Where are the children – now adults – of African immigrants in the West and did they fulfill their immigrant parents’ dreams in America? Answering these questions inspired young Ghanaian Janet Asante to create “AfriGens,” a YouTube docu-series that traces the lives of children of African immigrants overseas.
With “AfriGens,” Asante and her team hope to tell stories of African immigrants in America and other Western countries that are different from the usual heartbreaking stories of desperate immigrants dying as they attempt to enter Europe illegally.
Asante wants to show the world the real value that immigrants living in the United States continue to bring: “Immigrants have raised doctors, teachers, lawyers, writers, artists, and although [former] President [Barack] Obama was raised by his mother, he carried within him the dreams of an immigrant father,” Asante tells Face2Face Africa.
Throughout the show, children of African immigrants have been able to tell their stories and document the kind of impact they are making in the lands they now call home.
Asante, who is also the host of “AfriGens,” says her main goal is to inspire and motivate the next generation of children from African immigrants, while at the same time honor immigrant parents who had to do odd jobs to give their kids an education.
“We want them to know that we appreciate them and their struggle was not in vain,” Asante says.
Watch Asante discuss “AfriGens” here:
African Immigrants & the Global Immigration Crisis
Currently, the world is experiencing an unprecedented immigration disaster, with America and other western countries shutting their doors to needy refugees and immigrants, most of whom are fleeing wars and persecution in their home countries.
Yet Asante is optimistic that Africans in the diaspora will continue to thrive because it is their tradition to strive higher and work out better ways to cope with the ever-changing realities of life.
“As the anti-immigrant rhetoric increases in America, I think you will see even more unity within our diasporic communities,” Asante adds.
When Asante isn’t working on “AfriGens,” she works to build the confidence of employees at workplaces around the globe as a human resource professional with a passion to help people discover their full potential at their workplaces.
Her first season of “AfriGens” is now available at AfriGens.com.
Watch an “AfriGens” episode on Ghanaian-American 7th Grade English Teacher Mabel Obinim Bashorun here:
