The 2016 African Diaspora World Tourism (ADWT) Awards and Travel Expo will take place this coming August 26-28th in Atlanta, Ga. (USA). The ADWT-Awards event will again be presented by African Diaspora Tourism with publisher Kitty J. Pope as the founder/director and executive producer of the event. Co-presenter is the AD King Foundation with its Co-founder/CEO Dr. Babs Onabanjo who is the ADWT-Awards’ founding executive producer. Also helping to produce this awards event is Africa’s tourism guru Ikechi Uko, a foremost travel branding expert from Nigeria who will present an African Tourism component, and socio-economic developer Rev. Eugene Franklin, founder of the Florida Black Chamber of Commerce who will present a Pan African Tourism component. Lou D’Amore, founder/CEO of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism is also partnering to help with the 2016 ADWT-Awards and Travel Expo.

Like the inaugural ADWT-Awards event, this awards event week-end will include the awards gala, cultural entertainment, a Hall of Fame Luncheon and a Travel Expo. In addition, the 2016 ADWT-Awards event will feature two new components where event attendees can learn various aspects about African Tourism as well as Diaspora Tourism. The two new components are: 1) Bantaba: Africa Comes to her Diaspora and 2) The Green Book Summit: The Pan African Cultural Heritage Tourism Roundtable. In addition to having seminars and informative meetings, Bantaba and the Green Book Summit will be a part of the Travel Expo. These two new additions to the ADWT-Awards and Travel Expo guarantee something for everyone interested in black cultural heritage tourism.

Ikechi Uko, publisher of Africa Travel Quarterly, the first travel magazine and website on tourism in West Africa will present Africa Bantaba at the ADWT-Awards event which will be the first ever comprehensive African Tourism marketplace in the Diaspora. Uko is the founder of Akwaaba Travel Market, the largest travel expo in West Africa where travel professionals from all over the world attend. Knowledgeable and savy about tourism branding, Uko says that he has been thinking of the idea of doing an event bringing countries and the tourism industry of Africa to her Diaspora in one setting since it has never been done. “Doing this as a part of the ADWT-Awards event is ideal since people attend from all over the US and the Diaspora, as well as Africa,” says Uko who just launched the tourism event WEIZO in Ghana, an event that brings together major tourism players and honors outstanding West African Tourism professionals.

Presenting the Green Book Summit is Rev. Eugene Franklin, founder of the Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute and founder/CEO of the National Cultural Heritage Tourism Center. Ushering in the “Modern-Day Pan African American Cultural Tourism Movement,” Rev. Franklin, a retired Naval Lieutenant Commander, is a leader who says that his goal is to bring the black cultural heritage tourism industry together under one roof in such a way that those involved will be able to move to the next level. “This is a socio-economic movement where business owners and leaders in the cultural heritage industry can all benefit,” explains Rev. Franklin. “Members and businesses will have the opportunity to be a part of the Pan African Cultural Heritage Market Place.” The Green Book Summit is named for the first black travel guide in the Americas that was written during the Jim Crow Era that instructed blacks on safe travel and lodging. Once called the The Negro Travelers’ Green Book, the popular guide which was available from 1936 until the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 was published by Victor H. Green. For more information visit: http://africandiasporatourism.com/

The Konscious Market brings local artisans together to share their goods and services and gives the public an opportunity for mindful, conscious shopping.

Where we choose to spend our money counts and has a huge economic and social impact. Why not choose to support the small businesses who put their heart and soul into their work and truly believe in what they do?

This event will showcase local Montreal creators who have something special to share. Genuine products from genuine people made with love and filled with good karmic energy.

All are invited on Sunday, March 20th from 11am-6pm at Studio Alkemy, 4978A, Queen Mary (across from Snowdon metro). There will be over 20 local artisans! FREE entry for the public! And raffle prizes to be won!

Black Tech Week has wrapped in Miami, with nearly 1,600 attendees from across the country and beyond, having passed through the 2nd annual event devoted to technology, entrepreneurship, creativity and more.

From sessions on funding start-ups, to youth functions and a women’s innovation brunch that closed the summit, participants expressed enthusiasm about the thought-provoking dialogue experienced at this cultural conference. That dovetails with the vision of event co-founders Felecia Hatcher and Derick Pearson who aim to move the needle forward in terms of growing Black entrepreneurship in the tech sphere.

The conference, sponsored by Knight Foundation, Dell and others, was held primarily on the campus of Florida International University, and was complemented by another tech confab last week hosted by Power Moves, a national initiative to increase the number of venture backed minority businesses in America.

Black Tech Week attendees also participated in a chat with the team from the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. Panelists included the head of that endeavor, David Johns, who called for an increase of STEM education in communities of color.

And White House staffer Marvin Carr, Ph.D., a technology policy advisor who is also part of President Obama’s ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ efforts, took part in a session that focused on opportunities for ex-offenders in the tech arena.