Voices of Africa and the Diaspora
April 18-19th, 2026
The Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center, The Gambia
The Harambee Organisation of Black Unity is organising the Convention for Afrikan People (CAP26) to make a direct connection between the diaspora and the continent following the blueprint left by Malcolm X. The organisation is built on the basis of Malcolm’s Organisation of Afro-American Unity and one of the first revolution steps was build a programme of political education ‘that could open our people’s minds. Culture, writing and community activism were all key elements to how we could ‘make it plain’ and bring us together across the diaspora and the continent.
We have partnered with the Library of the African Diaspora, who will run a residency where writers, musicians and artists from across West Africa join us at the convention and share their work and thoughts. We are opening up the programme for papers, performances sharing voices from Africa and the Diaspora. We are open to exploring themes of culture, writing, art, music, education and more.
We are aiming for a non-academic audience but will accept papers from academics that are accessible. We are open to a range of submissions including:
Interactive session
Individual 15 minute presentations
Roundtable
Panel discussions
Performances
Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to mip@blackunity.org.uk by 21st February, 2026