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Description
Speaker Series: My Life in French West Africa
When: Sunday, August 23 2026 | 3 – 4:30 pm
Where: AFL Office (View on Google Maps)
Price: Free for AFL members | $15 for non-members
Join us on Sunday, August 23, 2026, from 3:00–4:30 PM for a special Speaker Series event with University of Louisville French Professor Dr. Wendy Carson Yoder as she shares her experience about her life in French West Africa soon after the former colonies had officially broken with France.
From Dr. Carson Yoder: “I moved to French West Africa with my family when I was barely seven years old. It was 1961 and a heady time to be there, less than a year after the former colonies had officially broken with France to begin a new joyous proud existence. America was beloved. John F. Kennedy had just been elected and was adored as a friend to the Black nations. New embassies and USAID missions were opening up across what used to be known officially as ‘L’Afrique occidentale française.’ Even as a child, I was not oblivious of the excitement when JFK’s brother and attorney-general, Robert Kennedy, was sent to our first post of Abidjan to celebrate one year of independence. Africa was on the cusp. What I didn’t fully realize at the time, was that I was too.”
