The 15 Platforms of Diaspora You Must Follow

For Black History Month we have handpicked 15 platforms that have been making prominent moves within the community. The team have collated this list with a snippet from each platform highlighting the aim and purpose of each initiative. These platforms of Diaspora need our support to continue paving the way, so why not check them out and help us cheer them on!

1. Bankra

Bankra is an online platform dedicated to exploring and navigating Africa, the Caribbean and its diasporas through storytelling, education and travel. At Bankra we believe that our narratives and experiences matter, and it is important that we tell them.‘Bankra’ is a Jamaican patois word for basket and is derived from the Twi language in Ghana, ‘bonkara’ meaning travelling basket. Our vision is to build a tangible global African diaspora community by showing the strong connections between Africa, the Caribbean and the broader diaspora (Bankra, 2019).

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2. AFREADA

Imagine travelling across Africa in a single day. No visa applications, no airports, just awe-inspiring short stories. Afreada are bringing words and worlds together.Cape Town to Cairo. Lagos to Lusaka. AFREADA is an online literary magazine, featuring original short stories from emerging writers across the Continent. A fusion of the two words, ‘Africa’ and ‘Reader’, we live for the well-crafted narratives and effortless reads that speak to our daily realities as Africans at home and abroad (Afreada, 2019).

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3. Future of Ghana

Future of Ghana are a UK registered charitable organisation established to organize, mobilize and advance the education & training of second generation Ghanaians living in Ghana and the Diaspora community. The organisational vision is to help realise a first world self-sustaining Ghana; where young people are placed at the centre of development. The organisational mission aims to mobilise young people to make informed choices about their futures, strengthening their communities locally and globally. They focus on mobilising second generation Ghanaian diaspora to realise the organisational vision via our organisational mission (Future of Ghana, 2019).

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4. Black British Travel Meet Up

Black British Travel Meet Up is a travel community based in London, which focuses on celebrating black travel, culture and creativity. The community focuses on creating an environment which encourages individuals to network and meet those that are also enthusiastic about travel. This has been achieved by organising meet ups, events and workshops. In addition to this BBTMU also organise trips creating memories with those that have become apart of the community.

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5. Change For Ghana

Change For Ghana are a non-profit organisation aiming to bring together the Ghanaian Diaspora in the U.K hence promoting unity, networking and good relations amongst all our members. They aim to create a community of like-minded individuals that will provide Ghana with the change it requires to be sustainable and support our President’s mission of developing a nation without foreign aid by: Building a community of Ghanaians that socialise, educate and support their culture. Organising social functions that embrace and celebrate our culture and heritage. Providing immediate support to Ghanaians in Ghana in times of natural disasters and matters of national concern. Providing and developing sustainable solutions in the form of charitable fundraising (Change For Ghana, 2019).

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6. Avenir Bank DRC

Avenir Bank is a financial Services Banking Group, focused in The Democratic Republic of Congo. They provide micro-finance solutions to the Democratic DRC. They also offer a comprehensive range of personal and commercial products and services. Alongside Peer-to-Peer lending platform to help build Congo. In addition to they also have AB foundation which focuses on creating equal opportunities to develop graduates in banking, information technology, marketing and management (Avenir Bank, 2019).

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7. AZEEMA Mag

AZEEMA is an annual print magazine, platform and growing community exploring womxn within the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, diasporas and beyond. They represent empowerment, strength, resistance and culture. AZEEMA challenges and confronts issues surrounding representation and diversity by creating a space that is inclusive and celebratory of their cultures. AZEEMA is an inclusive space with no borders (Azeema, 2019).

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8. Nana’s Views

Nana’s Views is a platform that aims to keep the wider diaspora outside of Ghana in the with the latest releases from the Ghanaian music scene. This is achieved by curated playlists being shared via the platform, alongside editorial content of Nana sharing her views on the current state of the Ghana music industry. Prior to creating the platform her strong music knowledge was identified by peers, motivating her to create Nana’s Views to close this gap in knowledge.

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9. Mambo Zuri

Mambo Zuri is short for Mambo Mzuri which means (“Good things” or “Good News” in Swahili). This was an idea born from a group of young Kenyan’s living in the U.K, who lacked a platform to connect, inform and network. The idea is to provide a realistic, positive and forward thinking source of information relative to the audience. Their immediate aim is to cover News and current affairs in Kenya and around the world by providing a media platform to our viewers in an effective way in relation to their interest. MZ breed positivity amongst and beyond our broadcast by providing news, which prompts action, understanding, knowledge and wisdom (Mambo Zuri, 2019).

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10. Diasporic Development

Diasporic Development aims to see black professionals leading change and being represented at all levels within the third sector. For too long the third sector has excluded, whether willfully or not, the knowledge, lived experiences, and values of many of the people it is trying to serve. Diasporic Development seeks to create a community of black professionals progressing at all levels. DD will create a safe space for black people who want to be connectors, influencers, and change makers.
They will also provide networking, employment opportunities and professional development. Alongside hold the sector accountable for its failings to attract and retain diverse talent (Diasporic Development, 2019).

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11. Ubuntu SLN

Ubuntu Social Living Networks is a Social Enterprise and Youth Leadership programme based in South East London, Lewisham. Their mission is to spread knowledge of true African history to the African diaspora community and build up our young people through knowledge of self in to positively contributing members of society.  They have worked with young people since 2005, starting with the Mandiani project which was ran in schools and youth clubs in Lewisham Borough with the goal of working with young black boys and girls and their parents to improve their quality of life and future prospects. Young people of Afro-Caribbean descent in the UK have suffered from marginalisation in the education system and in society for some years now, and through the work we do with them we have seen drastic improvements and turnarounds from young people (Ubuntu Social Living Networks, 2019).

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12. Afford UK

The African Foundation for Development (AFFORD) is an international organisation established in 1994, with a mission “to expand and enhance the contributions Africans in the diaspora make to African development”. The AFFORD family currently has offices in Sierra Leone and Belgium, Europe. Their innovative approach mobilises the financial, intellectual, and political assets of the African diaspora and channels them to drive economic growth and social development in Africa. They also seek to enhance the capacity of actual and potential investors and actively influence international policies to ensure that they address the real needs and root causes of underdevelopment and poverty on the continent. Their mission is achieved through programmes and projects undertaken solely or in collaboration with partners in Africa, the U.K, E.U and other parts of the world (AFFORD, 2019).

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13. Afro Pea

The afropea project is influenced initially by the writings of Léonora Miano who make us discover the term. Then came the need to document the “mental terroir” it evokes in Habiter la frontière, this intimate terroir inhabited by all these clashing influences, making it concrete, circumscribing images, myths, past and present stories, dialogue and meet different memories all this to tell the world. In 2016, the project then takes shape with a Tumblr and an Instagram that are digital spaces of curation archives and works of artists who would fit into the Afro-Pacificity, or at least who would question. They have been conceived as spaces for reflection on Afro-European identities in an inclusive and intersectional perspective through bibliographical references, works by academics, and poetry (Afropea, 2019).

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14. GhanaMade

GhanaMade is a digital media platform dedicated to Ghanaian and African culture, music, and society. Founded in December of 2016 to celebrate and connect Ghanaians at home and abroad, we have shown the vibrant culture of Ghana across the nation’s borders. We started our mission in response to filling the gap where Ghanaians in the diaspora are in search of a digital means of connecting back to the Homeland. For the past year since inception we make it a point to post photos and videos of anything or anyone pertaining to Ghana or Africa. The platform expanded from Instagram onto Twitter halfway through 2017 and has reached thousands more through viral posts. In the last quarter of 2017, GhanaMade launched its website on WordPress to engage its existing audience with developments in pop culture and politics (GhanaMade, 2019).

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15. The Only Way Is Ghana

The Only Way Is Ghana – is a web-series showing the journey of Lorissa Akua, a London born Ghanaian. As she works on migrating from London to Ghana, she will be working on starting a real-estate business and store in Ghana. She will be showing the highs and lows and providing advice and tips on migrating and doing business internationally. With a musical Twist! As most of her money will be going into the move, she will be demonstrating how to look great with what you have by up-cycling clothes and accessories with Ankara (vibrant African print) fabric (TOWI, 2019).