While artists have taken their final bows, vendors have cleared their wares and Northwest Stadium is moving on to prepare for football season, an encouraging lesson continues post-Afro Plus Fest: the power of pursuing one’s passion.
“Prince George’s County has never hosted a festival like this,” Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy told The Informer on day two of the festival. “When these young people came to me and said, ‘Hey, we’re hoping to host the festival there.’ They gave me some of the background. I said, ‘Don’t worry, we will be your partners.’”
For Braveboy, giving Michael “Legendary Mike” Awasonya, CEO and founder of Afro Plus Fest, the chance to host the three-day event in Prince George’s was about more than entertainment for the county. It also sent a message about the value of diversity and embracing new ideas from the next generation of Prince Georgians, while promoting the locale as a place that welcomes people from across the globe.
“The people who put this together — who thought about creating this — they are Prince Georgians, and like me, many of them are first generation,” said Braveboy, whose father was born in Grenada and also recently learned she is of Nigerian descent. “That’s the story of so many of us here in the county that we are first generation or we immigrated here, that we were born here, but we have relatives and families, and DNA and lineage that really dates back to, of course, the motherland. … Prince George’s County is really representative of our total diaspora.”
After hosting a one-day Afro Plus Fest at RFK Stadium in 2025, Awasonya had the idea to take the three-day event directly home.
“Prince George’s (PG) County raised me. This one’s for the people who raised us,” said Awasonya. “PG has one of the most vibrant African diaspora communities in the country, and I wanted the world to see that. Created for us, by us, in the county that made us.”
Awasonya hoped to not only bring major musical acts to Northwest Stadium, but economic opportunity for the county and community.
“When you build something this big in your own backyard, the whole community grows with you,” he continued. “We’re pouring real impact right back into PG — into local vendors, artists, and creators. Seeing the neighborhood that made us profit directly from what we built at home, that’s the win for me.”
Shelly Ackah, a social media influencer known as the African Bombshell, said the festival was impactful because it created a global stage in Prince George’s, particularly at a moment where the federal government has challenged the value of immigrants, diversity, equity and inclusion.
“It’s a milestone for the DMV because of the season that we’re in. We’re in a space and time where things are shifting and everything is changing, and we’re taking it by force, literally,” she told The Informer on the first day of the festival. “So shout out to the whole team of Afro Plus and Legendary Mike, because this is what you call real trailblazers.”
As the Afro Plus team prepares for next year, Braveboy said she wants to encourage more young Prince Georgians to pursue their creative goals.
“If you have an idea — just like the young people who put this together had an idea — come to me, let’s talk about it. If we can support, if we can make sure that it happens, we’re going to do that,” Braveboy said. “We are a government, really, of and for the people. So I want to know what you would like to see happen in your county, especially our young people. They are our future, and I am here to support them in every way I can.”
