Afrikan Goddess (AG) Online

The Interview: By N. Amma Twum-Baah

Question:  Please tell me a little bit about yourself: Your early childhood, family and life growing up, your childhood dreams, educational background etc. If you don’t mind, you can also reveal your age (early twenties, late twenties, early thirties …)

Answer:   I grew up in a small iron ore mining community where the residents were a mix of people from all over the world. Europe, America, Asia, the Middle East, Liberia and a host of other African countries. Within these groups were different levels of status and class and I guess that was my training ground for learning how to interact and work with people from many different backgrounds.

Both of my parents worked hard to provide a comfortable life for me and my siblings. They showed us that hard work pays off. We didn't have a driver to take us to school and back but we went to private schools, had hired help to assist around the house, had all of our needs met and then some, we had a VCR that allowed us to follow American Pop Culture and subscriptions to magazines like Essence and Right On! There was a significant Western influence on the kids that grew up in my community.

Like most African households, education was serious business in our home. Good grades were not only expected but required. Because my mom was one of the first females in her family to graduate from high school and start a career, it was important to her for her girls to understand the importance of girls getting a good education. At a time when most women depended on their husbands for any kind of support, she constantly reminded us that an education will provide independence and the freedom to achieve your dreams.

My kids (12, 7 and 3) are puzzled when I tell them that I grew up in a home similar to our ranch-styled home that had a lush green lawn and just about the exact same amenities---the Liberian civil war took all that away but I have many happy memories of growing up.

I was also into sports. I played kickball and volleyball in elementary school and then basketball in high school and beyond. People who knew me when I was growing up know me for my basketball skills and others who got to know me after that period of my life find it hard to picture me as a “baller”.

I've always loved the arts---whether it was participating in school talent shows, creative writing or designing and sewing fashion assembles---I was happy when I was engaged in the arts. Whenever the question “what do you want to be when you grow up” was asked in our home, my answer was always tilted toward the arts. One time I wanted to be a fashion designer, another time I wanted to be a singer, then a writer, a movie star and by the time I graduated from high school, I had settled on a degree in Mass Communications.

I have an A.S. Degree in Business. I returned to college to pursue my longtime dream of earning a professional communication degree and am excited and looking forward to a spring 2010 graduation with a B.S. Degree in Professional Communications with a Public Relations focus. I am a 2008 graduate of the LISC Careership Emerging Leaders Program.

I am a survivor of the Liberian civil war, which dramatically affected me unknowingly. It took me over 10 years to start feeling like myself again---I still feel like I'm not 100 percent there yet. The big things that I realized much later was that I lost interest in doing the things that I had loved doing and I found it difficult to do any long term planning. I guess because of my exposure to the idea that a person could die any minute for any number of reasons. In a situation like that, you tend to focus on surviving one day at a time. However, I am grateful for my progress and often wonder about others who have also been through similar situations. My story is a testament to the fact that just because a person appears to be doing well doesn't always mean they're okay. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is real and should be taken seriously.

I am a thirty-something daughter, sister, wife, and mother of 3 (Rae Simone 12, Jacques-Philippe 7, Alice Anna 3). My husband, Jacques, is my soul mate, lover and friend. I consider myself lucky to have a wonderful family and a lovely life that I truly cherish everyday.

I work as program coordinator at the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA), I have contributed articles to local community newspapers (Mshale and African News Journal), and I'm a monthly columnist with African News Journal and recently started blogging about everyday issues at www.rapaloo.blogspot.com.

I enjoy reading, home decorating, arts and crafts, watching movies, gardening, sports and playing with my husband and kids.

Question: You started an organization called African Women Connect. Tell me a little about the organization. What inspired you to start African Women Connect?

Answer:   AWC is basically a relationship-building organization for women in their 20s and older. It provides opportunities for networking, personal development, community involvement and information-sharing. We also have a summer reading book club. I've always been interested in women's issues and community-building efforts. My initial idea was to publish a newsletter/magazine by and for African women (much like Afrikan Goddess) but for some reason, I entertained the idea of getting to know the women on a personal level, deeper than a few interview questions. I wondered what would happen if we could get together periodically and built relationships. The idea appealed to me because I felt that many of us were not venturing outside of our comfort zones---be it a particular African community, a selected group of friends or a family circle. I wasn't sure what would happen and I really had no set agenda or long term plan. I had no particular strategy in mind; I just wanted African women to come out, meet women outside of established circles and expand their network. So when we bought our home, I invited a few girlfriends and put an ad in the community section of a community newspaper encouraging women to come out to relax, have fun and socialize. That was early 2004 and it has been going ever since.  My hope is that as we build these relationships we will also accomplish things in an organized way that promote the image of African women and our community. Our focus is to become visible in a positive way in the larger MN community.

Question:  How successful have you been in your efforts to unite African women in Minnesota, and beyond? What would you say the reactions of these women have been? Do you feel like you have had a positive impact in the lives of any of these women?

Answer:  I definitely consider my efforts a success. The big question always boils down to the numbers. My philosophy is that if 1 person or 5 people find AWC beneficial, my success would be no greater than if it had benefited hundreds of people---I truly believe that. Over the years, more than 100 women have taken advantage of the opportunities provided by AWC. Our meetings have addressed topics like financial planning, breast cancer awareness, the right way to network, networking beyond the African community, crafting an effective elevator speech and more. We've done fun things like bowling, going to the theater, annual holiday dinner among other things. Community involvement activities have included our annual ethnic food drive, providing meal for and reading to the kids of residents of a battered women's shelter and volunteering as a group to support efforts to help children in Africa.

Women who have attended AWC events have been really pleased and impressed with what we do. They like the fact that they are able to meet new people from different backgrounds and expand their network and that it's not the same group being recycled. They appreciate the opportunity to discuss issues important and unique to African women in a safe and culturally sensitive environment. They enjoy interacting with women who share similar background and experiences. They believe that AWC serves a unique and crucial role in the community and should be preserved.

Let's face it. We, as African women are doing well, achieving our dreams and reaching for the stars. We are doing great on the personal level, we're making sure our family, relatives and close friends are doing well and taken care of. However, when it comes to looking at a bigger picture, beyond ourselves and love ones, we are failing to connect the dots because mainly we haven't been taught to look that far out. The critical question that I'm trying to address through AWC is WHO ARE WE TOGETHER? What's our legacy as women going much further than our mothers before us? We are achieving more than any generation of African women yet we have not begun to figure out who we are as a group, what we stand for and how we want to be viewed. Other questions may be what values, visions and goals do we have in common and what differentiates us from other women?

I think one of our attendees, Gladys, put it best when she said, “The larger community is looking to see what we, African women, can accomplish together.”

Question:   Do you see your efforts reaching the national stage? If so, how soon? What are your future goals for African Women Connect?

Answer:   Hopefully in the far future. There is so much more to be done in MN. We have not begun to scrape the surface. Due to many some limitations like financial support and other resources, things are moving slower than I would like to see. Near future goals include developing a comprehensive membership registry of African women to build a database that would assist with networking and matching experience and expertise with various opportunities in the community to help strengthen our larger community and leverage the women's skills and talents. In addition, we have plans to create a resource database to help members connect to services and opportunities of interests to them. People are starting to think of AWC when they’re looking to reach a cross section of African women---we are very pleased to be able to contribute in that way.

Question: In the process of forming African Women Connect, what things have you learned about African women living in the US?

Answer:   Connecting African women has been an interesting but a truly rewarding experience. I've found that African women are beautiful both on the inside and the outside. They are tenacious, resilient, smart, and diligent individuals. They really enjoy being hands-on and have responded favorably to the community involvement activities---this seems to be natural for them and they really enjoy helping others. On the other hand, there's lot of room for improvement in terms of trusting each other, taking ourselves and each other seriously, and supporting causes that are meaningful to us. It's a process and hopefully with time, we can get better at it.

Question: Besides African Women Connect, what other community activities are you involved with and Why?

Answer:  AWC takes up a lot of my time and there is a community element to it, so whenever I find the time, I do volunteer with my kids' school and African organizations that work with youth and families. I periodically do volunteer projects with my church and friends who are business owners.

Question: You are a wife and a mother, and that comes with a lot of responsibility in itself. How and where do you find the time to balance your family and community life? What words of encouragement would you offer to other African women in your shoes – balancing a family and career? Anything you would like readers to know that I may have overlooked?

Answer: A balanced life mean different things to different people. For me, the things that I need to do are equally as important as those things that I don't necessarily have to do but I'm passionate about them or they bring joy and meaning into my life. It's sort of a holistic approach. So because they are all very important to me, I fit them all into my calendar and do a lot of planning ahead and negotiating with the people in my life. My kids know about AWC and what it means to mommy; my husband supports me and helps out as much as he can. There are dates that I can't touch, like my husband's periodic meetings that are important to him. Both he and I juggle activities for the kids and when I'm signing the kids up for activities I consult with him to ensure that he can fill in on days that I can't. My planner is critical to maintaining a work-life balance. I am lucky to have family close by to help out when necessary---I don't hesitate to ask for help if needed (very important rule). I keep the people around me up to date about my activities and my experiences with the many different aspects of my life so that they are also engaged in the process and don't feel like outsiders. It's also important that my husband and I nurture our relationship so we go on dates for some alone time as well.

How you make it all work is by setting goals and then breaking up into steps and later into the day to day things that need to be done. It can be done if you approach it with purpose and and lot of planning.

I can truly say that I have benefited the most from this organization. Through AWC I have met and built relationships with some awesome African women who have inspired me in many ways. I am grateful for their interest, support and trust in me to lead them in the effort to rethink and rework our definition of community.

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