Traces: A Speech to African Nations | A One-Man Theatrical Performance in French with English Supertitles

The Spirit of Hope

An exceptional storyteller, Étienne Minoungou stands alone against the world, determined to talk to it. He speaks to give voice to the life he went through after leaving Africa to come back with a message of hope. He embodies the philosophical and poetic thought of Felwine Sarr, one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2021, who wrote this Speech to African nations like a vast odyssey, a metaphorical journey towards a luminous engagement. His continent looking at itself and the world, in service to the future of youth. A text propelled like an experience built through constant dialogue and sharing between the stage and the audience, to the rhythm of the actor's powerful voice and of Simon Winse's evocative music. A conquest that is yet to come, written in both the past and present tense, in the singular and the plural. This theatrical performance tour also includes Princeton University and Duke University.

A post-show panel will follow the performance, presented in collaboration with Georgia State University's Center for Studies on Africa and its Diaspora (CSAD). 

The “Traces” panel discussion focuses on some of the themes in the speech, including African identity and the trauma of migration, at a time of global uncertainty and rapid change, and explores the cultural and intellectual dynamism of Africa and its diaspora, while examining some of the challenges.

MODERATOR

Edvige Jean-François, DHumLitt
Executive Director, Center for Studies on Africa and Its Diaspora (CSAD)
Georgia State University

PANELISTS:

Cynthia L. Blandford
Honorary Consul General, Consulate of the Republic of Liberia in Atlanta

Lestina Dongo, Esq.
Attorney, Politics Scholar, Georgia State University Graduate Student

Mason Oruru
Author and Georgia State University Graduate Student

TRACES: A SPEECH TO AFRICAN NATIONS is presented with the support of FACE Foundation, Villa Albertine, Consulate General of France in Atlanta, Alliance Française Atlanta, and Goethe-Zentrum Atlanta.