July 2021 • Vol 4 / No 4 Understanding, Embracing, and Celebrating Diversity in Maine WELCOME | BIENVENUE | KARIBU | MURAKAZE | SOO DHOWOOW | BEM VINDO | BOYEYI MALAMU FREE In this Issue Juneteenth..................................2 Beautiful Blackbird Festival.....3 Publisher’s Editorial..................6 Immigration & the workforce.11 Finding freedom from Trauma Part II..................................12/19 World Market Basket .............14 Food for All Mobile Market African beef & sauce with Eugénie Kipoy Nouveaux Romans: reviews of recent novels by Francophone authors A partnership with Bates College .......................15/16/17 Sending money home ............20 Finance.....................................21 Columns. ......................24/25/26 Nigeria bans Twitter...............27 Bombay Mahal ........................28 Tips&Info for Maine ..............29 ICE in Maine..................30/31 Translations French.................................8 “I wish my teacher knew...” Swahili ................................9 ose interested in knowing more about the internal worlds of young people during the pandemic from Somali...............................10 their own points of view will want to head to Lewiston Public Library, where the digital art show “I wish Kinyarwanda.....................22 my teacher knew…” is on display until August 15. e show is the result of a collaboration between two Portuguese.........................23 educators at Lewiston High School, Deanna Ehrhardt and Sarah Greaney, and students. e work is raw and powerful. 65 students responded to their call to artists. Artwork featured above is by Gavin Adams. Hopeful Links is resource Burundi’s former president nominated for solo minors By Stephanie Harp as ‘Supreme Guide for Patriotism’ By Eddy- Claude Nininahazwe resident Evariste PN d a y - ishimiye of Bu- rundi has elevated his predecessor, the late Pierre Nkurunziza, with the title of “ S u p r e m e Guide for Pa- triotism.” e opposition and President Evariste Ndayishimiye Editor’s note: is article contains general descriptions of youth escaping danger in their home much of civil countries and finding themselves alone in Maine. society is out- raged. ey consider Nkurunziza a “traitor president” and strongly reject the glorification of ne day in March 2013, retired child and family advocate Lucky Hollander received an his administration. email from a Portland high school social worker. “She was sending it to everyone she Ndayishimiye bestowed the new title in tandem with legally establishing a new federal holiday Ocould think of because she had this young woman who was here alone and was losing dedicated to patriotism, which now will be celebrated every June 8. e law establishing the her housing,” Hollander said. “We raised three daughters and we’ve had teens in and out of holiday was enacted on the eve of the one-year commemoration of Nkurunziza’s unexpected our house all the time, so the idea of possibly housing somebody was not that big of a deal for death. He died June 8, 2020, in Karusi, denying to the end the existence of the COVID-19 pan- Continued on page 31 Continued on page 4 2 • Vol 4 / No 4 Amjambo Africa.com with the idea of creating a work of art expressing Juneteenth celebrated the concerns of the Black community in Port- land concerning police brutality. MIO facilitated in Portland with vision an aerschool project that brought together a group of young people to create the play through storytelling and “theater of the oppressed” exer- of future | By Lillian Lema cises, a method of dramatizing and discussing forms of oppression. “We decided to make the play e Weeping City. And 10 years later we are still fighting for justice and peace for Black and brown lives all over the world,” said Valmond-Bell. Bruce King, Maine Inside Out’s co-executive director, recognizes the importance of people coming together, especially when it comes to moving the community forward. “Part of the reason MIO utilizes theater is be- cause it’s a collective effort that brings people to- gether,” King said. “Congregating in itself is a political act, a social act. It’s the core of human- ity… to have us learning about Juneteenth, and Titi de Baccarat tells stories of Gabon | Photo Steven Bridges working through what it means together is an in- graduated in 2020 with a major in sculptin credibly powerful experience.” Although the past year has been difficult and treacherous, Aer last year’s Juneteenth celebration, Lynch realized it she believes it also caused an awakening. Prior to the pan- wasn’t just the adults who benefited from the events – young demic, she said, “Everyone was too busy and kept in their children did, too. So one of Lynch’s goals this year was to in- own worlds. But the pandemic caused people to reflect, react corporate activities that were geared toward young children. to the murder of George Floyd, and realize the systemic in- Athena Lynch | Photo Joseph Shaw “e kids are definitely paying attention .... How crazy is justice that has hurt the Black community, not just nation- When artist and activist Athena Lynch organized a celebra- it to have a 4-year-old roll up and ask, ‘Do you know what ally, but internationally as well. tion in Portland last year to commemorate Juneteenth, she Juneteenth is? [Even] 4-year-olds are starting these difficult “e pandemic caused everyone to shi their focus… that quickly discovered that many people had never heard of the conversations with adults about Juneteenth and liberation,” was monumental,” Lynch said. And the more people educate holiday. But the celebration was a success, and those who Lynch explained. themselves, and continue to support one another, the better participated gave her much positive feedback. the future will be, she believes. So Lynch decided to stage an even larger celebration this “We are like a hand, where individually we aren’t doing year – one that would combine art, celebration, and educa- “My work is about communicating too much, but when we come together we make a mighty tion – and she teamed up with a variety of other organiza- Black life, whether it’s from the past, fist,” she explained. “at is how I see our community, and tions on a two-day celebration. Maine Inside Out (MIO), society as a whole. We are becoming a mighty fist. And the Maine Youth Justice, Friends of Congress Square Park, Little in the present, or what it will look like stronger we become, we will bring up the other fist, too. And Chair Printing, and Love Lab Studios all participated. these fists are creating action.” e Juneteenth celebrations kicked off on ursday in the future.” — Athena Lynch evening, June 17, with an online virtual open mic where MIO members gave spoken word performances about June- teenth. e next evening, June 18, MIO and Maine Youth Artist Titi de Baccarat launched the events on Saturday, Justice performed the theater piece e Weeping City in June 19, by regaling the audience with stories from his native Congress Square Park. Gabon. roughout the day, there was a chalking area, e origins of e Weeping City date back 10 years to printmaking station, and bracelet-making booth, all de- when Nancy Valmond-Bell, an MIO volunteer, came up signed to engage the young and the young-at-heart. Maine Youth Justice had a booth, and so did performing artists Sig- nature Soul. To feed attendants, Yardie Ting was on hand, serving up authentic Jamaican dishes with a modern twist. And toward the end of the celebrations, Portland City Councilor Pious Ali read the city’s official proclamation for Juneteenth and presented it to Lynch. Lynch’s ultimate goal is for the city of Portland to create a citywide, official Juneteenth Day celebration. “Juneteenth is the perfect vehicle for combining art, community, action, celebration, dialogue, and education,” she said. “You don’t have to just learn in a classroom. Learning is a continuous thing in life.” “My artistic practice is to be an artist that is in a commu- nity and actively creating as a part of a community … cre- ating art that not only the community appreciates, but represents them,” she said. Lynch moved to Maine in 2014 and attended Maine Col- lege of Art in Portland, drawn by MECA’s public engage- ment minor, which aligned with her artistic practice. She Namory Keita | Joseph Shaw All ages enjoyed the Juneteenth celebration | Steven Bridges Amjambo Africa.com Vol 4 / No 4 • 3 Black is Beautiful by Kirsten Cappy “Black is beautiful” is both the repeated phrase in Ashley Bryan’s children’s book Beautiful Blackbird and the message Black and brown children need to hear (repeat- When the festival returns this August, the roots, identity, and resilience of Black and brown edly). Indigo Arts Alliance has once again committed to liing the beauty of Blackness in people will again be on our screens and in the pages of delivered books. Each book will be the second annual Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival. shared through a read aloud, a creator interview, an art activity, and more. e festival will e festival was created to honor Maine’s legendary children’s book creator and visionary kick off with the artistry of Ashley Bryan as community members voice the stanzas of his ABC’s artist Ashley Bryan. e festival’s mission is to celebrate children’s book authors and illus- of African American Poetry. Look for an online teaser this month at BeautifulBlackbird.com. trators from across the African diaspora. In doing so, the festival and the books it features “I love poetry. It’s at the heart of everything I do,” Bryan says. “Poetry transforms what we offer children of color an opportunity to see themselves reflected in literature and to interact call language, and uses language as the stuff to become something else.