In the last 5 years, there has been a growing call from Africans in the diaspora for the need for self-determination. Particularly, in the USA and Britain, this call for change has been growing louder and has even lead to riots in both countries.
Ongoing human rights and extrajudicial killings by the police has spawned popular activist groups like ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Million Hoodies Movement for justice’ among others. All of the activist group created during this upheaval share a common theme which is to highlight abuses perpetrated by law enforcement and to end both overt and institutional racism.
The call for change also has a strong focus on economic empowerment within the black community. However, this cry is not new and was, in fact, one of the pillars of the Marcus Garvey movement. He asked Black and African people worldwide to forge a new future by taking back their spending power.
Since then, other leaders have raised the importance of supporting black businesses as it makes sense to do so. The longer money stays or is spent within a community the stronger that community will become. Great thinkers and influencers such as Louis Farrakhan, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Bobby Seale and Mohamed Ali etc, despite their differences, all understood the importance of economic empowerment.
To address this need for change, enter frocentric. frocentric is a new event platform that connects black and African people within diaspora to events that are 'Afrocentric' in nature. The is the slogan 'Find Events that Matter'.
The concept of frocentric is more than just an event marketplace, but a platform geared towards promoting events that further the black renaissance through activism, business, music, culture, and arts.
Similar to the uprisings mentioned above, frocentric was born from the ashes of uncertainty and exclusion. The aim is to take back and re-focus our creative energy towards a system that will create a larger ripple effect and affect change in a way that was not possible before.
Throughout time and space, it can be observed and proven that all things that are similar become stronger when they are together. Bonds becomes tighter, messages are louder and changes occur faster.
For example, larger event platforms cannot or would not effectively police racist listings and as a company, they have routinely made money by featuring groups such as, the ALT right which has a strong anti-black agenda. As a community, we cannot grow while investing in the same system that is built to tear us down. For change to occur quickly, we must all be aligned towards a common vision and we must also seek out platforms that allow our voices to be heard undivided. This is true whether the message is business, music, art social or networking.
For the black community, there is now an alternate vehicle to deliver our message and allow us to fully control our narrative. frocentric aim to empower the event organizers and their customers who all want something different. A platform that is also socially aware and through which they can also give back to the community.
