Linda Thomas-Greenfield, former assistant secretary of state for Africa and ambassador to Liberia, visited the University of Wisconsin–Madison on June 26 and 27 to meet with participants in the Mandela Washington Fellowship program. Her talk, Africa Matters: A Discussion of U.S.-Africa Relations, was attended by a number of students, faculty, staff, Madison locals, and members of the African diaspora from Madison and Milwaukee.
Along with reminding this year’s Mandela Fellows that they are “Africa’s future,” Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield also shared the significance of investing in women’s empowerment on the continent. Despite realities of inequality, injustice, and war, Thomas-Greenfield said this: “The Africa I know and have come to believe in is a continent of vast opportunity and amazing promise.” Her views on Africa, and U.S. relations with the continent, were framed in a hopefulness that she encouraged the audience and fellows to hold on to when thinking of the future of Africa.
To read a full write up on the talk, read Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield calls Mandela Washington Fellows “Africa’s future,” originally posted on the International Division of Wisconsin-Madison site.