Great interview! Thanks for sharing, Gloria. I agree, the best bridge to connect Africa to its Diasporas would be through critical analyses and exchanges of knowledge production and sources. This is particularly so with the people of African dissent in the Caribbean. If those Pan-Africanists of old (Garvey, Nkrumah, Azikiwe, etc) were well aware of this channel and explored it, rather than focus on the political and historical connections alone, the effort would have probably yielded tangible outcomes than it did. Glad to hear of Prof. Bewaji's awareness of that bridge earlier in his academic life. Many years back, I taught a huge multidisciplinary class at UW-Madison, "African and African-American Connections," which the then Chair of African-American Studies (Dr. Freida Tesfagiorgis) and I designed specifically to address this same issue. Eight departments co-shared the course. Anyway, kudos, Ojogbon Bewaji!
Michael O. Afoláyan