Africa Access is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) educational association. Since 1989 we have been working to expand American perspectives on Africa. Our primary goal is to improve the selection and use of accurate, balanced materials on Africa in schools, public libraries, and other institutions that serve children. Africa Access provides consulting services for K-12 educators and writers who are creating materials on Africa. We help writers locate African Studies scholars who can evaluate manuscripts and provide important feedback and suggestions. Requests for consulting services should be sent to AfricaAccess@aol.com


Staff Advisory Board

Brenda Randolph, Founder and Director
Ms. Randolph is the founder and director of Africa Access. She is a graduate of North Carolina Central University, holds a Master's degree in African Studies from Howard University and a Master's in Information Services from the University of Maryland, College Park. She has worked as a library media specialist in Virginia, Massachusetts and Maryland. Ms. Randolph created the first Title VI African Studies Resource Center at Howard University in the early 1980s. In 1989, she founded Africa Access. On behalf of Africa Access, she received the Francois Manchuelle Award in 2001 for innovative work promoting the cause of African Studies in the K-12 community. The award is given in memory of Dr. Manchuelle, an Africanist historian, who perished in the crash of TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996. In 2007 on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the African Studies Association, she received the National Outreach Council Award of Appreciation for outstanding service and commitment to promoting the teaching of Africa through the Children's Africana Book Award. Ms. Randolph is a major contributor to Sankofa Journal, a peer-reviewed journal that she co-edits with founder Meena Khorana. Sankofa is published annually by the Department of English and Language Arts at Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland and includes scholarly articles on emerging trends in African and African Diaspora juvenile literatures and in-depth book reviews of books nominated by U.S. publishers for the Children's Africana Book Awards.



Harriet McGuire, Publicity Director
Harriet McGuire is a graduate of Smith College. She received Spanish and Portuguese language training at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center. She has lived in six African countries, worked as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer and currently volunteers for non-profit organizations which promote contemporary Africa arts and cultural exchange. In addition to Africa Access she works in a voluntary capacity for the African Book Collective, the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, Sankofa Journal and serves on the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Warren Robbins Library at the National Musuem of African Art.



Bonnie Myhre, Director of Integrated Arts
Ms. Myhre is graduate of Maryland Institute College of Art and the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an artist and educator with teaching experience in Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont. In 1990, she received the Golden Apple Award for her work in children theater. Her art lessons for CABA winners My Father's Shop and I lost my Tooth in Africa were presented at National Museum of African Art in August, 2007 and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in October 2007. She has also published several art lessons for Africa Access about ancient and medieval Ethiopia.(www.africaaccessreview.org/aar/research.html www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/ssims/teams_departments/Mediactr/Bibliographies/African%20Kingdoms/african_kingdoms.htm )



Anike Robinson, Curriculum Design
Ms. Robinson is a graduate of Spelman College. She received a Masters of Education from Johns Hopkins University.



Bonita Adeeb
Ms. Adeeb is a teacher in Charles County, Maryland.



Hassan Adeeb
Mr. Adeeb is a teacher in Charles County, Maryland.



Robert Edgar, Ph. D
Dr. Robert Edgar is professor of African Studies at Howard University, Washington D.C. He holds a Ph.D. in African History from the University of California, Los Angeles, a M.A. in African History from Indiana University and a B.A. in History from Oklahoma State University. His areas of teaching and research include African History, Southern African History, African Religious and Political Movements and Social Science Research Methods.



Janice Fridie, Esquire
Ms. Fridie is a graduate of Maryland University, with a Master's in Library and Information Services. She holds a J.D. from Georgetown University's Law Center where her course emphasis was in International Law. She worked as a Children's Librarian for the Laurel Public Library, helping to create an after-school reading club and participating in the school out-reach project. She helped found the Friends Community School, a K-8 primary school now located in Greenbelt, Maryland. Ms. Fridie is licensed to practice in Maryland.



Sam Forkkio, C.P.A.




Sulayman Nyang
Dr. Sulayman Nyang is professor of African Studies at Howard University, Washington, D.C. He holds a Ph.D. in Government from the University of Virginia and an M.A. in Public Administration from the University of Virginia. His areas of teaching and research include Islam, African Systems of Government and African Political Thought, Public Policy.



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