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OAKLAND — When Effie Tesfahun launched the Umoja Festival in 2013, the organization was “a bit rogue” and a wholly grassroots endeavor that aimed to bring the African diaspora together in West Oakland.

Five years later, the sixth annual Umoja Festival in Lowell Park in West Oakland has ballooned into a full-day celebration of all African communities in the East Bay, replete with food, clothes and artworks and eight straight hours of musical performances.

“We are local Oakland residents who wanted to see Oakland represented,” said Tesfahun. “The people here represent a diaspora, they all came from the continent. It’s open to the public to celebrate Africanness.”

Umoja, which means “unity” in Swahili, had more than 50 vendors selling colorful fashion and artworks representing different cultures in Africa including Ethiopia, Nigeria and Kenya.

African-American cultural icons — especially those which sprang from Oakland, like the Black Panther Party — were imprinted on T-shirts and posters in select vendors.

The Festival sought to be in the broader tapestry of recent art and films highlighting the African community in Oakland, such as “Sorry to Bother You” and “Blindspotting”, according to Tesfahun.

“We felt a loss of space, and it’s hard to feel represented,” said Tesfahun, referring to Oakland’s gentrification. “These films give everybody that added boost, like, ‘yeah, let’s keep going.'”

The festival, which drew hundreds of spectators, also invited non-profits who work with African communities on immigration and help recently emigrated Africans to settle in the Bay Area.

One such group at the festival was the Priority Africa Network, an Oakland-based organization that seeks to raise awareness of the concerns of African communities in the United States and promote discourse to find solutions. The hot topic currently was rising sentiment against immigrants in the United States in the past two years, according to Nunu Kidane, director of Priority Africa Network.

“People were concerned to the anti-immigrant sentiments,” said Kidane, recalling a meeting she organized with new African immigrants three weeks prior. “But the overriding message was that we have to resist.”

The recent news of local restauranteur and Senegalese immigrant Marco Senghor charged with illegally obtaining U.S. citizenship touched a raw nerve in the African community in Oakland, according to Tesfahun. Senghor — who runs two West African eateries called Bissap Baobab in San Francisco and Oakland — pleaded not guilty to falsifying statements in his 2009 naturalization application, which could carry a 10-year prison sentence.

“It’s really upset the community,” said Tesfahun. “People feel targeted. He’s a U.S. citizen. We don’t know what this may mean going forward.”

Tesfahun said she would like to expand the festival next year to include more non-profits focused on helping immigrants and refugees and on health and wellness for marginalized communities in Oakland.

Tesfahun also wants to bring back a soccer tournament of amateur teams from local African communities — a mainstay in past Umoja Festivals — next year. The soccer tournament was cancelled this year due to insufficient organization and lack of a soccer-adequate grass field.

Despite the lack of a soccer tournament, local soccer camp organization My Yute came out to invite children to kick the ball around. My Yute has been organizing free soccer camps in Oakland and in other countries like Jamaica, Peru, Guyana, Malawi and Kenya.

“Every African country is represented here,” said My Yute co-founder Joanne Da Luz. “There is just so much diversity here. We relate to that diversity.”

Music at the festival spanned soul, funk, jazz and pop remixes. Most musicians who performed at the festival were a mix of African-American bands playing African-inspired music, Africans from abroad visiting Oakland or African-Americans who grew up in Nigeria or Ghana and sought to bridge their two cultures together through music.

One musician was Chicago-based Afrorock musician Obisoulstar, who grew up in Nigeria. Obisoulstar and four of his band members flew out to Oakland on Friday. In his first visit to Oakland, Obisoulstar spoke of a vibe of “earthiness” to the city and community he experienced.

“We like how the festival is so community-driven,” said Obisoulstar. “Oakland here has been driving a lot of great art. This place is amazing. We plan on blowing the roof off of the music stage.”