Reaching out to the African community

There's definitely strength in numbers. And on Saturday evening at Logan Hall, Philadelphia's African community combined to become a more powerful force than ever before. The Coalition of Philadelphia African Communities -- a group designed to represent the needs of the African immigrant community -- held its first official meeting on Penn's campus this weekend with the help of the University's African Studies Center. "We are committed to African-related issues," ASC outreach coordinator Ali Dinar said. "We want to cut the barriers between Penn and the community outside." The coalition, which met to discuss issues such as economic development, access to social services and conflict resolution, is being helped not only by ASC, but also by the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies. The Balch Institute has a museum and a library devoted to ethnic studies. "Our focus is the ethnic and immigrant experience in the United States," Kathryn Wilson of the Balch African Immigrants Project said. The opening remarks of the first general assembly meeting of the coalition mostly covered the far-reaching mission of the newly formed coalition. Coalition steering committee member Sam Slewion said that the aim of the group was to "help make our collective communities heard throughout the nation." Slewion also stressed the importance of encouraging the establishment of an African Chamber of Commerce in Philadelphia and, eventually, on the national level. "African businesses must be encouraged and supported," Slewion said. Later in the evening, smaller groups were formed in order to discuss the specific issues on which the coalition is planning to focus. In the group dealing with conflict resolution, facilitator Ernie Greenwood of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations emphasized that any conflict can be resolved by those involved. "When two parties consider that they won, that's when we win," Greenwood said. Greenwood remarked that conflict itself is not always a bad thing, but that a peaceful outcome is necessary. "Conflict resolution is a way to find a new language," he added. David Barnes, host of the local radio show African World View, explained that he created his radio show to reach African cultures. "I wanted to educate, entertain and empower all of our people," Barnes said of his radio program, which has been temporarily halted due to financial concerns. "The mainstream media will not disseminate our information," said Slewion, who co-facilitated the media group. Slewion also challenged the members of the coalition to work toward self-sufficiency for Philadelphia's African community. "We can stop being consumers and beggars and start being producers and owners," he asserted. And some groups members said that Penn's involvement would be crucial to the growth of the coalition. "This is the start and Penn is quite interested in reaching out to the African communities and to make that kind of linkage between Africans and the Americans," Dinar said. But, as steering committee member Tomas Mebrahtu noted, Penn must work harder. to establish stronger and more meaningful bonds with the Africans in Philadelphia. "One thing that Penn needs to do more of is to engage community organizations," Mebrahtu said.

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