Africa Day Festival Headlined by Questlove, The Roots, and Naomi Campbell on Memorial Day

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Imani Kerr
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Just because we are in the house doesn’t mean that we can’t experience good music, practice our culture, and create lasting memories. Most of our favorite events are being moved to the online world where we can still enjoy from the safety of our homes. Since we cannot travel, Questlove and The Roots brought us their Africa Day Festival on all digital platforms just in time for Memorial Day.

The Africa Day Festival was a 24-hour virtual event that began on Sunday, May 24. Fans were serenaded with live Dj performances and artists from all over the world.

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The Roots’ production company, Two One Five Entertainment, and The Bridge, which is executive produced and curated by Tina Farris and Suede present: #TheRootsAfricaDay. The celebration on YouTube will feature 24 hours of DJ’s, performances, messages of hope, faith and powerful conversations from around the world and around the corner! Essence will host a Watch Party on their Facebook Page providing a peek into the 24hour experience on May 25th from 10:00AM – 1:00 PM ET. Special Thanks to Aya Chebbi Youth Envoy of the African Union, Ilwaad Elman of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Center and Ndaba Mandela of the Mandela Institute for Humanity for your consultations and Nelson Makamo for the use of your paining “Modumokgole” Respect to the numerous DJ’s, Artists, Managers, Crew and everyone in the Diaspora who donated their time freely to this event in the true spirit of Ubuntu. AFRICA IS FOR EVERYONE See the full lineup below (in EDT): DJ Sets: 11:50 PM Sunday May 24th – 12:00 AM Tuesday, May 26th. Naomi Campbell Kicks off the event: 11:50 PM (Sunday May, 24th) Questlove: 12:00 – 2:00 AM @batida_apresenta_qualquercoisa : 2:00 – 3:00 AM @kkaybie : 3:00 – 4:00 AM @contactmakeda : 4:00 – 5:00 AM @jeunelio : 5:00 – 6:00 AM @boddhisatva : 6:00 – 8:00 AM @djzinhle : 8:00 – 10:00 AM @iamdjedu : 10:00 – 12:00 PM @djsoupamodel : 12:00 – 2:00 PM @djmalvado_oficial : 2:00 – 3:00 PM @djtira : 3:00 – 4:00 PM @poizonivythedj : 4:00 – 6:00 PM @julsbaby_ : 6:00 – 8: @djmohogany : 8:00 – 9:00 PM @nanakwabena : 9:00 – 10:00 PM @questlove : 10:00 – 12:00 AM The Bridge: A discussion in the Diaspora: 9:00 – 10:10 AM Co-Hosted by @blackthought and @tinafarristours Guests include: @tobenwigwe @mereba @nasty_csa @bobiwine Artist Performances: 10:15AM– 12:15 PM Artists include: @ami_faku @ayomusic @bezidakula @bigbirdkuti @blinkybillmusic @mafikizolo_africa @micasamusic @moonchildsanelly @owoofficial @sebastianmikael @sinomsolo @sunelmusician @thisiswurld And More To Be Added!

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The event started with a short introduction from Naomi Campbell at 11:50 pm EDT on Sunday, May 24. She spoke to her audience and said, ““I miss the continent. I miss Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya. They’re all so different but the one common thread is that I feel grounded and I feel peaceful when I’m in Africa.”

According to ESSENCE, #The RootsAfricaDay programming created “The Bridge: A discussion in the Diaspora,” a conversation co-hosted by Black Thought and Tina Farris. Farris, who is the cofounder of the content series The Bridge, made their discussion inclusive with guest speakers. The speakers included Nasty C (South African), Tobe Ngiwe (Nigerian-American), Mereba (Ethiopian-American) and Bobi Wine (Ugandan).

Africa Day is a celebration of independence of the African Union in the fight against colonialism on May 25, 1963. It is no surprise that we got a long list of feature performances from African artists in honor of that celebration. These musical acts included Sean Kuti (Nigeria), Mereba (US, Ethiopia), D’Banj (South Africa), Moonchild Sanelly (South Africa), Ayo (Nigerian-German), along with the rotation of international DJ sets. Im sure this festival had many people dancing and grooving in their homes in honor of freedom!

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