Mama K's Team 4: Netflix's First Original African Animated Series -

Parents who have been looking for children's programs that reflect the diversity and cultural heritage of Africa will be interested in Netflix's latest project.

As part of its growing acquisition of content from Africa, Netflix has announced its first original African animated series.  Mama K's Team 4 tells a story of four teenage girls living in a futuristic version of Lusaka, Zambia's capital city. The girls are recruited by an ex-secret agent to save the world.

Designed by Cameroonian artist Malcolm Wope, the animation drew inspiration for the visuals from retro 90s hip hop girl groups, Netflix said in a statement announcing the deal.  It was written by Zambian writer, Malenga Mulendema who was one of the eight winners of the 2015 Triggerfish Story Lab initiative, a talent hunt for African storytellers. 

Mulendema says she grew up watching cartoons and wondered why none of the heroes looked like her. "In creating a superhero show set in Lusaka, I hope to introduce the world to four strong African girls who save the day in their own fun and crazy way. Most importantly, I want to illustrate that anyone from anywhere can be a superhero," she said in the Netflix statement.

The monetary success of Black sci fi movies like Black Panther have sparked an interest in companies like Netflix expanding their market to Africans and African Americans.  Mama K’s Team 4 is designed to particularly target Black families on a global level. This is a market that has been overlooked, and will give young Black children an opportunity to see themselves on screen. Netflix is also planning to use their platform to find the next generation of African women writers.

The series is produced by award-winning South Africa based studio, Triggerfish Animation, and London based kids and family entertainment specialist, CAKE.

Paine College Offering Free Summer Classes in Chemistry

Paine College  Announces Free Chemistry Class
Augusta, Georgia

Paine College announced that it is once again offering its free six-week chemistry course and registration is now open for middle and high school students in the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area). The class will begin on June 5, 2019, and run through July 11.

Dr. Sardar Yousufzai,Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Physics & Environmental Sciences at Paine College and Minority Affairs Chairperson of the Savannah River Section of the American Chemical Society, will teach this free summer class. The popular course offers students an opportunity to gain exposure to the basic concepts of chemistry and includes both instruction and demonstration.

By fostering learning opportunities for pre-college-age students, Dr. Yousufzai's class hopes to pass on his own fascination with science – a fascination he acquired at an early age. His teaching style is designed to help students see basic scientific concepts in practical terms, to simplify the learning process. As he told Diverse Issues in Higher Education in 2016, "I make chemistry like a pie, so easy to eat, so easy."

The program has proved its worth over the years, with many of its participants going on to pursue careers in science-related fields – including dental and medical school. 

Paine College is a private, historically black Methodist liberal arts college in Augusta, Georgia. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

The six-week program offers classes for middle school students on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 10:40 AM to 11:30 AM. High school student class times are Tuesday and Thursday, 10:40 AM to 11:30 AM. All classes are held at Paine College Campus in Haygood-Holsey Room 220. Registration is now open.

For more information visit:

https://www.paine.edu/web/mycampus/home/-/journal_content/56/10217/157969

Celebrate Pinkster - The Oldest African American Holiday

Pinkster at Philisburg Manor

Step into the rhythms and get swept up in this springtime holiday featuring continuous performances of African drumming, dancing, and storytelling. Experience a recreation of a colonial cross-cultural event known as Pinkster, first celebrated in the Hudson Valley in the 17th century.

Pinkster was a holiday celebrated by the Dutch on Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter. African American slaves adopted the holiday and put their own cultural spin on the festivities. Today, Pinkster is recognized as the oldest African American holiday in the United States, celebrated since the colonial period. The African cultural influence on Pinkster dates from the fifteenth century in the Bantu regions of Congo and Angola.

On May 18, 2019 from 10 am to 5 pm, Philipsburg Manor - 381 N Broadway, Sleepy Hollow, New York 10591 will share and reenact this holiday for families.

Learn a new dance step, move to an age-old rhythm, listen to the melodious strings of the kora, enjoy African folktales, and taste akkra (West African pea fritters). Visitors of all ages are invited to join the parade, dance step across the plank, and elect next year’s Pinkster King or Queen. Throughout the historic site, learn about the accomplishments of the enslaved men, women, and children who lived and worked at Philipsburg Manor. Celebrated author Michael Twitty, winner of the James Beard Book of the Year Award in 2018, will be reading and signing copies of "The Cooking Gene: A Journey through African-American Culinary History in the Old South" in the New World Dutch Barn.

Stop by the Visitor Center to experience People Not Property: Stories of Slavery in the Colonial North. This groundbreaking interactive documentary reveals the scope of Northern slavery through the individual stories of those who were enslaved.

Philipsburg Manor began celebrating Pinkster in 1977, making this event the longest-running authentic recreation of Pinkster in North America. Tickets are $14; $12 for seniors; $8 for children 3-17 and are available online at: https://hudsonvalley.org/events/celebrate-pinkster.

On Saturday, June 15, 2019 from 12 PM – 4 PM African Burial Ground National Monument - 290 Broadway, New York, New York 10007 will also celebrate Pinkster.

Since the 1970s, New Yorkers have resurrected Pinkster festivals in New York and throughout the surrounding areas. Celebrate New York’s vibrant African American history and culture at one of New York City’s most sacred sites.

The African Burial Ground National Monument and the African American Pinkster Committee of New York (AAPCNY) invite the general public to a commemorative celebration featuring the pouring of libations, lectures, songs, performances, reading of proclamations, and the laying of flowers on the burial mounds.

For information on AAPCNY or to become involved, please contact (646) 559-2218.

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