We Are Africa 2010 Road Tour – Carla Hall-African Cuisine from ralston smith.

One of the objectives of the We Are Africa Road Tour is to highlight Black organizations, institutions, and businesses along the way. In Baltimore, we were able to celebrate local entrepreneurs Jamyla and Pierre Bennu. Jamyla is the Grand Mixtress of OyinHandmade.com, a natural beauty products company. Pierre is a filmmaker, exittheapple.com, and allowed us to open the evening with this powerful piece on our culture.

We turned the camera on Pierre to get his perspective on the African Ancestry Experience!

We Are Africa 2010 Road Tour – Pierre Bennu from ralston smith.

Finally! Our hometown stop. I was really looking forward to the DC event. We’d have our African Ancestry family, great reveals, Step Afrika!, an African deejay from ARK Jammers, catering by Tropical Fusion, and the Embassy of Nigeria. A night to remember for sure. Click here to view Kea’s photo album.

Barbara Harrison found her maternal ancestry in Guinea-Bissau! There were plenty of “cousins” in the audience to welcome her into the family.

Egypt? Ethiopia? … Nope, Nigeria! Carla Hall found her maternal ancestry right at home in the Embassy of Nigeria. Amazing.

Ralston had been sitting on his MatriClan Test Kit for two years. I guess it’s because he knew where he was from. Ralston guessed correctly…Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone…”Give Us Free!”

Home is a special place. Our DC-based African Ancestry team got a chance to be involved in the Road Tour and I got to see my best friend, Gina and her mom!

We are fortunate to have tremendous partnerships with different kinds of African-focused organizations. Thank you to Step Afrika! and ARKJammers for helping us to celebrate our cultural connections to Africa.

Eric Chinje of ARK Jammers

C. Brian Williams, Step Afrika!

This little guest danced the night away! She Is Africa! Do You Know?

We’re in the home stretch. Richmond marks the end of the first half of the We Are Africa Road Tour. The good news? We get to sleep in our own beds tonight. The bad news? Not many Cracker Barrels going north.

A great crowd turned out for our Richmond event. Drumming, dancing, and knowledge all made for a good time for everyone. Dr. Maureen Elgersman-Lee looked to Delegate Delores McQuinn for emotional support as we revealed her Mandinka roots.

Waiting for the Reveal

Delegate McQuinn’s family was excited to learn of their Nigerian roots.

Nigeria!

Speaking of family, Kea’s family came out to support the Tour and I Still Do. She was really glad to see them.

Prathers and Taylors from Luisa County

I must admit that the highlight of the day was little Nana Sekou. He stole the show from beginning to end. I need to bottle his energy for the rest of the Tour! Click here to see more images from Richmond.

Still not Tired!

Energy for Days!

Nana Draws a Winner

We Are Africa 2010 road tour – Dr. Menzies – Fisk University & ancestors

“Back down memory lane…”  I sang this song to Kea for two days in Raleigh/Durham, NC.

Kea is a proud graduate of University of North Carolina. So as soon as we crossed the state lines she began reminiscing about her college experience in Chapel Hill. We even found her favorite spot, Pantana Bob’s, and had wings for old times sake.

Our event at the African American Cultural Complex was a good time. We learned more than we taught once we got a tour from Dr. and Mrs. Palmer who have dedicated their lives to the documentation of our history.

And we have to shout out our first African Ancestry groupies! They missed us in Charlotte and high-tailed it to Raleigh to join the Road Tour. Now that’s love

Click here for a scrapbook of our Raleigh experience!

We Are Africa 2010 Road Tour – moments from the road – dancing from ralston smith on Vimeo.

Drexel Brooks
African Ancestry Family Member
New Orleans, LA

Rev. Martha Orthey
New Orleans, LA

Click photo for more images from New Orleans

Ajuba Joy, Poet
Raleigh, NC

We Are Africa 2010 Road Tour - Raleigh from ralston smith.