“Umoja” means “unity” in a black African language that shares many roots with a large number of black African languages, Swahili. It is therefore appropriate for there to be an event in Seattle called Umoja Festival. It celebrates the pan-Africanism that took form in the 1960s. I, as a 21st century black African, still feel the power of this vision of black togetherness. Blacks in Britain, in Africa, in the West Indies, in South America, in North America—all of them become richer if they connect and exchange concepts and cultural innovations.
The Umoja Festival happens in a park devoted to a great black American, Jimi Hendrix. And will feature a performance by one of the greatest rappers the city has produced, the former-206 poet Rajnii Eddins. (For those with a long memory, you will recall that Rajnii, with his mother, made a big splash at the Stranger Gong Show back in the day.) Black America made America an African country. Let’s celebrate that fact.
Umoja Festival begins with a 23 and Union at 12:30 PM with a Parade & Black Unity March. You can see Rajnii Eddins at 7 PM at Jimi Hendrix Park.
