African Heritage Day - Cleveland Cultural Gardens World on Stage
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation 2023 World on Stage events in the Gardens are showcasing various heritages. The first 2023 event was African Heritage Day on July 1, 2023.
MC Sia Nyorkor with Ethiopian coffee
Audience members came from a variety of African countries including Liberia, Ghana, Congo, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, Egypt, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia. One attendee from Pretoria, South Africa said, "This is the first time I've felt like home since I came to Cleveland."
There was delicious West African food, an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, drummers, dancers and fun for families.
Yum Village - New West African/Caribbean restaurant in Cleveland
Yum Village is a new Cleveland restaurant that features West African and Caribbean food. It's at 2215 Chester, right across from Cleveland State University.
We spoke with one of the owners Carasai Ihentuge who said there are 2 Yum Villages in his hometown of Detroit. Most of the food in the 2,400-square-foot space is non-GMO and vegan, but meat and chicken dishes are offered. Most are not very spicy.
Carasai's father is from Lagos, Nigeria and he grew up eating this food.
For us meat lovers, try the Flip Village Combo which is Mango Curry Chicken with Ginger Curry Chickpeas and White Potato Flips over a bed of delicious Coconut Rice or the DJ Village Combo which is Jezebel Peach Honey Mustard Chicken over Turmeric Rice served with Truffle Oil Greens and White Potato Flips. Neither is spicy.
Watch Carasai talk about the restaurant and the food.
2021
Fun with Maps - North Africa
Casablanca, Marrakesh, Algiers, the Barbary Coast, Morocco, the Sahara Desert, Darfur, Benghazi, Tunisia, Tripoli.
You've seen these exotic locales in movies, TV shows and the news but do you know where they are or much about them? In this episode of Fun with Maps, host Dan Hanson looks at North Africa.
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent and contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states (countries). This first episode in a series covering Africa includes Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco (including Western Sahara), Tunisia and Sudan.
After watching you will never listen to Bob Dylan, Crosby Stills and Nash or even the US Marines Hymn the same.
Drummers from Peace in the Hood performed a Nigerian Welcome Song at a Global Cleveland event in the Cleveland Convention Center.
2013
Abby Abiose, a Muslim immigrant from Nigeria, told what stood out for her in viewing the film Welcome to Shelbyville. She thought it was a mistake the way the Somalis were settled and that led to suspicions. She also wondered why people asked why they were coming to America.
British influence and control over what would become Nigeria and Africa's most populous country grew through the 19th century. A series of constitutions after World War II granted Nigeria greater autonomy; independence came in 1960.
Following nearly 16 years of military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999, and a peaceful transition to civilian government was completed. The government continues to face the daunting task of reforming a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement, and institutionalizing democracy.
In addition, Nigeria continues to experience longstanding ethnic and religious tensions. Although both the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections were marred by significant irregularities and violence, Nigeria is currently experiencing its longest period of civilian rule since independence.
The general elections of April 2007 marked the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in the country's history and the elections of 2011 were generally regarded as credible. In January 2014, Nigeria assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2014-15 term.