Celebrating Ndi-Igbo

Dr. Amara Enyia, 32, earned a PhD in education policy studies and a law degree simultaneously from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has served as a public policy fellow under former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Currently, she works as a municipal development consultant and is the executive director of Austin Chamber of Commerce on Chicago’s West Side. Amara serves on the board of the Renaissance Reintegration Project. This social enterprise provides entrepreneurship training for ex-offenders often unable to successfully reintegrate to their communities because of the stigma of their records. A keen athlete, she has participated in two Ironman competitions. In 2014 Amara announced her candidacy for Mayor of Chicago, she was one of the first candidates to announce a bid to unseat Mayor Rahm Emanuel. She later withdrew.

Cedric Ogbuehi, born April 25, 1992 is an American football offensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M. Ogbuehi attended Allen High School in Allen, Texas, where he was a two-time all-state selection. In his junior year, Ogbuehi was the best blocker for an offense that averaged 36.1 points and 225 rushing yards per game, finishing the season 15–1 with a UIL state championship. As a senior, Ogbuehi helped lead the way for an Allen offense that averaged over 466 yards per game, allowing just one sack. He was an Associated Press second-team all-state pick and unanimous first-team all-district honoree. He played in the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. As a senior in 2014, he received first team All-America honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation. As early as May 2014, Ogbuehi was projected a high first-round selection in the 2015 NFL Draft by various mock drafts. Despite tearing his ACL in his fi...

Obi Okeke, is the co-founder of Los Angeles-based prestige car dealership Fusion Luxury Motors. Fusion Luxury Motors is the most unique Independent Luxury Exotic Automobile Dealership on the west coast located in Los Angeles California. It places a high emphasis on Contemporary Ultra Exotic & Vintage/Classic Cars. With over 25 years in the Automobile Industry, Obi posses the prowess to undertake any high-Level Complex Automobile transaction including large Automobile Collections, as he has accomplished many times over. Obi has been in the news recently. Floyd Mayweather, the boxer, bizarrely rang Obi at 3am to order a Bugatti - insisting the car was to be in his driveway in just 12 hours. The £1.5million valued super-car was delivered just 11 hours later. Sources: Daily Mail, Fusion Luxury Motors web site.

One to watch 19 year old Jahlil Okafor is a 6'11", 270-pound basketball player for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team. He entered Duke with widespread recognition as the preseason Collegiate National Player of the Year. He played high school basketball in Chicago, Illinois for Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, where he earned high school national player of the year awards from McDonalds, USA Today and Parade. He was heavily recruited since before high school and had been at the top of the recruiting rankings for several years. He is a distant cousin of Emeka Okafor. At the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship, he earned the Tournament MVP for the gold-medal winning USA team. In 2013, Okafor led Whitney Young to the 2013 Chicago Public High School League (CPL) city championship. He was an All-American as a junior in 2013. The following summer, he was an All-Tournament team selection at the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for the gold-medal Team USA. At...

Amede Nzeribe, founder of AMEDE, is one of the leading icons in the Nigerian fashion industry. Amede, a lawyer turned designer believes in designing timeless classic pieces that appeal to women of all ages. The brand has graced the catwalks of major fashion shows like Arise Magazine Fashion week for two consecutive years, and the Lagos Fashion and design week for three consecutive years. The brand has been featured in major publications like Conde Nast, Glamour, Elle and Vogue magazine. The brand has also had the opportunity to be featured alongside international brands like Mary Katranzou, Lanvin, Prada etc on international showroom sites mytrand.com for international fashion buyers, bloggers and fashion editors. Amede’s 2015 coolection, ‘The Lady’ featured at the Catwalk Edit London Fashion Week event this year at Chelsea Old Town Hall. Amede hails from Oguta in Imo State. Sources: Amede, Dr Ebere Okereke, London Fashion Week, Vogue, Prada

Uche Uzorka is a mixed media artist who lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. Uzorka was born in 1974 in Delta State, Nigeria, and graduated in 2001 from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, majoring in painting. Uzorka’s practice incorporates painting, collage, cutting and pasting, charcoal, and ink drawing in an examination of processes of urban street culture. Uzorka won First Place in the National Art Competition in 2011 for his collaboration with artist Chike Obeagu.

One to Watch Odera Igbokwe was born in 1990 in a cocoon of fire and stardust and raised in Maplewood, New Jersey. Odera received a BFA in Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design and studied movement-theater and West African dance at Brown University. Odera’s illustration work is in the collections of Beyoncé Knowles, Solange Knowles, and Oumou Sangaré. Odera currently lives and works in New York City. As an illustrator, Odera loves to explore storytelling through character archetypes, afro-diasporic mythologies, and magical girl transformation sequences. Visit odera-igbokwe.com to learn more about Odera’s work. Source: Lightspeed Magazine