Diaspora Roundtables: Beyond Detty December
On Monday, I hosted Diaspora Roundtables: Beyond Detty December at Jambo Spaces in Accra.
More than fifty creatives, operators, artists, strategists, and builders from across the diaspora gathered to sit with a shared question: what does it actually take to sustain culture beyond its peak moments?
Diaspora Roundtables is a flagship series I lead through SMADE Entertainment Group. Over the past two decades, my work has focused on building live cultural experiences that connect Africa and its diaspora. From club nights to global festivals, I’ve seen how cultural moments travel, generate influence, and create economic value. I’ve also seen where moments stop short.
This series exists to hold the conversations that don’t fit on a stage. To move thinking from visibility into structure, and from momentum into continuity.
We began with a short grounding exercise.
This set the shared state for the session. Slowing the room created space for people to arrive fully, listen carefully, and engage with intention. It established how we would work together.
That starting point shaped the rest of the discussion. Contributions were more considered, listening was more deliberate, and ideas were built collectively.
Infrastructure conversations require time and trust. They do not happen effectively in passing or between commitments. They need rooms where people can stay with complexity rather than rush toward resolution.
I shared parts of my own journey as context.
Before festivals and global stages, there were house parties. Small rooms. Limited budgets. Informal setups. These were not placeholders. They were functional starting points. They allowed us to test sound, movement, logistics, trust, and value. They showed what worked, what failed quietly, and how fragile things become without structure.
The lesson is not to remain small. It is to learn properly before scaling. Sustainable ecosystems are built through iteration and accumulation, not instant expansion.
If something only works under perfect conditions, it will not last. December can absorb fragility. The rest of the year cannot.
That understanding shaped the questions we sat with:
What survives January?
What pays people year-round?
What continues working when attention moves on?
Legacy was discussed as something practical rather than symbolic.
What remains usable over time. Structures others can access. Skills that circulate. Ownership that continues even when individuals step away.
There was a shared understanding that work tied too closely to one person, platform, or moment becomes difficult to sustain. Work designed to move through others allows continuity to form more naturally.
The focus shifted toward durability. How systems hold. How knowledge is carried. How continuity is designed rather than assumed.
We sat with a simple prompt:
If this work stopped tomorrow, what would still exist?
Partnerships were discussed with care.
Not every opportunity is aligned, and not every offer creates shared value. I spoke about the importance of looking beyond promises, projections, and headline numbers to understand where decisions sit, how risk is distributed, and how benefits are shared over time.
We spoke openly about diaspora-local collaboration, power dynamics, and the difference between symbolic inclusion and meaningful involvement.
Partnerships last when responsibility is shared alongside visibility.
As the conversation turned toward scale, responsibility became central.
More people means more care. Safety, planning, staffing, logistics, and duty of care are not operational details. They are indicators of leadership maturity. When these are treated as afterthoughts, trust erodes quickly.
Growth without care exposes an ecosystem rather than strengthening it.
The 5 D’s framework surfaced naturally:
Dream. Drive. Determination. Discipline. Delivery.
It was used as a reflective tool. A way of identifying where progress slows, where systems strain, and where momentum is being asked to replace structure.
It offered a shared language for thinking more clearly about what needs reinforcement.
The most important question of the day was practical:
What are you building after December?
People spoke honestly about what they are trying to sustain, what they are struggling to resource, and where gaps remain. The value was not optimism, but clarity.
This is why I continue to host Diaspora Roundtables. Not to provide answers, but to create the conditions where better questions can be worked through together.
Diaspora Roundtables is designed to travel because the work is not tied to one city or season. Wherever the diaspora gathers, these conversations are necessary.
The goal is consistency — returning to the same questions in different rooms, until systems strengthen and continuity becomes deliberate. If you would like to be notified about the next Diaspora Roundtables, visit here.
Photography by @shotpicturesgh
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