BY MEGAN OMOLO
South Philly Review
Woodland Avenue highlights Southwest Philadelphia’s vibrant African Diaspora community during the inaugural Africatown Diaspora Festival.
On the last Sunday of June, the heartbeat of Africatown, also known as Woodland Avenue, was taken over by African diasporic pride. From 59th to 65th Street, the Southwest Philadelphia community took to the streets to make history as they proudly displayed the defining colors of their home flags, a mouthwatering variety of ancestral cuisines and the afro-fusion beats of their music. There wasn’t just one language, flag or culture represented, but a vibrant melting pot of thriving African, Caribbean and Black American culture that has long shaped the community from Woodland Avenue.
The first-of-its-kind festival was years in the making, celebrating a community of people who have long embraced the cultural richness embedded in the narrow Philadelphia street as home. With the newest addition of colorful signage draped over the fence at 60th street, Africatown opened its local restaurants, boutiques and business to a new wave of visitors discovering its greatness.
Walking proudly across the sun-kissed pavements in a statement green, white and orange Ivory Coast wrapped hat, an event sponsor and communications director of African Culture Alliance of North America reflected on the building blocks that led to the day’s historic celebration.
“This festival is long in the making,” reflected Kou Dolo. “Many years of dreaming and hoping, and this day is a dream to realize. It was the dream Mr. Voffee Jabateh envisioned.”
Hailing from the majestic green mountain peaks of Nimba County, Liberia, Voffee Jabateh came to the U.S. over 30 years ago with, as he often says, no more than $20 in his pockets. It was here in Southwest Philadelphia that Jabateh built a legacy of advocacy, founding the African Culture Alliance of North America as a nonprofit organization in 1999, earning a master’s in social work from Temple University and devoting his career to the African diasporic communities in his neighborhood. Through a voice of advocacy, compassion and vision of unwavering leadership, Jabateh built a community of togetherness powerful enough to bring the global African community together in the Philadelphia region.
Looking out at a crowd of friends, colleagues and found family, Jabateh took to the Diaspora Festival stage with a few words for the community that has supported his vision every step of the way.
“We are one people, one cause, one destiny, and I want to thank you all for coming out today to achieve what we have today,” championed Jabateh, as he left a heartfelt message to the African diasporic community that has planted roots across the Philadelphia region, and blended its diverse cultures to create a distinct “Little Africa” of its own.
“Today, an estimated 50,000 African immigrants are living in the Greater Philadelphia area, representing a variety of nations, cultures, languages and connecting a diaspora of heritages to the City of Brotherly Love,” according to Global Philadelphia. Though the largest communities of African immigrants come from Nigeria, Liberia, Ethiopia and Ghana, the festival’s diverse display of heritages told stories of people far beyond the continent’s most populated regions. As various global African communities adorned themselves in outfits that showcased pieces of their rich cultures, the event marked the beginning of a summer defined by culture, freedom and unity. Other events commemorating Africatown signage include ACANA Fest, World Cup watch parties, basketball tournaments and an upcoming ball, all expected to draw just as large a crowd.
As the June heat greeted the Africatown Diaspora Festival, so did the community that welcomed each other like family. What unfolded was a block party of cultural unity, ensuring guests had an afternoon of taste across the diaspora with a variety of spiced cuisine, learning as they came across various vendors with different fabrics, outfits and accessories that carried deep ancestral stories and, most importantly, a community that made all attendees feel embraced in the historic celebration no matter what corner of the diaspora they hailed from.
As the music and the celebrations ensued into the evening, Mayor Cherelle Parker left attendees with a lasting message of unity, “Our hope is that Africatown is going to be a success. No matter what division exists, we are one, and Africatown will thrive.”
With a rallying chant of Southwest Philadelphia pride, the crowd answered, “One Philly, a united city, one America, a united nation.” ••
Traditional African Dogon stilt walkers entertain the surrounding crowd.
Neighbors embrace each other like family.
Philadelphia’s municipal government officials are all smiles on the historic day.
Woodland Avenue draws a sizable crowd for the Africatown Diaspora Festival.
