Here’ s a sneak peak at what the new metroAfrican will look like:

Since metroafrican.com launched only about three months ago, a retrospective of the year may seem a bit much, but here’s a look back at the most popular stories of the last quarter of 2008.

• metroAfrican.com launched in September with an appearance on African Roots radio show on KGNU with host Moutiou Yessoufou.
• Yohannes Gebregeorgis of Ethiopia Reads was honored as one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes of the Year.
• Guy Lumumba, son of Patrice Lumumba, spoke at the University of Denver.
• Sudanese lost girls were amongst those displaced and injured by an apartment fire in Boulder.
• Somali musician K’naan was a no show in Denver, but thrilled a crowd in Boulder
• Bazi Kanani explored Colorado-Rwanda Connections
• The African Community Center hosted a huge multi-cultural Thanksgiving party
• Somalis in Greeley faced difficulties with SWIFT
• The 6th annual Taste of Africa took over UC Boulder
• Metroafrican posted the first in a series of interviews with influential and remarkable Africans in the Denver and Boulder Areas. We kicked it off by talking to Mangar Amerdid of the Leadership Institute of New Sudan

We here at metroAfrican have been incredibly encouraged by the positive response we’ve gotten from so many people, and want to thank everyone who has contributed to making metroafrican.com a valuable community resource. We hope to continue to hear from you in the year ahead, and we will continue improving the site so we can all get the most out of it. As always, if you have ideas for stories or features you would like to see on metroafrican.com, let us know. metroAfrican belongs to you, so please make your voice heard!

We wish a blessed and prosperous 2009 to all!

Tickets to the shows on the 30th and 31st can be purchased here.

photo by David Suskind

Toubab Krewe returns to Colorado to kick off their new tour on December 30th, and you can win tickets.

MetroAfrican has two tickets to the first show of the tour on December 30th at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom. To enter the contest, simply send an email to metroafrican@gmail.com telling us why you want the tickets. We will choose one lucky winner to receive two complimentary tickets to see Toubab Krewe live at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom. All we ask is that in return you provide our readers with a short review telling us how you liked the show.

More about Toubab Krewe after the jump.

Press release:

“FUNKY, HARD HITTING” TOUBAB KREWE’S LIVE ALBUM OUT 1/6

Band to Tour U.S. With “Distinctive, Remarkable Fusion” (Billboard) of West African Traditional Music and American Rock

The Appalachian mountains may not seem a likely source of African-rooted music, but “funky, hard hitting” (Global Rhythm) Toubab Krewe, of Asheville, North Carolina, blends West African rhythms with rock, creating a sound all its own and earning a devoted following at performances from Bonnaroo to the legendary Festival of the Desert in Essakane, Mali.

What the Village Voice calls the “futuristic, psychedelic, neo-griot frenzy” of Toubab Krewe’s shows has now been captured on their second album, ‘Live at the Orange Peel’ (ADA, 1/06/09).

The instrumental quintet’s five members, childhood friends and long-term musical collaborators who joined up in 2005, have spent extended periods studying with musical luminaries in Mali, Ivory Coast, and Guinea and learning traditional instruments such as the kora (a 21-string harp) and the kamel ngoni (a lute). Their music also brings in the worlds of surf and zydeco in “a Dick Dale moves-to-Timbuktu experiment” (Boston Herald).

The new album, produced by Grammy winner Steven Heller and recorded in the group’s hometown December 30-31, 2007, features eight previously unreleased tracks, including collaborations with legendary spoken-word artist Umar Bin Hassan of The Last Poets and fiddler Rayna Gellert.

Toubab Krewe’s tour begins in Denver, Colorado December 30th; the record release show will be at New York’s S.O.B.’s on January 8th. It’s not quite as extensive as Toubab Krewe’s journey from Buncombe (Asheville’s county) to Mali’s Badala (the subject of the first video from the release), but there’ll be just as many opportunities for frenzied dancing.

Toubab Krewe is:
Teal Brown – Drums
Drew Heller – Guitar
Justin Perkins – Kamel Ngoni, Kora, Guitar
David Pransky – Bass
Luke Quaranta – Percussion

Toubab Krewe – ‘Live At The Orange Peel’ Track Listing:
1). Autorail
2). Lamine’s Tune
3). Roy Forester
4). Kaira
5). 51 Ft Ladder
6). Maliba
7). Moose
8). Buncombe To Badala

“Buncombe to Badala” video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I35ZEGsubdE

“Buncombe 2 Badala” tour dates:
Dec 30 – Denver, CO – Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom (New Year’s Revival w/ Panjea & Kyle Hollingsworth)
Dec 31 – Denver, CO – Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom (New Year’s Revival w/ Panjea & Kyle Hollingsworth)
Jan 08 – New York, NY – S.O.B.’s (‘Live At The Orange Peel’ Record Release Show w/ Jar-e)
Jan 17 – Athens, GA – Georgia Theatre
Jan 20 – Vienna, VA – Jammin Java
Jan 21 – Charlottesville, VA – Gravity Lounge
Jan 23 – Virginia Beach, VA – Jewish Mother
Jan 24 – Richmond, VA – Capital Ale House Downtown Music Hall
Feb 6 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
Feb 7 – Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theatre
Feb 14 – Atlanta, GA – Smiths Old Bar

Toubab Krewe on the web:
www.toubabkrewe.com
www.myspace.com/toubabkrewe
www.ilike.com/artist/Toubab+Krewe
http://www.vimeo.com/user891020

We had the opportunity to speak with Mangar Amerdid, the founder and Executive Director of the Leadership Institute of New Sudan (LIONS) to learn more about the program. Visit  www.sudanlions.org for more information.

This interview is the first in a series we will be conducting with influential Africans in the metro Denver and Boulder areas. If you know someone doing remarkable things in our community, please let us know. We are always looking for stories about the positive contributions Africans are making in our community.

If you have not yet been to the Palava, here are two very good reasons to go. They are throwing a party on Christmas Eve and another on New Year’s Eve. Celebrate the year that was 2008 in style with great music, tasty eats, and an impressive selection of mixed drinks.

Both events begin at 7pm at the Palava – 11002 E Yale Ave. in Aurora

The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation has formed a partnership with Denver-based mobile technology company Mobile Accord to raise awareness and money for the foundation’s work in the DRC.

The system set up by Mobile Accord allows users to donate five dollars to the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation by texting ‘Congo’ to 90999 on their cell phone. In an article on nba.com, Mutombo explains:

We are trying to receive international support for the people of the Congo who are suffering daily from deadly diseases such as HIV, AIDS and Malaria. More than five million people have died and that number is growing. Last year, more than 1.4 million children have died from Malaria alone.

Mutombo hopes to raise $2 million this year, which will go directly to help those battling deadly diseases. Read more about this unique partnership at nba.com.

Along with several performances there will be a silent auction. The benefit takes place from 4:30-10pm at the Outlook Hotel in Boulder. Click here for more info.

If you weren’t aware of Susan’s story read this.

Threatening weather has forced Change the World It Just Takes Cents (CTWIJTC) to relocate the Monday, December 15 “Children to Children – Denver to Darfur” candle light vigil indoors into the downtown St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1600 Grant Street, on the corner of 16th Avenue and Grant Street.

The event starts and 6:30 pm and free parking is available in the Colorado Education Association parking lot and on the street. The Vigil hotline will be open until throughout the week: 303-596-8210 /303-514-3092.

This national NextAid fundraiser www.nextaid.com promotes aids education and financially assists the youth in Africa orphaned by AIDS. Come get wild at another soulful house, afrobeat party with guest DJ IVY, Blackridge and resident DJs RJ Duran & CES in the name and energy of our fellow African peoples!!! Located at Bar Standard in downtown Denver, expect sumptuous cocktails, high fashion, fabulous people and a fabulous time!

AFROBLU – Afterhours Dance Ritual Remix
World Aids Day 2008
Bar Standard
1037 Broadway, Denver
9pm to 2am
$5 at the door / 21+
Additional donations are always accepted!