Africa: Culture and Development Roundtable

Ambassador Robert Perry, Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs (left), and other panel members at  a roundtable discussion on 'Africa: Culture and Development' hosted by the State Department, Smithsonian, and USAID

On October 2, 2002, the State Department, in conjunction with the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), hosted an in-depth roundtable entitled "Africa: Culture and Development." The discussion featured leaders in the arts and public policy worlds from Africa and the U.S., who addressed the relationship between culture and development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Members of the audience included Administration officials, Members of Congress and their staff, members of the African diplomatic corps, business and civic leaders, and financial supporters of the museum.

The event was taped by Howard University Television and made available to U.S. embassies throughout the African continent for public viewing.

The panel opened with comments by Dr. Thomas Lentz, Director, Smithsonian International Art Museums Division and Acting Director of the National Museum of African Art; Richard Boucher, Department of State, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and Department Spokesman; and Constance Berry Newman, USAID Assistant Administrator for Africa. Noted journalist Kojo Nnamdi moderated the discussion.

The panel also included Ambassador Robert Perry, Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Department of State; Ambassador Edith Ssempala of Uganda; Dr. Beverlee Bruce, Program Director of Social Science Research Council with the Andrew Mellon Foundation; Dr. Conrad Kottak, Professor and Chair of Anthropology, University of Michigan; Dr. Christine Mullen Kreamer, Curator, National Museum of African Art; George Dalley, Counsel to Congressman Charles Rangel, U.S. House of Representatives; and Sandra Taylor, Vice President and Director of Public Affairs, Eastman Kodak.