by Atim Annette Oton

This is the first blog in my series, The Pulse of Africa on Huffington Post Black Voices talking with Global Africans working in Africa and across the Diaspora. It takes an inside view on Africa’s progress, issues on arts and culture, technology and opportunities in this decade.

Early this month, artist Brett Cook sent me an amazing email that added pep and sunshine to my sluggish Brooklyn Monday morning. I say this because Mondays are generally my day off. And very few things pep me up these days, though I am excited about Spring bringing warm weather to New York.

The news: Brett Cook would be working with Women and Youth Art Foundation (WYART) in Lagos and Ibadan. This brought a great big smile to my Nigerian face. The email was about smARTpower, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State that pairs American artists with their counterparts abroad. As a New Yorker who knows that Bronx has the most number of Africans in this city; I was pleased. And the fact that the Bronx Museum of Art was the partner with the State department made me even more excited about this news. It is absolutely brilliant.

Read more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/atim-oton/bronx-museum-smartpower_b_1413719.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=1950933,b=facebook.