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photo by steed media service
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Director of Marketing/Media Communications,
Africa International House
The Africa International House is an integral part of Chicago’s Black experience. Dedicated to showcasing
the influence and beauty of African culture, the AIH is lucky to have affiliates who are passionate
about what the organization stands for. Debra Grable, director of marketing/media communications,
loves spreading awareness and enthusiasm for the culture of the people of the African Diaspora around
the world.
“AIH’s mission is to expose the many ways that African culture impacts other global cultures,” Grable
explains. “We [the people] of the African Diaspora need to connect, and to show the influence of Africa.”
Grable has always been a believer in the power of connection. She views AIH, and the African Festival
of the Arts, which is held in Chicago annually, as opportunities to bask in the glow of the continent.
“[The festival] is a tremendous celebration of our art and aesthetic and our intellect and our ability to
empower around the globe,” she says. “It [illustrates] the fact that we care about one another, not just
in Chicago — but around the globe.” Her motivation to join the AIH was simple. “The sense of family is
what attracted me.”
That sense of family is still her great inspiration — and it runs deeply. “When I first went back to Africa,
people who looked like me called me ‘white’ because I came from a European background,” shares
Grable. “Twenty years later, the door of communication is wide open, we’ve had an opportunity to connect
and I [when I returned], I wasn’t an alien person — I was a sister.”
– todd williams
