Michael Mwenso, visitor and curator of the Burlington Jazz Festival, leading us in thanks.

by Robin Lloyd
Burlington WILPF

On Thursday, June 30, Robin Lloyd and Katherine Vose attended the second annual Africa Day event in Burlington, VT. Burlington WILPF was proud to be one of the sponsors of the event. Africa Day (formerly African Freedom Day and African Liberation Day) is the annual commemoration of the foundation of the Organization of African Unity on May 25, 1963. It is celebrated in various countries on the African continent, as well as around the world.

A member of the New American community in Burlington, Jacob Borge directs the Association of Africans living in Vermont and comes from Burkina Faso. We focused our celebration on the feminist and charismatic former president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, who was assassinated after 4 years of unique service to his country. We watched a short film about his life, which you can watch online at this link. 

After viewing the film, we held a lively discussion with Jacob and Eric Agnero, a former journalist from the Ivory Coast, along with others. A meal of African dishes was enjoyed by all. A video of the event is being produced and will be shared.

From July 20–24, 2022, the VT WILPF Gathering will take place at beautiful Wing Farm in Rochester VT. We plan to watch the second half of the International WILPF Congress together, as well as create a few presentations of our own:  Paki Weiland will present on NATO (Thursday at 4:30pm), Eileen Kurkoski will give a talk about drones, plus more to come. Visit our website to scan through the stories and records of yesteryear — 2000 to 2021. We were outspoken all along the way! 

Call Robin to make a reservation for the VT WILPF Gathering: 802-355-3256