Agenda

TO REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT PLEASE GO TO WEBSITE: https://theafricasoftpowerproject.com/



The Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce Global Affairs Committee has partnered with the Africa Soft Power Series to offer a series of webinars starting 12th August to 29th August 2020.


These webinars will also provide attendees with an opportunity to raise related issues or questions you may have regarding trading in Africa.



CREATIVE POWER: CONTENT, CULTURE & PLATFORMS, WHERE IS THE MONEY? AFRICA SOFT POWER SERIES


More than ever, the cultural and creative sectors continue to shape the world around us, as their importance to society becomes even clearer, especially amid the economic devastation inflicted by the COVID-19 crisis and mass quarantines.

As the world's last large, underdeveloped market, the importance of the creative and knowledge industries takes on added significance when we consider that Africa will be home to more than a third of the world's population and half of the world's youth by 2100.


How can the continent optimize the creative and knowledge industries to propel itself forward?

The Africa Soft Power Series is the first of its kind virtual convening of industry thought leaders from across the globe passionate about Africa.



Session 10- GOING ALL THE WAY: AFRICA AND THE DIASPORA

Black Lives Matter: Global Blackness, Transnational Solidarity and Allyship among black people. A time for introspection.


  • Uzo Iweala (Moderator)
  • CEO, Africa Center


  • Benjamin Crump
  • US Civil Rights Attorney


  • Ebele Okobi
  • Public Policy Director, Africa, The Middle East & Turkey at Facebook



Date: Thursday 27th August, 2020, 5PM WAT [12PM EST]



FORMAT:

Introduction, Discussion, Q&A



TO REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT PLEASE VISIT: https://theafricasoftpowerproject.com/


THIS EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE ON ZOOM

Speakers

    Uzo Iweala (Moderator), CEO, Africa Center

    Uzodinma Iweala is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and medical doctor. He is the CEO of The Africa Center in New York, promoting a new narrative about Africa and its diaspora through a focus on culture, policy and business.


    Uzodinma is the Co-Founder of Ventures Africa Magazine, a publication that covers business, policy, culture and innovation spaces in Africa. He is a member of the Presidents Youth Advisory Group (PYAG) for Jobs for Youth Africa (JfYA) at the African Development Bank (AfDB).


    He is also on the Board of the NewNow, a subsidiary of the Virgin Group's charitable arm, Virgin Unite. He has written three books: Beasts of No Nation (2005), a novel also adapted into a major motion picture; Our Kind of People (2012), a non-fiction account of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria; and Speak No Evil (2018), a novel about Washington,

    Benjamin Crump, US Civil Rights Attorney

    Through a steadfast dedication to justice and service, renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Benjamin Crump has established himself as one of the nation's foremost lawyers and advocates for social justice. He is the founder and principal owner of Ben Crump Law. He has worked on some of the most high-profile cases in the U.S., representing the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Stephon Clark; as well as the residents of Flint, Michigan, who were affected by the poisoned water of the Flint River.


    He has been nationally recognized as the 2014 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, and Ebony Magazine Power 100 Most Influential African Americans. In 2016, he was designated as an Honorary Fellow by the University of Pennsylvania College of Law. His book, published in October 2019, Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People, reflects on the landmark cases he has battled, and how discrimination in the courthouse devastates real families and communities. Benjamin Crump's dedication to fighting systemic racism and protecting the civil rights of African Americans led Reverend Al Sharpton heralded him as: Black America's Attorney General.


    Attorney Crump has served in leadership positions at the highest levels of the legal profession and has been recognized for his efforts by numerous esteemed organizations. He served as the 73 rd President of the National Bar Association and is the current President of the National Civil Rights Trial Lawyers Association. He was the first African-American to chair the Florida State University College of Law Board of Directors and currently serves on the Innocence Project Board of Directors. He was bestowed the NAACP Thurgood Marshall Award, the SCLC Martin Luther King Servant Leader Award, the American Association for Justice Johnnie Cochran Award, and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Eleanor Roosevelt Medallion for Service. In 2016, he was designated as an Honorary Fellow by the University of Pennsylvania College of Law, and he has been nationally recognized as the 2014 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, and Ebony Magazine Power 100 Most Influential African Americans. In June 2018, he was appointed to the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) Board of Directors.


    Attorney Crump is also the executive producer of the groundbreaking documentary, "Woman in Motion," about Nichelle Nichols and the race to space. Nichols was among the first African-American actresses on TV and played Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek the original series. He hosted the critically acclaimed legal docudramas, "Evidence of Innocence" on TVOne and "Who Killed Tupac: The Search For Justice" on A&E. He was also seen on Fox's "You The Jury." Attorney Crump portrays legendary civil rights attorney Z Alexander Looby in the award-winning Hollywood film production "Marshall," and has appeared in the documentary "Beating Justice," the story of the Martin Lee Anderson case, and BET's "I am Trayvon."


    He is the founder and director of the Benjamin Crump Social Justice Institute and hosts its annual Contemporary Issues in Civil Rights Symposium, where national thought leaders gather at Tennessee State University. He is a frequent contributor to Huffington Post Black Voices, CNN, and USA Today.


    Attorney Crump's book, published in October 2019, Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People, reflects on the landmark cases he has battled, and how discrimination in the courthouse devastates real families and communities. With myriad successes on the national stage, Attorney Crump has still made his community a priority by helping to ensure quality legal representation and access to the courts for poor people in his hometown, formerly serving as Board Chairman of Legal Services of North Florida and, with his former law partner Daryl Parks, donating $1 million to the organization's capital campaign.


    Attorney Crump was born in 1969 in Lumberton, North Carolina. He graduated from Florida State University (FSU) and received his law degree from FSU College of Law. He is married to Dr. Genae Angelique Crump.

    Ebele Okobi, Public Policy Director, Africa, The Middle East & Turkey at Facebook

    Ebele Okobi is Facebook's Public Policy Director for Africa, the Middle East and Turkey. Prior to joining Facebook, she was Global Head of Human Rights at Yahoo, in the management development program in Nike's EMEA headquarters, a Senior Director of Advisory Services at Catalyst in Silicon Valley and Amsterdam; a consumer rights policy fellow at Consumers Union in San Francisco and a securities and mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York, Paris and London.


    She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a board member of Junior Achievement Africa and a Trustee of Care International UK. She attended the University of Southern California, Columbia Law School and HEC-Paris.