(Washington, DC) – On January 26, 2012, the DC Mayor’s Office on African Affairs (OAA) hosted a first-ever Media Mixer with members of African Diaspora media.  The event was initiated to promote dialogue and collaboration with media professionals, and is also part of Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s efforts of bringing together various stakeholders in order to further actualize the Gray Administration’s One City philosophy.

Over twenty individuals representing very broad and diverse professional backgrounds attended the event.  Several African countries were also represented among attendees – Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Nigeria – reflecting the diversity of the African immigrant community in the District of Columbia.

Director Ngozi Nmezi invited members of the African diaspora media to reach out more to the office and continue partnering in disseminating information to the African community in the District.  She additionally expressed sincere gratitude to members of the media for taking part in the event, “your presence here today, is a testimony to your commitment and dedication to the African community.”  Steve Glaude, Director of the Office of Community Affairs who was in attendance, also shared a message of greater collaboration and partnership.

Participants in the event took the time to share details about their media programs, target audiences, languages spoken, and general topic of discussion of their frequently broadcasted shows.  Most importantly, they expressed satisfaction in this first-ever initiative by the Office on African Affairs.  According to Nunu Wako, host of the Nunu Wako Show on EBS TV “as someone who has been in this profession for a while now, I have never been to an event such as this one, that brings together members of the African media.” She added that “others need to follow the example of the Office on African Affairs, as this is the first step to building lasting relationships.”  Moreover, Kemi Fadojutimi, of All Eyes on Africa, echoed Nunu’s sentiments and said that “this event is awesome; we need to do more of it, because it is a good start.”

The Media Mixer served as a great start towards Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s One City Summit on February 11, 2012 at the Washington Convention Center for a discussion on the issues and challenges affecting all residents of the District of Columbia. OAA is also planning to launch similar events in the future to further promote and facilitate an atmosphere of collaboration and partnership towards our common goals with African diaspora media professionals.