@danajamesmwangi

I’ve been sitting on this story for a while. It has taken me a while to digest the beauty of what happened in this moment! ⁣ ⁣ This summer, I got the opportunity to teach brand strategy to African refugees living in the Binghampton area of Memphis. There are hundreds of refugees living in this area, and I did not find this out until two months ago.⁣ ⁣ The refugees were initially low on confidence. They talked about the real barriers that they faced. Culture barriers, language barriers, etc. I spent a great deal of time working through this with them, alongside @thesheeounlimited and @bychefeli. Next thing you know, we had a room full of aspiring actresses, farmers, truckers, restaurant owners, and more. ⁣ ⁣ After we got the refugees’ confidence up, I taught one of my grow with Google workshops to help them get ready to present their ideas in an upcoming pitch competition. Something happened that had never happened before. ⁣ ⁣ While I was teaching, one attendee, who was arguably the most shy in the group, raised her hand hand and asked “can I try to make a Google Slide?” And I said “sure!!!” She created a slide in front of the class and I just watched her confidence shoot through the roof. This was her first time ever using Google Slides. I had to go home and cry. ⁣ ⁣ I’ll tell you another reason why I cried. I realize that multigenerational Africans and multigenerational African-Americans have both been lied to about each other. We have been systematically separated and we continue to be separated as we are told to stay away from each other. We must, and I repeat, we must have relationships with each other. We must be each other’s allies. ⁣ ⁣ There’s a conversation that needs to be had between both groups. I hope that I can make that happen one day. Can you imagine Black entrepreneurs and African entrepreneurs working side-by-side in Memphis? I can! ⁣ ⁣ Thank you to @weartup , @cummins, @epicentermemphis, @ctcmidsouth, and the Memphis Refugee Empowerment Center for this life-changing opportunity. ❤️⁣ ⁣ #BrandBravely ⁣ #MemphisMagic⁣ #MemphisEntrepreneur #GrowwithGoogle #DigitalCoaches⁣