Annansi Chronicles

Recently, MTVU, the university station of MTV, organized a visit by best selling author Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking) and Ethiopian-born American musician Kenna to a University of Pennsylvania sociology class. The class was in the process of studying the chapter “Kenna’s Dilemma” from Gladwell’s book Blink and the two men made an appearance to discuss the dilemma Kenna faces as an artist who, though heralded by many in the music industry as the next big thing, has yet to connect with a large enough fan base.

Forbes Magazine has put together a list of the “Top Earning Models in the World” according to estimated earnings over the past 12 months. Ranking at #11 is 29-year-old Ethiopian beauty, Liya Kebede, with $2.5 million earned. A ground-breaker best known as the first black model in Estée Lauder’s history, Ms. Kebede, though not as high-profile as her counterparts, has maintained a successful career appearing in campaigns for brands as diverse as H&M, the Gap, Anne Taylor and Givenchy.

Top models like those on our list still bank millions, but only once a multiyear contract is secured. The days of $10,000 runway fees are over. Top models don’t even do runway. It’s considered an internship process for the hundreds of anonymous 15- and 16-year-old foreign girls who swarm the runways of New York, Paris and Milan each season. They do 70 shows in six weeks and are paid about $250 an hour their first season.

A good hardworking model can make $200,000 a season. But chances are that model, once the season is over, will never be seen or heard from again. - Forbes

On April 12th, the Design Made in Africa exhibit opened in New York at 4 World Financial Center. The exhibit is the first major traveling exhibition of contemporary African design. It presents a selection of 30 designers from 14 African countries featuring both utilitarian and decorative objects, including seating, lamps, tableware, wall hangings, graphic designs and body ornaments. The exhibition will be on display at the Courtyard Gallery. Featured designers are: Algeria: Amira Atallaoui-Deverchere, Abdelaziz Bacha, Mhedi Izemrane, Mohamed Faycal Guenni; Burkina Faso: Vincent Bailou and Vincent Rossin, Anthony Labouriaux, Hamed Ouattara; Cameroon: Sandrine Dole, Jules Bertrand, Wokam; Congo: Frederic Ruyant and Julien Robert; Cote d’Ivoire: Issa Diabate, Vincent Niamen; Ethiopia: Fasil Giorghis; Mali: Cheick Diallo, Marianne Montaut; Uganda: Sanaa Gateja; Rwanda: Laurent Hategekimana; Senegal: Balthazar Faye, Frederic Hardouin, Babacar Niang, Dominique Petot; South Africa: Marisa Fick-Jordaan, Maira Koutsoudakis, Piet Pienaar, Strangelove (Carlo Gibson and Zimek Pater); Togo: Kossi Assou, Ameyovi Homawoo; Zimbabwe: Ralph Gallagher.

This should be a good show for anyone in the NYC area this thursday.

• Africa and the winds of globalisation part 1 and part 2.

• South Africa helping the American film industry reel in the money.

• Angelina Jolie travels to Africa to raise Darfur awareness.

• Reuters’ editor-in-chief outlines plans for Africa site.

• Ethiopia and the global antiterrorism campaign.

• New York’s Museum for African Art finds a home.

• Face of Africa modeling competition is cancelled.

• GE’s user-friendly healthcare concepts for Africa.

• “Black Gold”, African coffee documentary, to air on PBS.

• African countries ready themselves for the roll out of One Laptop Per Child initiative.

• Africa tops Mideast as US crude oil source.

• Akon teams up with Verizon for TV campaign.

• PRODUCT RED - In the black?

Luxist points to another interesting African charity initiative, the charity: water organization, launched by NYC club guru-turned-aid worker and photojournalist, Scott Harrison. The organization was launched after Harrison travelled the length and breadth of the African continent onboard the mercy ship Anastasis, which brought basic medical care to thousands of people. Through the proceeds from the sale of bottled spring water priced at $20 each, each labeled with a custom logo to mark their purpose, the charity will bring clean, sustainable water sources to people in Africa. For every 100 bottles of water sold, one well will be built. And they will keep building wells as long as the water is being sold and there is money to do so.

Flavorpill is doing it’s part by co-sponsoring the building of a new well in Ethiopia with charity: water, by donating $2,000 and asking their readers to help them raise the other half, for a total of $4,000. charity: water says 100% of the funds will go toward freshwater well projects in Africa.

Starbucks is making a second book selection this February. On Feb. 15, Starbucks will be selling “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,” by first-time writer and Sierra Leone native Ishmael Beah. Amazon says:

“In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now in his mid-twenties, tells how, at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels in his homeland of Sierra Leone and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.”

Beah, now 26, fled Sierra Leone in 1997 and a year later emigrated to the United States. He graduated from Oberlin College in 2004 and now lives in New York. “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,” will be published in mid-February by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and will be backed by an author tour at Starbucks stores in 10 cities. Starbucks will donate $2 to UNICEF from each sale of the $22 book, with a minimum donation of $100,000.

Gridskipper suggests a good Ethiopian restaurant located in Seattle called Adey Abeba. When it comes to restaurants Ethiopians put together great establishments and the food is very tasteful. If you are in Seattle check it out.

The International Herald Tribune published a good article about a new generation of enterprising African artisans who are creating cosmopolitan designs referencing Africana. The article highlights Ethiopian designer Sara Abera and Kenyan Julia Doig who has been successful in redesigning the kikoi, a traditional Kenyan wrap, for the global market.

The article makes a good point about how African brands can compete in the global design market using heritage and local craftsmanship as a selling point. This is a good point considering most African countries cannot compete with Asia when it comes to providing cheap, skilled labor and an robust industrial production. Popular apparel lines are further solidifying this point by looking to African craftsmen for just that. Premium denim line PRPS promotes it’s use of African cotton in it’s $200+ jeans, while Edun, founded by Ali Hewson (wife of U2’s Bono) and denim designer Rogan Gregory, proudly publicizes it’s use of family-run factories in South America and Africa for production of its collection which is sold at stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Fred Segal.