Jun 09 2008
Out of Africa 2.0: The Overview
Out of Africa’s GOAL: When I initially started this blog, I was planning to focus on immigrations issues, with a particular focus on African immigration issues. With a lot of African countries going through various turmoil or recovering from turmoil, Africans are immigrating all over the world. In the United States, African immigrants make up about 1/4th of the black population. While immigration is interesting, I felt there was only so much I could do with it and it wasn’t really a strong interest or passion for me. So Out of Africa became a blog focusing on the news and issues of the African Diaspora.
As I mentioned in one of my first blogs, I was born in Fort Worth, Texas. And have primarily lived in the United States. So as far as citizenship goes and stuff, I’m an American. But I consider myself an African first. I did live in Nigeria for my prime “growing up” years. And without those years, I’m not sure I’d have the passion for the African continent I have now. But even without those years, I grew up in a very large African community in the DFW area, went to an Africa church — if it weren’t for school, pretty much all my friends would have been African.
Even so, I feel like as Africans we are disconnected from our roots once we step away from them. In the process of immigration, and joining the African Diaspora, it’s like we hold on to the past but forget about having an African present and/or future. There’s suddenly this disconnect between who I am in this new country and who I was (and would have been) in my home country.
I don’t think Africans in the Diaspora no longer care about Africa. I’d say most remain passionate about their home countries and still attempt to stay abreast with what takes place there. But I think it’s a task that becomes rather difficult. So through this blog, I wanted to bridge the disconnect I feel personally feel, and the disconnect I see in my fellow Africans in this country. Out of Africa is meant to create a reconnection — to the politics, the economy, the social scene, the progression
If I had all the time and money, I think Out of Africa would be more of a group blog with at least one contributor from each continent. I’d also do a lot more original reporting versus news aggregate.
Out of Africa’s COMMUNITY: I’ve asked my friends about this, and the thing we all want to know more about is the good happening in Africa. The good happening with Africans, on the continent or within the Diaspora. Our big questions are: How is the African community doing? And how can I be a part of the change for a better Africa?
This blog’s community is large and consists of the entire African Diaspora, as well as anyone interested in Africa. If I were going to narrow down the community, since I’m in my 20s, some of the content would probably appeal more to those in their 20s and 30s. And the blog also is to serve Africans who are children of immigrants and not necessarily immigrants themselves.
Out of Africa’s 2.0 PLAN: After talking to friends and family, most of them have said that they think my blog is strong because it covers a lot of different topics regarding African. It’s not one-dimensional and offers many different topics of interests and relevance. New feautres and editorial content will include:
v Reader’s Circle: I really like to read, and I like to talk about books. I had so much fun doing my audio interview about “Things Fall Apart” and would be interested in doing more things like that on my blog. I’d like to have this feature, which would be its own page offering a mix of book reviews and interviews with readers, academics and authors. All the books will be by African authors or about Africa.
v News Column: Running down one of the sides, or streaming across the top, top news stories (from or about Africa) from the day.
v Continental Overviews: a page featuring basic geographic, political and historic information about each of the 54 countries in Africa.
v Out of Africa and Back Again: Discussion about the brain drain and the need of Africans to return back to their home countries is a hot topic within the African community. This editorial feature will offer resources for people considering returning home. Discuss issues and incentives revolving around returning back to Africa. It will also provide information about how Africans in the Diaspora can help their home countries without returning home (after all, it’s not for everyone).
