Neo African Diaspora Podcast: Recent Episodes
Neo African Diaspora
A vibrant forum where we examine the factors and trends affecting the wellbeing of an emergent class of diaspora made up of African immigrants in the US and in other Western countries.
In a previous episode, we discussed upward mobility for neo-African diasporans. Many neo-African diasporans were brought up to believe traditional schooling was a ticket to success. Getting an education is something that is engrained in their psyche. In today’s episode:
We discuss how current models of education/schooling are outdated and do not adequately meet the challenges of the present world.
- We propose unschooling as an alternative for preparing children to become innovative, successful productive citizens and why neo-African diasporans should consider this approach
- We highlight the benefits of unschooling for all children and particularly for gifted and neurodivergent children -
- We explain the differences between unschooling and homeschooling
- We offer suggestions on how to begin unschooling
Call to Action:
- More research is needed to track the trajectory of unschooled children.
- We need to hear more stories about the experiences of parents and children undergoing unschooling, particularly those who are racial and ethnic minorities
- Visit our website (www.neoafricandiaspora.com/poll) to share your perspective on the issue of African immigrants assuming they will be moving back to Africa.
Credits:
- Many thanks to Akilah S. Richards Raising Free People podcast and publications for informing providing a starting point for understanding unschooling https://raisingfreepeople.com/
- Sound mixing and music by Hikari School of Music - https://www.facebook.com/HikariSchoolOfMusic/
In this episode of the Neo African Diaspora podcast, we discuss immigration as a pathway towards upward mobility for African immigrants moving to the West. While African immigrants in the West do quite well, not everyone is successful. We explore the different stages in the immigration journey and the factors that influence success at each stage. We touch on the importance of being intentional and doing your homework before immigrating. We also discuss the significance of studying the trends and trajectories for upward mobility among immigrant populations for policy makers.
Call to Action – As an African immigrant living in the Western world, what advice would you give to someone in Africa looking to immigrate to the West? What lessons have you learned on what determines the success of an immigrant?
Special thanks to my guest Roger Ngong for appearing on the show and sharing his insights on the topic.
Credits: Music by Hikari School of Music https://www.facebook.com/HikariSchoolOfMusic/
In this episode of the Neo African Diaspora podcast, we debate whether African immigrant women in the Western world do better than men.
- Among neo-African diasporans, there exists a notion that women tend to do better than men in the western world.
- There is a widely-held belief that African immigrant women acculturate faster and have more upward socioeconomic mobility as compared to their male counterparts. But how true is this assertion?
- We have a conversation with Dr. George Mugoya, an associate professor of rehabilitation at the University of Alabama. Dr. Mugoya earned his Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Nairobi, a Master's in Rehabilitation Counseling from Bowling Green University in Ohio, and a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation and Masters in Public Health from the University of Arizona
- We discuss what it means to be successful in a Western country such as the U.S? And we also attempt to answer the question, do African immigrant women do better than men in the western world?
Call to Action:
- We need to redefine what it means to be successful - success has many facets
- We know a bit about social support systems that African immigrant women create but there is little known about similar systems available to African immigrant men.
- We welcome you to visit our website www.neoafricandiaspora.com to share your opinion.
Credits:
- Thanks to our dear friend and fellow neo-African diaspora, Dr. George Mugoya for sharing his insights on the topic.
- Music by Hikari School of Music - https://www.facebook.com/HikariSchoolOfMusic/
As we continue the journey of the Neo African Diaspora podcast, we reflect on a common mentality among neo-African diasporans where we assume that even though we have settled in the West as immigrants, we will eventually move back to Africa. While some people will eventually move back, signs are that majority of us will live more permanently in the West, more than we realize. Key aspects from the discussion include:
- What drives the desire among African immigrants to want to move back to their country of origin?
- What are the implications for harboring the assumption that you are only in the West temporarily and will eventually move back to Africa?
- What does the reality look like? What are we observing among the older generation of African immigrants?
- What are the barriers to eventually moving back to Africa?
- What should we consider as neo African immigrants to prepare for a future where we may not move back to Africa as envisioned?
Call to Action:
- Research is needed to track the degree to which African immigrants in Western countries end up moving back to their country of origin for retirement.
- Visit our website (www.neoafricandiaspora.com/poll) to share your perspective on the issue of African immigrants assuming they will be moving back to Africa.
Credits:
- Thanks to our friend dear friend and fellow neo-African diasporan, Ben Mwaura, for sharing his insights on the topic. https://www.facebook.com/Benmwaurarealtor/
Music by Hikari School of Music - https://www.facebook.com/HikariSchoolOfMusic/
In this episode of the Neo African Diaspora podcast, we explore the topic of immigrant integration to understand:
- What immigrant integration entails and the various forms of acculturation
- The merits of integration compared to assimilation
- How immigrants experience and display various forms of acculturation
- Factors that enable or hinder immigrant integration
- The value of facilitating effective immigrant integration
Call to Action:
- We need more research to understand trends and outcomes around immigrant integration among neo-African diasporans
- We know a bit about what immigrant integration looks like for African immigrants in the US but we are interested in understanding what acculturation models apply for African immigrants in other parts of the Western world. We welcome you to visit our website www.neoafricandiaspora.com to share your opinion.
Credits: Music by Hikari School of Music - https://www.facebook.com/HikariSchoolOfMusic/
In this episode of the Neo African Diaspora podcast, we are joined by Peter Kirechu, a fellow African immigrant, as we explore the phenomenon of immigrant transnationalism including:
- What transnationalism looks like for neo-African diasporans
- Why transnationalism matters for various stakeholders
- Implications of the contributions from transnational immigrants especially remittances
- Frustrations among neo-African diasporans in dealing with contacts in their country of origin
- Benefits of transnationalism for neo-African diasporans
Call to Action:
- Do you have a favorite African proverb that you’d like us to highlight on our podcast? If so, hit us up on www.neoafricandiaspora.com, we’d love to hear from you.
- Share your views about the topic of transnationalism:
- What does transnationalism mean to you?
- What challenges have you encountered as a transnational immigrant?
- What opportunities or benefits associated with transnationalism do you value the most?
- What should we be advocating about to improve the experience of transnationalism for neo-African diasporans?
- What aspects of immigrant transnationalism would you like to see us discuss in future?
Many thanks to Peter Kirechu for sharing his views.
Credits: Music by Hikari School of Music - https://www.facebook.com/HikariSchoolOfMusic/
In this mini-episode of the neo-African diaspora podcast, we reflect on relationships among African immigrants from different countries with fellow neo-African diasporans from Rwanda and Cameroon. Key points include:
· The innate ability we have as Africans to recognize each other
· Importance of being intentional in getting to know someone
· Hidden benefits of building relationships with African immigrants from other countries
This episode was recorded in the summer of 2021 during the Cicada season in North East US. As a result, we had a unique background symphony which we hope you won’t find too distracting. Learn more about cicadas at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-are-cicadas-180975009/
Call to action – Do you have any close friends who are African immigrants like you but from a different country? If so, visit our website www.neoafricandiaspora.com and share with us what that relationship means for you.
Special thanks to our special guests Dr. Assumpta Mukabutera and Roger Ngong
Credits: Music by Hikari School of Music
In our second episode, we explore the degree to which African immigrants living in Western countries are able to exercise solidarity across lines of national origin and come together to address common goals. Discussion points include:
- Why social cohesion and solidarity among immigrants matters
- Ways in which communities of neo-African diasporans come together
- Trends in solidarity across African immigrants from different countries
- Challenges in building solidarity and social cohesion among neo-African diasporans
- Opportunities for building solidarity and social cohesion
Call to Action: We invite you to share your views on:
- In what ways have you seen African immigrants within your community come together?
- Do you have any examples of research done on trends in solidarity across African immigrants from different countries?
- What do you think we as neo-African diasporans should be doing to strengthen solidarity and social cohesion among African immigrants?
- Check out the Petition to designate a National African Immigrant Heritage Month in the US - https://chng.it/VrKPyQH5zS
Visit www.neoafricandiaspora.com to share your views
Useful Links:
- African Leadership Group - https://usalg.org/
- African Bridge Network - https://africanbn.org/
- New African Immigrant Commission - https://naic.ohio.gov/
- African Diaspora Network - https://africandiasporanetwork.org/
African immigrants are dispersed across the world. On Neo African Diaspora, we focus on a specific proportion of this population, African immigrants who have settled in Western countries. In this bonus clip, we take a moment to explain why this particular group is special to us.
The Western world includes majority-white countries in Europe and North America as well as Australia and New Zealand. While the population of African immigrants in Western countries is relatively small, it is a fast-growing segment.
Neo-African diasporans, as we like to call them, add to the diversity of majority-white societies dominated by Western culture. They are also among the most educated and well-resourced diaspora from the African continent.
As representatives of this group, we are keen to connect with fellow African immigrants and other stakeholders as we script our journey.
In this first episode of the Neo African Diaspora podcast, we introduce the concept behind the podcast and explore different angles including:
- The growing population and stature of African immigrants in Western countries
- Distinct definition of neo-African diasporan as a population
- Where African immigrants in Western countries come from
- Reasons for migration to the Western countries
- Characteristics of neo-African diasporans
- Implications of migration trends
Useful Links:
- Neo African Diaspora – www.neoafricandiaspora.com
- Pew Research Center - https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/14/african-immigrant-population-in-u-s-steadily-climbs/
- OECD - https://www.oecd.org/migration/mig/Migration-data-brief-5-EN.pdf
- African Union - https://au.int/en/diaspora-division
- Migration Policy Institute - https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/sub-saharan-african-immigrants-united-states-2018
- New American Economy - https://research.newamericaneconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/01/NAE_African_V6.pdf
Credits: Music by Hikari School of Music - https://www.facebook.com/HikariSchoolOfMusic/
The term African diaspora is broadly used to describe people of African descent living outside of the continent. However, there is an emergent class within the broader Africa diaspora made up of African immigrants who have settled in Western countries.
The population of African immigrants living in Western countries has grown tremendously in the last couple of decades. In the US for example, African immigrants are one of the fastest-growing segments of immigrants, going from about 574,000 in 2000 to about 1.7 million by 2017. The trend is similar in other parts of the Western world such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and large parts of Europe.
At the heart of this growth lies an opportunity to elevate the voices of this new class of African diasporans. Neo-African diasporans make important contributions to society both in their adopted homeland as well as their countries of origin.
The Neo African Diaspora podcast is a forum dedicated to celebrating and empowering African immigrants in Western countries. Join us each week as we explore the trends and factors influencing the wellbeing of neo-African diasporans.
Most importantly, we invite you to join the conversation. Whether you are an African immigrant or a stakeholder keen to engage with neo-African diasporans, we warmly welcome you to join us as we embark on the journey to script our story. Learn more via www.neoafricandiaspora.com.