RE: SteemJ by @JerryBanfield Debuts As Black Panther Comes To SteemFest!

Note: I have seen Steem before I ever watched #BlackPanther, so Steem is still my first love heh!

I don't believe in the black or white narrative. I have a lot of white, yellow and brown friends from around the world.

I even think GOD is neither black nor white...maybe rainbow?!

And that's why I am proposing a Steem Festival of Colours in....you guessed it....Wakanda! Lol

Thanks I know the design is fine but this post actually came about because of an accidental observation, an observation that stemmed out of a confusion, a confusion brought about by reading @jerrybanfield trending post about Stem Fest 2.5 (now changed to SteemJ) and all the planned fun near the beach at Miami.

You will understand my ranting later. Just enjoy the post and resteem!

If I had the chance to interview @jerrybanfield about his trending post today, my questions would include:What is SteemFest 2.5? Can anyone have a SteemFest? Like I know folks who'd like to host SteemFest 2.97 in their village but for no data, no power and not enough Steem Power!

Just so you know, SteemFest brand belongs to @roelandp

I have only been on Steemit for about 90+ days...and tomorrow, being my birthday is the first birthday I will celebrate as a Steemian.

People like Jerry should be celebrated and emulated because of their contributions to the Steemit community. And I really wish we could have @ned @jerrybanfield and @roelandp and all the whales in Nigeria someday!

But is there a silent cabal of Steemians who joined in 2016 as one minnow asked me recently? #JustChecking

However, unlike most newbies who go to sleep after signing up, I have swam a bit in the Steem ocean, sometimes under the radar and sometimes to depths I was hoping to meet whales but alas, it seems the seas is filled with minnows!

In the long run, all minnows are valuable. Yes, but there's no shortcut in the long run.

On the other hand, some minnows are doing their best to add considerable value to the Steem ecosystem and if you indeed consider what it takes for a Wakanda-based minnow to even show up on Steemit and other DApps like @DTube, @Zappl @Dmania @Dlive etc., you'll be surprised that not everyone here is being rewarded for proof-of-brain because some of us are actually adding sweat and blood alongside the brain.

We even add teardrops sometimes. Ask @surpassinggoogle

How I wish African leaders are investing heavily in prosperity development platforms like Steem!!! For instance, if I am Nigeria's president, with the level of poverty and uneployment, I will ensure every young person above 21 opens a Steemit account as a matter of national priority.

By the way did you know that, Nigerians are contributing immensely to Steemit/Steem ahead of Netherlands and Portugal -both of which have hosted a SteemFest!

In fact, Steemit as a website is now ranked as the 273 top website visited by Nigerians. Steemians from Nigeria alone constitutes about 1.7% of total Steemians and 3.7% of page views.

Well, in spite of the 'proof-of-sweat-and-blood', I was surprised that @ned and the team @steemit organized the Steem Fest 1 and 2 @steemfest without any representation from (Wakanda). Lol.

In case you haven't seen the list of speakers, here is it for SteemFest 1 in Amsterdam and organized by @roelandp featured @tatianamoroz @sneak @bloggersclub @heiditravels @wmougayar and of course @ned

SteemFest 2 A-List Speakers in Lisbon were:

@allasyummyfood
@wmougayar
@mrs.steemit
@sneak
@dollarvigilante
@surfermarly
@hansikhouse
@philmesnier
@opheliafu
@serejandmyself
@aaronkoenig
@jerrybanfield
@dougcarr
@ericvancewalton
@xanoxt
@everlove
@chris4210
@shak
@jexblackmore
@voronoi
@quinneaker
@the-alien
@timsaid
@detlev
@ballinconscious
@ana.telepova
@anasya
@saramiller
@smolko
@terrybrock
@ginacarr
@starkerz
@dan-atstarlite
@jaybird
@sterlinluxan
@vandeberg
@jeff7
@e-sarber
@steemrollin
@alexlinebrink
@paolobeneforti
@layz3r
@andrewmcmillen

44 speakers, mostly those who joined in 2016...and zilch, zero, nada representation from Africa. Why is that?!

Could it be that no Africans (and I'm not talking about black skin folks born abroad) have added considerable value to the Steem ecosystem? Maybe, maybe not. I'd like to learn about the facts...and about Wakandans who have contributed to the Blockchain revolution as a whole. Anyone please?

Or could it be that, again, Wakandans are being left out of the party intentionally? Because y'all are afraid of what's possible with our vibranium? Lol

Or could it just be a sincere oversight by @ned and his team?

Why is there no Black Panther speaking at SteemFest yet?!!!

See, people are hosting Steem things here too. I just came back from a long weekend of #promo-steem activities with @tojukaka and his team organizing a Steemit Meetup in Ibadan

A day later I also organized a Steemit Hangout, hosted by @virtuousmercy

But if you're like me and @jerrybanfield, you'll know that Meetups and Hangouts aren't enough to promote Steem. Much bigger events like the Steem Festival can attract more investments and ultimately drive the value of Steem northward!

We need something bigger, a bigger event where everyone who can afford to come will be immersed in the Steem culture and also be able to make real life connections within the larger Steem ecosystem.

Maybe we should consider mini-Fests? Something like Steem mini-Fest Nigeria...and if we succeed in filling a 20, 000 capacity stadium with young people, then y'all will know how steemed we already are!

And we can then move the HQ of Steem to Wakanda!

Who knows if @ned or @misterdelegation or @johafiles will even just underwrite the cost of this mini-Fests anywhere in the world? Who knows.

Europe, Europe, maybe USA and then, Wakanda!

It's high time SteemFest came to Africa. All we need is an angel like AJ Brockman @abrockman who will handle everything from local food to local night life to local live perfomances from our global stars like Davido,

Whizkid,

Yemi Alade

etc.

(All of whom I haven't swam across on Steemit yet. And in case y'all don't know these world-class artistes, google them. I'd have loved to upload at least one video track from each below for y'all to enjoy but @dtube is what we only used at night in Wakanda! Lol).

Dislaimer: This post is really not an appeal to correct the error of non-representation neither is it an advocacy for #blacklivesmatter nor is it a #metoo campaign.

But if you ask me, what I really want?

Very simple.

3 Things and I hope I'm not asking for too much:

1. Bring Steem Fest 3 to Abuja, the Federal Capital City of Nigeria. Nigeria is Africa's most vibrant nation and the statistics show that Nigerians are heavy users of, and high on Steem!

I volunteer to help get government and private sector sponsors and also work with the Nigerian Steemit family to help make it a most memorable event.

By the way, it may go down in history that the event that really opened Africa up to the Blockchain is a Steem-powered Festival!

1. If you read this post up till this point, please resteem it and let more Steemians enjoy it too. Thank you in advance

And...

1. Since tomorrow is my birthday, my wife @temitopebanks and I will be really steemed to have some whales show some love!

I look forward to your comments.

I love y'all forever.

fifeBANKS