Peterson meets the African community.

It was a spectacle for the Mayor of Indianapolis to be welcomed by the African Community. Mr Bart Peterson was greeted by 34 different African languages or nationalities. About 150 to 200 people managed to attend the town hall meeting organised by the Africa Community Center.
Dr Shola the Chief Executive of the center, went on to break it down for the Mayor on how much Africa is contributing to the State. The learned Dr stressed the importance of African workforce here in the City. He further pointed out that the African people are law abiding people. It goes without saying that in Indianapolis one cannot mention the word Africa without mentioning the man Shola. Originally Shola is from Nigeria. He founded the Africa Center about ten years.

Among the African are professional from all walks of life and business making a mark on the and future of Indiana. There was a mention of our Pastors being fishers of man but with no facilities to work from. The Mayor was briefed on the challenges facing Africans.

Some of which include discrimination, language barrier,academic accreditation of Degrees, high academic fees for foreign students, predatory home loan lenders to name but a few. In response the Mayor thanked everyone for coming and above all for the eye opening nature of the meeting, and for the contribution made by all. Peterson is also running for reelection the third term is a highly favoured Democrat. A son of a former Mayor and a business man the guy is respected across party lines by both Republicans and Democrats alike. Come November Peterson is expected to retain his position. A very successful business man and a great scholar Bart Peterson has raised over 1 million dollars for his re election campaign outclassing his opponents by hundereds of thousands dollars.

His dream and greatest challenge as Mayor is to make Indy the most welcoming city and to work with the African Community to solve the challenges facing them. He proposed a monthly meeting with a group of representatives to address and chart way forward. Question time was limited but there were question written and given to the Mayor's office. The meeting was a success given the challenges that we encounter on our day to day living in Indianapolis. About 20 or more Zimbabweans attended the Saturday town hall meeting.

Thanks to Mr Thiso M. who compiled this story.