If we have something rich and wonderful to share, we need to enjoy it ourselves but also bring it to the community.  Cheza Nami believes that the art of Africa and her Diaspora is both rich and wonderful and a powerful tool for bringing people from all backgrounds together.  You don’t expect to see and hear African culture and music, in its modern and traditional forms, upfront,  downtown, in the middle of businesses, with African and diasporic artists that live right here in our own communities, singing, dancing, making connections and creating shared human experiences with people from different backgrounds and all walks of life  — that, for me, is amazing.

We are on a mission to bring cultural education to the world and build more congenial relationships amongst people. We use the transformative power of African arts to build a joyous common ground.

No where is the Cheza Nami mission more on display than the Taste of Africa Festival,  Cheza Nami’s flagship event held in Downtown Livermore each year.  Taste of Africa is a free, outdoor community event with:

• Musical and dance performances by partner artists based in the cultures of the African diaspora
• African dance and drumming workshops
• Educational programming for children
• Traditional African, Diaspora, and local vendors

Taste of Africa provides a platform for artists to present their craft and own their narratives, creates a space for community members to utilize the public spaces of downtown Livermore for building relationships with one another, and most importantly to catalyzes experiences and conversation about what it means to live, work together, and thrive in a diverse and democratic community free of prejudice and racism. 

We hope to be able to put on the Taste of Africa Festival on October 5th, but we need your help.  

Cheza Nami relies on generous grant funding and corporate support to keep Taste of Africa free and accessible for all, no matter their income or socioeconomic background.  This year, due to state cuts to art funding and a significantly more competitive arts landscape, we need your support in securing funding to make the Taste of Africa Festival happen.

Your support is integral to making sure Cheza Nami is able to provide culturally relevant, crucial, and accessible arts experiences to the people of Livermore, the Tri-Valley, and the larger Bay Area community.  The good news is that we have secured matching funding.  If you donate by Saturday, September 7th, we will have 1:1 matching dollars donated in return, effectively doubling your impact.  Additionally, employers often have matching funds set aside for employee donations to local, community organizations.  We hope you consider giving to Cheza Nami Foundation, Inc.

Your donation will support fair wages for traditional African and Diasporic culture bearers, as well as fund stage and sound costs.  By donating, you join Cheza Nami creating an accessible platform where our communities and artists can create meaningful connections based on the shared human experience of music, joy and togetherness.. 

We don’t like saying this, but without your support, we will not be able to implement the Taste of Africa Festival in 2024.

If you would like to make a donation of any amount, you can do so at the link below:

chezanami.org/support-us/

Thank you so much for reading this message and for being a supporter of the African and Diasporic communities of the Bay Area.  Without you, we would not be able to reach the more than 100,000 community members across the Bay Area that we have over the last 13 years with our programs.

Sincerely, 

Catherine (Ciiku) Ndungu-Case

CEO and Founder, Cheza Nami Foundation