Allan Levenberg is the guy who made things happen

Allan was the first Friend of Mali, and when we created the association it was Allan who volunteered to be Treasurer. And it was Allan who told us we must transform the Segou relationship into an official Sister City relationship. That was no easy task, for Richmond had no Sister City Commission at the time. It was a period Richmond did not even have a Mayor – until Douglas Wilder was elected in 2005 the first direct mayoral election.

Johanna Sakponou stars in a film on Jamestown (2007)

The Jamestown Foundation called us. A man named Ernest Skinner was putting together a project to celebrate 400 years sine the first ships with English soldiers and settlers arrived in the lands of Powhatan, Virginia and created the Jamestown Settlement with people like John Smith and John Rolfe whose names have become famous in Virginia’s history.

AfricaElisabeth DrummOctober 21, 2020Mali, Virginia Friends of Mali, VFoM, Jamestown, slavery, Angola, Virginia, Angela, John Smith, John Rolfe

FESTIVAL OF THE NIGER RIVER (January 2007)

Allan Levenberg (dit Kouyateh) and Robin Edward Poulton (dit Macky Tall) led a delegation of a dozen VIRGINIA FRIENDS OF MALI to the third Segou music Festival of the Niger River February 1-4, 2007.