A non-profit organization founded to serve as a unified association for Africans in the diasporic United States, United People for African Congress (UPAC), has recently launched a programme aimed at empowering Africans in the United States.
The founders of UPAC identified the need for a united, non-segmented organization that supports, uplifts and empowers all Africans in the United States. The organization’s mission is to create a unique voice to address the issues Africans in the United States are facing in their respective communities, to advocate and lobby on their behalf, to empower them, and to facilitate their visibility in the US.
UPAC aims to unite and serve not only a certain section of Africans in the diaspora, but to regroup all the African communities living in the US. The organization has specific goals it aims to accomplish, one of which is to aid Africans in reaching the US Congress and other major legislative bodies in the country.
According to the founders, the unification of Africans across the US is all the more important during the election process. Through this political mission, UPAC ultimately aims to create policies that will help and positively impact Africans by calling on candidates to articulate their positions on issues salient to the diaspora and mobilizing support for those who are supportive.
President and Chairman of the Board of UPAC Dr. Sylvester Okere says, Africans in the US are still somewhat disillusioned with the country’s policies and practices that do not serve them, and with discrimination as an issue that has not been entirely eradicated. An organization such as UPAC, if able to unite the diverse voices of Africans across the US in a single, clear call for action, change, and respect, could make a significant and tangible difference.
