Glocal Citizens - Episodes Tagged with “Senegal”

Episode 341: Welcome to Kawsara with Fallou Wadje

Florence Amerley Adu — Tue, 03 Nov 2026 05:00:00 -0500

Greetings Glocal Citizens!

This week, our mic and lens are aimed at Harlem in New York City, by way of Dakar, Senegal. Artist, designer, and experiential creator, Fallou Wadje, whose practice spans mural work, set and scene decoration, tapestry, art installation, fashion and wardrobe styling, digital art, illustration, and full-scale event design shares how the streets of New York found her as a muse and vice versa. Her creative identity is rooted in Baayfall, a spiritual and cultural lineage of self-discovery and elevation passed down from her great-grandfather, Maam Cheikh Ibrahima Fall and it shows up in her work as vibrant, healing-driven visual storytelling.

After moving to the U.S. in 2013 to pursue a graduate studies in finance, Fallou chose to heed her inner voice, which she believes is the guiding spirit of her ancestors. This calling led her to embrace her passion for art and fashion, inspiring her to create a beautiful language of expression through her work.

Her artistic vision manifests in everything she touches, transforming everyday experiences into art. Starting her journey as a street vendor with one table, she has grown her business to include six tables and operated her first storefront on 125th street in Harlem, where she sells custom hats, prints, airbrushed shirts, and African accessories.

The pandemic forced her to close her storefront and redesigned her home to a art studio of creativity and receiving clients until 2025. This week, Fallou's new creative space, Kawsara (Source of Greatness), will host its first open house showcasing both her studio and a welcoming environment for those interested in her art. As a talented fashion designer and Harlem artist, continues to bridge the physical with the otherworldly through her unforgettable works. Check out our tour of her studio on YouTube in the coming weeks!

Where to find Fallou?
At her Kasarwa Open House Saturday, November 7th
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Artsy
On Facebook

What’s Fallou reading?
The Prophet Moses

What’s Fallou listening to?
Isaia Huron

Other topics of interest:
Senegal, the land of Teranga
What’s an Outdooring in Ghana?
More about Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill in New York City
About Amadou Bamba, founder of the Mouride brotherhood
About Fallou’s great grand-father, Maam Cheikh Ibrahima Fall
Jordan Casteel’s The BaayFalls on the High Line
When is World Children’s Day
About Iesha Sekou and Street Corner Resources

Special Guest: Fallou Wadje.

Episode 182: Branding Experiences with Begay Downes-Thomas

Florence Amerley Adu — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 05:00:00 -0400

Greetings Glocal Citizens!

This week’s episode comes to you from Dakar, by way of New York City and [Banjul](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjul "smartCard-inline) in The Gambia. My guest, Gambian-American, Begay Downes-Thomas was born and raised in New York City to Gambian parents and currently calls Dakar, Senegal her base. She has more than 20 years of experience as a senior advocacy strategist in strategic communication, partnerships, and media in the development sector - specifically in strategies, branding, and resource mobilization at the country and regional level in Africa and internationally. She currently leads Global Partnerships at SEED Project in Senegal and is a brand experience curator.

As you’ll learn in our conversation, Begay shares great perspectives on the power of leveraging your network, intentional preparation, and purpose-driven partnerships in establishing a work-life balance as a global nomad.

Where to find Begay?
On LinkedIn

On Instagram

On Twitter

On Facebook

What’s Begay listening to?
Yousou N’Dour
Feel Better, Live More Podcast
Senegalese Musicians

Other topics of interest:
Oukam, Senegal
Wolof Glocal Speak, Jàmm rekk and other greetings
About Senegal’s first President, Léopold Sédar Senghor
About Amadou Gallo Fall
About the NBA Academy in Senegal
About Talibés
About [Mbalax Music](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbalax )

Special Guest: Begay Downes-Thomas.

Episode 163: Black History, Black Presence, Black Progress with Dr. T.J Desch-Obi, Dr. Bhekinkosi Moyo, Bara Diokhane, Mustapha Njie, and Elizabeth Rollins-Moskowitz

Florence Amerley Adu — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 08:00:00 -0500

Greetings Glocal Citizens!

As February comes to a close, and with it the annual call to attention, remembrance, and action that is Black History Month in North America, I decided to curate a Black Progress episode drawing on the research of Dr. T.J Desch-Obi in the historical ethnography of pre-colonial Africa and the African Diaspora and Dr. Bhekinkosi Moyo in African Philanthropy, snapshots of pre- and post-colonial Senegal with Bara Diokhane, evolving systems and training leaders with Mustapha Njie and the lived experience of Elizabeth Rollins-Moskowitz, as a creative, as a woman, as Black American navigating career, marriage, and self-discovery in parallel with the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

Each week here on the podcast we’re doing our part to share stories of Black presence that are indeed manifesting a new world so I hope this compilation of Dynamic Diasporans making local and global impact will inspire you, your presence, your progress, and your passion.

Where to find this week's guests?
Dr. T.J Desch-Obi
Bara Diokhane
Dr. Bhekinkosi Moyo
Mustapha Njie
Elizabeth Rollins-Moskowitz

Cover art:
https://akoncity.com/

Special Guests: Bara Diokhané , Bhekinkosi Moyo, Elizabeth Rollins-Moskowitz, Mustapha Njie, and T.J. Desch-Obi.

Episode 137: Adulting as a Third Culture Kid with Adja Sakho Part 2

Florence Amerley Adu — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Greetings Glocal Citizens!
It's a new month, my favorite of the year, and we're kicking it off with a two part conversation that bloomed during the Dakar leg of my spring tour. Joining me for this conversation between kindred spirits is Senagalese-American, Adja Maymouna Sakho. She is an educator, advocate, leader, supporter and connector of people and ideas, who is passionate about serving others through education and social justice - particularly women and children. She has over 10 years experience in education, finance, DEIJ - and has had roles ranging from trainer, advisor, evaluator, board representative, director, committee chair and most important to her - agent of change in the lives of young women and girls. She is also an Africanist and believes that Africans must lead the charge to change the narrative and the current state of affairs of many African countries. She is building on this mission as the host of 221 Afrique, a podcast focused on telling stories of Africans returning home to the continent.

From our common experiences as children of West African immigrants to attending the same graduate school at New York University, this conversation offers great insights into the rich culture and lifestyle transitions that are possible in designing a global existence.

Where to find Adja?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On Twitter
On YouTube

What's Adja reading?
Finding Me by Viola Davis

What's Adja watching?
On Senegalese "Telenovelas"

Other topics of interest:
Yoff in Dakar
Senegambia
Upward Bound
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority
New York City Teaching Fellows
About Third Culture Kids
On the latest Senegalese Musicians
About Eid Al Adha

Special Guest: Adja Maymouna Sakho .

Episode 136: Adulting as a Third Culture Kid with Adja Sakho Part 1

Florence Amerley Adu — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Where to find Adja?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On Twitter
On YouTube

What's Adja reading?
Finding Me by Viola Davis

What's Adja watching?
On Senegalese "Telenovelas"

Other topics of interest:
Yoff in Dakar
Senegambia
Upward Bound
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority
New York City Teaching Fellows
About Third Culture Kids
On the latest Senegalese Musicians
About Eid Al Adha

Special Guest: Adja Maymouna Sakho .

Episode 129: The Art of the Return with Bara Diokhané

Florence Amerley Adu — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 05:00:00 -0400

Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week the podcast is coming to you from my recent trip to the Dakar Biennale where I met my guest, Bara Diokhané, thanks to Muhammida El Muhajir from EP27 (https://glocalcitizens.fireside.fm/27). Bara was born and raised in Dakar, Senegal. In 2018 he returned after an interesting career journey in New York. A lawyer by training, Bara Diokhané, started creating works of art at the start of the the 21st century, while living in Harlem, New York as an immigrant. In 2002 he was a participating artist to the MagnetDiaspora exhibit hosted during the 2002 Dakar Biennale by Yassine Arts Gallery. His first exhibition in New York City was hosted in 2003 by Steve Cannon's Tribes Gallery in Manhattan's Lower East Side. In 2004 he designed the backdrop for the scene of the Afropop music festival at Virginia University. In 2005 he was selected at the Diversity Project, curated by Danny Simmons and Rush Arts, which was an event showcasing the works of 200 New York artists in 16 different galleries. In 2006, I showed 10 paintings at the Dakar Off Biennale where most of the show was sold out. He has also showed at the State Black Archives Museum, in Huntsville, Alabama; Kiaca Gallery, in Columbus, Ohio; Columbia University; and the Schomburg Center for research in black culture. In 2007, he was selected for the Black Madonna Millenium exhibit hosted at the Museum for Contemporary African and Diaspora Art (MOCADA) in Brooklyn. That year, he also showed at Princeton University's Rockefeller Art Gallery. In 2010 Bara was invited to select one artwork from the collection of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and couple it with one of his own works to make a pair during the "African Rythms, American Echoes" exhibit.
Bara is presently writing a script about an African human experience of 50 years of arts, politics and academics.

Where to find Bara?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Twitter
On Facebook

What's Bara reading?
The African Origin of Civilization by Cheikh Anta Diop

Other topics of interest:
Mor Faye
KoToa Coffee in Dakar
Doudou N'Diaye Rose
On Senegal's BDS party
First World Festival of Negro Arts
Spike Lee's 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks

Special Guest: Bara Diokhané .