Deana Bolumbu Talks Why & How Ezibota Seeks To Create Necessary Connections Back To Africa
Readers, did you have fun reading Wendy, the Fashionista’s article? Now here is the second part of the game. I gave you three words and you would have to try to piece how they are connected together. Here is your second word, Media. Media is everywhere and it comes in different forms, internet, TV and etc. It is how we keep up with celebrity gossip, current events and even what is hot and what is not. Also media connects people together one way or another. For example, social media platforms Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube connect you with people that you otherwise would not have met in the grocery store. The generation today, is all about media. There are apps for essentially everything and anything. Media has become a portal of information. Just think about it, if you do not know the answer to something, what do you do? You google it. I am guilty of this; I am constantly on my phone checking my social media accounts for new updates.
This next young lady I am going to introduce, her love for Africa and media she managed to put together and create a business, Ezibota, LLC . How I met Deana is on my social media account in a group that I am affiliated with, she posted about what she does and by nature I got curious and did some research on my own. I checked her out on YouTube and visited the Ezibota website. I was hooked and I just had to have a conversation with her. After several conversations with Deana, I was interested in how she made the connections she did.
Another word, that I want you to pay special attention to: Diaspora. We have all heard this word in one context or another. What does the diaspora mean? But, how does Diaspora and Media connect? All good questions that you will have answers to by the conclusion of today’s segment. If you want to learn about Deana and Ezibota, LLC and her passion for Africa, well you will have to read and find out.
Name: Deana Bolumbu
Age: 24
Educational background: BA in Marketing Management from the University of Northern Iowa, Semester abroad at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Origin: Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa, Mongo ethnic group
Profession: Co-founder/Chief Marketing Officer of Ezibota, Global Training Development Specialist at John Deere
1) What is your background story?
I was born in the DRC and came to the United States at the age of 4 with my mom. We lived in a small town in upstate New York. My uncle moved to Iowa first and told my mom it was a good place to raise children so that is how we basically ended up there. Growing up Congolese American and Black American in the Midwest, I learned about race and racism pretty quickly through different life experiences, good and bad.
Back in New York my family was so culturally diverse that I didn’t think there was any other way to be. There was a close-knit Congolese community where I lived at that time, so that helped me have some balance with the different cultures I identified with. Growing up I was that kid who was constantly busy. I was involved in sports, drama, dance, speech, business competitions, you name it. As many of my friends know, I have a tendency to be a busy-body, always on the go. For college I decided to stay in Iowa so that I could be close to my family. In college I was a university ambassador, involved in our African union, part of student government, and held several board positions in organizations. One of the highlights of college was the opportunity I had to go study abroad. I studied at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. What an adventure! I could talk for days about it. Hit me up if you want the details!
2) 3 words to describe yourself.
Blunt. Passionate. Catalyst.
3) Who is your biggest inspiration?
The future me is my biggest inspiration. Not that I expect to be perfect, but I expect to always be growing. There are of course external factors that inspire me, like my mother and a list full of people I have crossed paths with. The little things in people inspire me.
4) If you had to pick someone to have tea with, who would it be and why?
Maya Angelou. She was a dancer, mother, sister, writer, activist, and that’s just touching the surface of things. She was about embracing yourself at every stage and learning during every chapter of life. ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’ was the first book I read by a black author. I read it in 3rd grade. I’ll never forget because even though I couldn’t understand all the concepts and events, that book forever touches me. I became an avid reader because of her. Her words are all magic to me, but one of my top quotes is, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
5) What is your favorite thing about being Congolese?
The music and the dancing. It just brings people together no matter what. We know where the hottest music originated from. At a party, you know who the best dancers are. Congolese. Undisputed.
6) Ezibota. What does it mean?
Ezinulo is the Igbo word for family. In the Igbo culture family includes not only the nuclear family, but also the vast extended family network. Libota is the Lingala word for family. This more intimate, blood related definition of family, is tied very closely to the idea of birth and creation, and highlights the important role of women in the family. When the words ezinulo and libota are married together, they represent the marriage of not just two cultures, but symbolically all African cultures to create a new definition of family.
Ezi, in Igbo means outside, and bota, in Lingala means birth. Literally Ezibota is the outside birth. It identifies with the diaspora and being outside of Africa, but also the necessary connections back to the continent.
7) When did Ezibota start and how did it begin?
Ezibota began as Rise Africa in 2011—a blog community where Africans from all over were dedicated to honest discussions about the state of the African continent and our disporian experiences. Slowly, our audience grew and we saw a genuine desire for connection and communication. Rise Africa helped us identify a community of young Africans and exposed us to their needs. Ezibota will nurture that community and begin to create products and services that address the various needs young Africans have called out for. I like to think we began from synchronicity or as Carl Jung called it, “meaningful coincidences.”
8) Major triumphs and setbacks of Ezibota?
Major triumph: First, working with my two amazing partners, Beulah Osueke and Chinwe Ohanele. Not only do we balance out personality wise but we also balance on a business level. I would consider myself the realist; with one partner being a do-er and another, the dreamer. We are all visionaries. Secondly the team that we work with (Bilphena Yahwon, Sumaya Ugas, Papi Livodho, and Alfresco Ruwe) and all the collaborations we get to be a part of are triumphs. It’s all about connecting and being part of a community and to do that with people who have authentic interest for the continent is inspiring. Anyone can start an organization but it is the people that make it what it is today. Ezibota is no different.
Major setback: In every flaw, I like to see an opportunity. That being said, we are doing and learning as we go, which sometimes works in our favor but sometimes does not. We are making the mistakes and learning from them. We could sit around and plan for 5 years but as we know even when you attempt to prepare yourself you are never prepared enough anyways.
9) What are some of the struggles of balancing?
Balancing! The struggle of trying to balance is realizing that even when I want to do everything and give my all to everything I cannot do that with just one of me. I work Full-Time and at one point I was traveling 90% of the time. But then I still had Ezibota on my plate. I want to give my all when I do things – with my job, with Ezibota, with my personal life, etc. I have had high stress situations, where I was overwhelmed but Ezibota feeds my passion. Sometimes, I have to learn to say no and take time to myself and properly rest. Half the time I don’t know how I do it because I’m just going and going until sometimes I get burnt out. I definitely don’t have the balance thing figured out—yet.
10) Why do you like what you do?
Because it feeds my soul; it feeds the catalyst in me; the transformer in me; the visionary in me; the authentic me. I like feeling a spark for change. Sometimes people don’t notice a spark, because it’s so small. Being “the itch” that gets things going is an amazing feeling. I like the little, almost unnoticeable moments.
I like what I do because it empowers and inspires me and then radiates out. Just an example, we had a gentleman from Ethiopia on the Ezibota October Community Chat, who is not surrounded by Africans where he goes to school. He seemed to be so touched by this simple video chat where young Africans were sharing, laughing and listening. And to me, that almost forgettable, passing comment he made that day, is a spark, a catalyst, for whatever fire is lit (or relit) in anyone of us who participated that day.
11) Any advice for our readers and young people?
I’m definitely young and still in the height of learning about who I am. I’ll just give some snippets from an advice letter I wrote to myself once since it just hit me that I need to hear my own advice again as a reminder… Toxic people will get to you if you let them. Set boundaries for people because honestly some people are just shitty. Let them go, and stop making time for the drama. No sort of willpower will allow you to actually change someone who doesn’t want to be changed. You cannot change how people act, react, or respond to you. In lieu of that, acknowledge that how people behave has nothing to do with you directly—instead they carry their own beliefs, pasts, fears, insecurities, upbringings which they then project. Love them, pray for them, but don’t let people’s negative energy push you towards being bitter and angry. If you grow from it, the experience happened for you. If the problem is reoccurring, re-evaluate yourself. If you choose to go through the fire for someone who doesn’t care about you and is not authentic with their love, know that there will be damage along the way. Choose wisely. Same goes with friends and even those you call family. Love more than you have, be more of the authentic self than you’ve been, feel more than you’ve allowed yourself to, laugh more easily, sleep more, read more, fear less. Be unapologetically and authentically you. Be the daughter, sister, friend, woman, person you want to be. Don’t be stagnant, keep growing.
SOCIAL MEDIA CONNECTIONS
https://ezibota.com
https://www.facebook.com/ezibota
https://www.twitter.com/ezibota
www.ezibota.tumblr.com
www.instagram.com/ezibota
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ezibota
Samandu Tshimanga, who goes by Samy, is a college graduate from Indiana University South Bend with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Sociology. She loves the study of people. She is a freelance analyst and talks about politics, human rights and whatever else floats her boat. Her column Young Africans On The Move with Samy showcases exceptional young people making a difference in the community and in their countries back in Africa. Originally from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Samy currently resides in Indianapolis. Twitter: @chic_cocobelle
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