Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora

Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora (Ghana) and Harambee Organisation of Black Unity (UK), in collaboration with Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (USA) and Tender Photos (Nigeria), present a conversation that illuminates and excavates the Black Atlantic gap and how writers have sought to bridge that gap with their words. Through their work, these distinguished writers, publishers and Pan-Africanists ensure Africans on the continent and in the diaspora remain connected one page at a time.

Voices of Afrika and the Diaspora: How Writing Bridges the Black Atlantic Gap will take place online on Saturday, 28 March 2026 at 2 pm GMT / 10 am EST

Speakers are:

• Paul Coates is a publisher, printer, community activist, and former Black Panther Party member. He founded the Black Classic Press to republish significant out-of-print works by people of African descent. He established BCP Digital Printing in 1995 and served as the Baltimore Black Panther Party defense captain in 1970–1971, and later created the George Jackson Prison Movement to provide literature to incarcerated individuals. He is a former Howard University librarian and was named the 2024 recipient of the National Book Foundation’s Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.
• Professor Edem Adotey is a historian in the History and Politics Section of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, where he teaches courses on African Historiography and Methodology, The Slave Trade and Africa, Colonial Rule and African Responses and History of Pan-Africanism.
• vangile gantsho is a poet, healer, teaching artist and co-founder of impepho press. she is the current editor of New Coin Poetry Journal and the author of poetry collections red cotton (2018) and Undressing in Front of the Window (2015). she holds an MA in creative writing from the University Currently Known as Rhodes and has taught at several tertiary institutions in South Africa and the USA. her work appears in various publications, including small fisted poems (forthcoming), The Creative Arts: On Practice, Making and Meaning (2024) and New Daughters of Africa (2019). gantsho has performed her work on three continents and curated and co-curated literary events across the globe, both in-person and online. she is dedicated to initiatives that encourage black feminine visibility and healing, such as Ukuthula, a creative writing resistance to gender-based violence, and smallgirl rising connecting the Divine Black Feminine, an international poetry healing initiative. gantsho is also mother, igqirha (mam’uAvukile) and umngoma (Gogo Gcinashe).
• Professor Kehinde Andrews is the first and only professor of Black Studies in Europe, the chair of the Harambee Organisation of Black Unity, and a writer. He is the author of Back to Black, The New Age of Empire, The Psychosis of Whiteness, and Nobody Can Give You Freedom.

The event will be facilitated by Djeneba Deby Bagayoko (she/her), an essayist, linguist and independent Black language researcher. She co-wrote A Bilingual Revolution for Africa, advocating for an African-centred curriculum and Bridging Worlds: The Power of Heritage Languages in Social Cohesion. She was also selected as a contributor to “James Baldwin: A Response” in celebration of the author’s 100th birthday. Her work has been featured in The Kraal, Make It Plain, Maarifa Circle, Mubi Notebook, The Fruitslice and Sapelo Square.