Dear friend,

She was quite a woman, Jeanne Quidal, my mother. Not only did she raise her eight children with an iron fist, but she was the general secretary of an association called « the Great Negroes » as opposed to the « Little Negroes », the ones who drink rum, have mistresses, and do nothing good with their ten fingers. Anecdotes about her were circulating in Pointe-à-Pitre. I choose one that seems to me very beautiful.

During one of her stays in Paris, as she entered a restaurant on the Champs Elysees, a woman sitting at the next table exclaimed: « there they are again! » « Yes, Madam, even at the university », my mother retorted.

How happy Jeanne Quidal would have been with the creation of the this University of the State of the African Diaspora. She would have appreciated it if the generations that followed her had changed the name from « descendants of slaves » to the more harmonious « African Diaspora ».

They are studying their past as well as the functioning of their society. They work to create a more harmonious world. Jeanne Quidal would have said "Bravo!

For the launching of the University of the State of the African Diaspora, Chief Fortune Charumbra has accepted to give a lecture on « the Art of Mediation ».

Mediation is an old tradition in Africa. It is the best way to bring peace and justice at the same time. The Kings have a long tradition of mediation on the continent. Chief Charumbira himself has had a long experience in this area. The students of the faculty of diplomacy will have the privilege to hear a great Pan-African leader in his efforts to bring peace and justice in Africa.

Chief Fortune Charumbira is the Chair of the Council of Chiefs of Zimbabwe, acting president of the Pan-African Parliament of the African Union, and Co-Chair of the Royal Chamber of the State of the African Diaspora.

Euzhan Palcy, a filmmaker who won many prestigious international awards, including the Unesco Award, has accepted to give a master class.

The title is: « From Bessie Coleman to the Bessie Coleman Aviation School ».

One hundred years ago, Bessie Coleman became the first person of African Descent to receive an aviation license.

That is why SOAD has decided to name its faculty of aviation after her. It will then become the Bessie Coleman school of aviation.

Lecture with Cheikh Modibo Diarra, Minister of Sciences and Industry in the government of the State of the African Diaspora.

Modibo Diarra used to be Prime Minister of Mali, Project Director in NASA, and he is now Director of Microsoft Africa.

He is certainly the most brilliant African expert in the world when it comes to topics related to space.

He has accepted to lead our Pan-African Institute for Space Sciences and Technologies and will make a master class for the inauguration of our University. Quite a privilege! 

University Logo

Specifically created to encourage scientific, intellectual, and social connections between students, teachers, and researchers from Africa and the Diaspora, the SOAD University will be launched in September 2021.

It already includes around 20 faculties in areas as different as space, drones, aviation, medecine, but also diplomacy, history, Pan-African languages, Indian Ocen Studies.

With people coming from more than 80 countries, it is already the largest Pan-African University in the world.

You do not want to miss that event, with great masterclasses!  Come, learn and discover!