Category: American Odessey

American Odessey

James Magot| Lancaster City man commemorates 20th anniversary arriving in America from Sudan with children’s book about multi-cultural identity

By Jermaine Rowley | fox43

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — An active leader in Lancaster refugee communities is taking a creative approach to inform children and their parents about multi-cultural identity. James Magot, 40, a former South-Sudanese “Lost Boy” refugee is developing his first children’s storybook with the help of illustrator Tess Feiler and a few other local collaborators in honor of his 20th anniversary of arriving in America.

Continue reading “James Magot| Lancaster City man commemorates 20th anniversary arriving in America from Sudan with children’s book about multi-cultural identity” →
American Odessey, People

Martin Kabaki | Florida coffee shop owner living the American dream

Owner of Growers Alliance, Martin Kabaki, moved to the U.S. from Kenya about 20 years ago and saw an opportunity to help coffee farmers in his homeland.

By Leah Shields | First Coast News

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American Odessey

Why Emeka Izeze, a Nigerian editor, loves the Department of Motor Vehicles in America

By Paul Glader  | The Island Now

Emeka Izeze was sharing highlights about his time as a visiting scholar at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University as we drove along Highway 1 in Southern California on our way to a non-profit board meeting.

“I obtained my driver’s license in Cambridge,” said Izeze, the former editor-in-chief of The Guardian newspaper in Lagos, Nigeria. “And I have to tell you what was extremely impressive: the Department of Motor Vehicles!”

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American Odessey, People

Elon Musk: South African-born billionaire says ‘America is the land of opportunity – there is no other country where I could have done this’

By Taylor Locke | CNBC

Growing up in South Africa, Elon Musk  read plenty of books but was especially inspired by science fiction.  The genre motivated him to create “cleaner energy technology or [build] spaceships to extend the human species’s reach” in the future, according to the book “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future” by Ashlee Vance.

Continue reading “Elon Musk: South African-born billionaire says ‘America is the land of opportunity – there is no other country where I could have done this’” →
American Odessey

Meet three Kenyans who have excelled as engineers in the US after topping national exams at home

by Elizabeth Mwarage | The Star

Students who top Kenyan national examinations make news headlines every time results are announced. Herman Mutiso, Jessy Mbagara, and James Rotich were among the top students over 10 years ago. The trio were admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where they studied different fields of engineering.  They eventually got jobs in Silicon Valley in California.

Now in their early thirties, they share a common story of hard work, perseverance, determination and vision.

Continue reading “Meet three Kenyans who have excelled as engineers in the US after topping national exams at home” →
American Odessey

African-Americans are just familiar strangers to Africans

Africans who arrive America soon find out that there is a big gulf between them and African-Americans. They only share skin colour, not a lifelong kinship.

By JOYCE K. MWANGI

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American Odessey

It isn’t easy migrating to America. Three refugees’ stories

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Sudanese refugee Kuol Deng sits in his Louisville apartment next to a stack of old black and white Western films that his daughter and son will watch from South Sudan using FaceTime.

It has been more than three years since Kuol has seen his kids in person. They often ask him when they will get to come to America — a difficult question to which he doesn’t know the answer.

On the other side of town, fellow Sudanese refugee Rizik Lado sits outside his apartment tightening his shoes in preparation for a run. This time, the run is for leisure, but he can still remember running while bullets whizzed past his body as he fled his village in South Sudan.

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American Odessey

Ghanaian-born Stephen Osei explains how his life is the American Dream

The American Dream is said to be dying, but one immigrant from Ghana rejects this idea. Stephen Osei immigrated to the United States in the late 1970s from Kumasi, Ghana, in pursuit of a better life for him and his family.

Now an American citizen, he describes his difficult story in his book, “I Love America” and outlines how anyone in the United States can succeed if they try.

“The fact you are born poor — this doesn’t mean you grow up to be poor,” he explains in an interview with The Daily Caller.

Continue reading “Ghanaian-born Stephen Osei explains how his life is the American Dream” →

American Odessey

Elon Musk: The Most Famous African in America

by Ebimo Amungo

Many people think that there are only black Africans in America, but the truth is that there is a sizable number of Caucasians, Indians and Chinese and people from other races who call Africa home. The most famous of them is Elon Musk, the visionary founder Paypal, Space X and Tesla who is a native-born African in America.

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American Odessey

The Most Famous African in America is a White Man

by Olumide Ebimo Amungo

Many people think that there are only black Africans in America. But the truth is that there is a sizable number of Caucasians, Indians and Chinese and people from other races who call Africa home but who have emigrated from the continent to America and other developed nations. The most famous of them is Elon Musk, the visionary entrepreneur who is a native-born African in America.

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American Odessey

The Invasion of Irving Park by General Darren and his troops
Olumide Ebimo Amungo
A visit to one of New York’s neighborhood parks got me acquainted with the people who keep the park system functioning.

It was a balmy day and as is so often the case, I found myself gravitating to one of the parks in New York. I walked into Irving Park, situated between Knickerbocker and Wilson Avenues and Halsey street in Bushwick. It was around midday and the park was sparse with people. The sun was high up and the few benches under trees where taken by people who were either reading, contemplating or discussing with a partner. Continue reading “The Invasion of Irving Park by General Darren and his troops” →

American Odessey

I got my first movie role in America

Olumide Ebimo Amungo

I stumbled onto an active movie shoot in Central Park and got a front row view of the  huge film and television industry in America.

I went to Central Park the other day and was about entering that wooded haven when I ran into an active movie set. I saw police cars, a taxi rigged up with cameras, film crew setting up and running around to get things in order. So, I hung around wondering what would happen soon.

I was expecting to see Will Smith dressed as detective chasing Jamie Foxx dressed as a crazy psychotic alien serial killer and Angelina Jolie jumping out of a tree and blasting Jamie Foxx with a laser gun. After a while nothing happened so I approached a crew member and asked him what was going on and why wasn’t there any action. He laughed and told me they were waiting to film some National Football League stars. They were there to make a promotional movie for the start of the NFL season. Continue reading “I got my first movie role in America” →

Welcome to Cypress Hills Cemetery. Photos by Lore Croghan
American Odessey

The Bent Pillar at Cypress Hill Cemetery

By Olumide Ebimo Amungo

A walk around Jamaica Avenue introduced me to New York’s vast Cemetery Belt and the ghosts that may lie within.

The French call it promenade, I call it good old strolling. I love to take a walk and since arriving New York it has been my favorite pastime. While in East New York I decided to explore the area towards Queens. Usually I take one of New York’s many straight and long roads and walk all the way to the end. One day, I decided to go up Bradford Street and head towards Jamaica Avenue. The blocks kept falling away as I crossed Sutter, Pitkin, Liberty, and Atlantic avenues until I got to Jamaica Avenue. Continue reading “The Bent Pillar at Cypress Hill Cemetery” →

American Odessey

The Little Boy At The Front Of New Lots Ave Library

By Olumide Ebimo Amungo

I had a fleeting encounter with a little boy who opened my eyes to the Brooklyn Library System

I had just moved into an apartment on  Bradford Street by New Lots Avenue in East New York and went for my first walk around the neighborhood. I arrived from the dainty and verdant streets of East 56 Street just off Flatland Ave., my first place of abode in New York. At the time of my arrival, I did not know that East New York area was one of the toughest neighborhoods in New York, with one of the highest murder rates and various problems with crime associated with unemployment and drug abuse. I only noted that the neighborhood was not as clean as where I was relocating from. Continue reading “The Little Boy At The Front Of New Lots Ave Library” →

American Odessey

Harlem and the Gentrification of New York City

By  Ebimo Amungo

A recent visit to Harlem brought me face-to-face with a socio-economic phenomenon called Gentrification.

I recently got to watching Netflix’s Luke Cage, Marvel’s bulletproof super hero from Harlem. And after also watching shows like Showtime at the Apollo and Amateur night at the Apollo, Harlem became a place I had to visit. I went to Harlem through a long route, first to the Yankees Stadium in Bronx and across Macombs Dam Bridge to 155th street in Manhattan. I took a long walk through Sugar Hill and Upper Manhattan on St Nicholas Ave. I listened to the patter and laughter of children and their parents on the playground that adjourned the avenue and stared at the neat rows of buildings on the other side of the road. Underneath me I heard the whir and rumble of the trains in the subway. It was a long walk to the landmarks that define the heart of Harlem. The landmark called the Apollo Theater by 253 West 125th Street.

Continue reading “Harlem and the Gentrification of New York City” →