9 April
I arrived in NY around 1pm ish and headed first to meet my filmmaker friend Zina Saro-Wiwa in Brooklyn, to collect some footage she had shot of myself, Dorothea, Koye Oyedeji at the Harlem bookfair and interviews with us and Anton Nimblett. and just to catch up on London life (which neither of us are really v. interested in anymore) and West Africa (which excites us both a lot more). Africa is really where things are happening for artists and we both want to be in the thick of it- creating for ourselves and giving back where we can. Zina has some great ideas that I hope she can bring into fruition, Inshallah.
I arrived at Medgar Evers College early to meet Kadijatu Jalloh. Out of the blue, I received an email from her, a student at Medgar Evers from Guinea. She and her family had left Sierra Leone because of the war, lived in Guinea for awhilebefore moving to the USA for refuge. She has lived in NY for 13 years, since she was 10 years old.
She said she jumped up and down when I responded to her email – I didn’t tell her I did a (mental) jump up and down when I received hers!
Here’s the email she sent me,
Hello I am a student at Medgar Evers College, I have a issue that I believe is very important to cover at this moment, and I am also interested in any internships that your organization might have available for students during the summer or any other time in the year.
The issue that I would like to help cover is the violence that is talking place back in my home place Guinea Conkary, since our president passed away a few years back, Continue reading