité dans un Groupe international dans le secteur automobile.

Passionné par les domaines de l’éducation, la formation, l’insertion professionnelle et l’accompagnement, il décide de se lancer dans l’entreprenariat. Il donne naissance à DEME Agency, avec l’ambition de mettre à profit ses expériences professionnelles et son réseau.

Mohamadou est un entrepreneur & homme d’affaires, un homme de Réseaux, Expert en mise en relation gagnante et un activateur/accélérateur de relations interpersonnelles, profondément passionné par l’économie solidaire et l'Humain.

«Je suis arrivé en France à l'âge de 11 ans. J'avais même écrit une lettre pour étayer mes motivations. Mon père m'avait dit à l'époque 'tu as intérêt à travailler dur à l'école, sinon tu retournes au Sénégal, cela m'a bien forgé. Au début, beaucoup de gens pensaient que DEME Agency, la société que j’ai créé, n'était qu'une simple agence de communication alors qu'en réalité, nous étions autant centré sur la communication que sur un accompagnement global pour les jeunes porteurs de projets »

Cliquez ci-dessous pour découvrir le parcours de vie de Mohamadou Deme.

DEME Agency est une entreprise collaborative et solidaire, spécialisée en formation professionnelle, recrutement, conseils, évènementiels et développement de capital Humain.

DEME Agency forme, conseille et accompagne les entrepreneurs, porteurs de projets. L’entreprise les aide à gagner en visibilité et à créer et/ou développer leurs affaires en leur mettant à disposition un écosystème global d’experts à l’international.

DEME Agency s’adresse également aux entreprises et propose une large gamme de services touchant au marketing, à la communication et à la conduite de projets.

La plateforme numérique deme-agency.com est un nouveau concept de networking qui vous permet de booster votre réseau relationnel et de bénéficier de réductions, offres, avantages privilèges de partenaires multi enseignes.

Une cliente m’a récemment avoué : « grâce à vous et aux personnes que vous m’avez présentées, j’ai gagné 10 ans ! ». Notre objectif est de permettre la rencontre entre personnes issues de cercles professionnels différents de façon à ce que nos clients puissent exploiter pleinement leur potentiel grâce à ces nouveaux contacts.

« Nous devons favoriser les échanges et créer un réseau de talents et de compétences, avec une vision gagnant-gagnant pour leitmotiv ».

Cliquez ci-dessous pour consulter la plateforme numérique de DEME AGENCY.

Vous pouvez également consulter la liste des prochains évènements sur la liste suivante.

À l'occasion de #blackoutday2021, DEME AGENCY vous offre 10% de réduction le 07.07.2021 en utilisant le code promo DA10 sur l'ensemble de son catalogue de services tels la création de site internet, design graphique et Marketing digital.

Cliquez ci-dessous pour utiliser votre code promo DA10 le 07.07.2021.

"Music is my first love, the first thing I actually fell in love with" - Mic Assassin. 

Following a 6-month Caribbean holiday which turned into an 8-year hiatus from music, Mic Assassin returns once again with more hunger, focus, and renewed vision. 

 Musician, Entrepreneur, Director, and Lover of life are the words, which most astutely describe this street-savvy South Londoner. Being disheartened and disillusioned with the politics of the music industry, his time away from music was productively spent setting up entrepreneurial ventures including a visual production company ‘FWD360’ under which Mic directed & edited over 100 projects for global brands, charities, and many grassroots organisations and independent artists. 

 But what is a man to do when his childhood dream and passion for creating music just won’t go away?  

 “I thought about it all the time, envisioning myself performing to massive concert venues. I wrote down everything even the thoughts I'm scared to say out loud. I’d hum melodies into voice recorders then start piecing the tracks together. Inspiration can come at any time of the day, I just have to stop everything and be on it when it does”. 

 From the tender age of 9 rapping in school assemblies to a 16-year-old appearing in magazines like The Face and The Fader, to an 18-year-old setting up his own record label selling CD’s hand to hand, Mic knows the true meaning of dream chasing. 

 Inspired by the hustle and grind of US / UK Indie labels such as Roc-a-fella, No Limit, So Solid and 57th Dynasty, Mic and his team learned and perfected the art of hand to hand selling moving units of CDs around their Lewisham college campus and outside popular music venues. 

 In love with the art of freestyling and eruptive crowd energy, Mic entered many "open mic" and Mc Battle competitions winning many of them and eventually being crowned Jump Off’s 2005 UK Street Battle Champion. This journey of gladiatorial words took Mic around the UK and USA where he would cross paths in combat with the likes of Professor Green, Lowkey and Iron Solomon. 

 The buzz around Mic Assassin grew and lead on to great coverage with live performances and Interviews on Kiss 100 FM (Shortee Blitz & Big Ted), BBC Radio (Ace & Vis, Twin B, Ras Kwame) and Dan Greenpeace (Xfm / Capital radio). His witty off the head freestyles lead Mic to feature on MTV’s Barrio 19 and host a part-time Hip Hop show “Mic Check With Mic Assassin” on BBC’s Asian Network. 

Returning back with renewed focus and love for music-making, combining the visual and business skills learned within the 8-year gap period he is funnelling this new artillery into his new music. 

With a more mature sound and reflective disposition Mic is open to all possibilities that may come his way. 

 “The most important thing this time around is having fun, travelling, connecting with people and making the best music I can. I’m legacy-building right now, building a foundation that can outlive me. I have many creative visuals, films, business ideas it’s all one, it’s all me and they intertwine with each other, but music is my first love and I’ve missed it. I am a better person when I'm making music,  I feel like me again”.

Click below to download and listen to the new single release:

• Ont déjà écumé en vain tous les sites et applications de rencontres traditionnels
• Recherchent un partenaire de vie
• Désirent rencontrer une personne qui comme eux-mêmes, partagent les mêmes valeurs, les mêmes problématiques, la même vision de la vie
• Désirent perpétuer le trésor qu'ils sont.

SACO Superfoods is run by husband and wife, Franck and Lucia. They ethically source natural and highly nutritious ingredients from West Africa while empowering small-scale men and women producers in the Ivory Coast.

Through their health food shop in Salford, they promote a healthy, ethical, and sustainable lifestyle in their community. In addition, they support other local businesses by stocking their products to strengthen the local economy and create a welcoming space where customers can learn about the health benefits of African products, do a bit of shopping and relax with a friend over a drink and a healthy snack in their sitting area.

Click on link below to shop at SACO SUPERFOODS and get your 10% Blackoutday discount using Promo Code: BOD10# on 07.07.2021.

Described as the UK's leading "Super Manny", Joss Simmons grew up in a town called Hackney in London, UK and is taking modern childcare to the next level, defying the odds to give back to the next generation.

As a child, witnessing his mother suffer domestic violence had a profound effect on Joss and he knows only to well where many children, who have odds stacked against them, end up. That led him to create his own childcare service, Jossy Care.

His positive approach is what is gaining him the attention of parents, practitioners, the media and as a childcare practitioner, Joss is also keen to address stereotypes in the childcare industry. Hence, Joss has spoken out on the topic of male nannies being refused jobs on the basis of their gender and the difficulty they face.

In 2017, Joss gave his first public talk about his experience and hasn't looked back ever since. Multi talented Joss is now frequently invited to deliver motivational talks on topics such as depression, domestic violence, children and the future.

Joss recently featured in Time out, Hackney Gazette and East London Radio. He has also won the National Diversity Award 2019 and is currently up for Best Social Media Nanny with Nanny UK Nanny.

Click on link below to vote for Joss Cambridge-Simmons as Best Social Media Nanny:

The album "Mother Nature" is a love letter to Mother Earth and all the values that humanity holds dear: truth, trust, love, connection. 'If there's anything the pandemic has taught us, it's that we are all a part of the same ecosystem—this planet is all we have' says Angelique Kidjo.
The song 'Mother Nature' features artist Sting and many other artists guests joined Angelique Kidjo on the album such as: Yemi Alade, Burna Boy, Mr Eazi, Salif Keita, Shungudzo, Sampa The Great, GhettoBoy, EarthGang, ZEYNAB, Matthieu, Chedid, - M - Lionel Loueke, and many more!