Australia’s new African heritage Hub builds culture and community

A new centre honouring African heritage and culture has launched in Melbourne’s western suburbs. The Baai-Alkebulan African library, arts and cultural centre welcomed visitors for the first time in April. Its founder envisions the space as a gathering place for young African Australians. STORYLINE This is what 30-year-old Magang Reech had been yearning for all his life.

Launching an African library, art and history museum to finally have a space where books reflect his heritage. "When you see your own people on the book covers, it changes your approach to it," says Reech. He grew up in Melbourne’s inner-city suburbs and the history he learnt at school lacked representation as far as he is concerned. "You just gobble up whatever is in front of you until later on you know better," says Reech.

First, he started assembling a collection of books he was interested in. The next step was loaning them out to friends and community members. And that’s how the idea for the library took shape. "Just to have a place that you can breathe and see your own people," explains Reech. Getting to the point of actually creating a library was full of obstacles. Reech wanted to help his community after he himself had to deal with a series of tragedies. "A lot of my friends that I know that I grew up with and really remember the early days, some of them actually passed, a lot committed suicide, a lot that have locked up in prisons.

For me it was like, we have to do something now," he says. Advocates say young African Australians need more spaces like this one. "Spaces like this help create safety for our people, our young people, but also build cultural sensitivity," says community advocate Mahamed Ahmed.

When the library initially launched, Reech was primarily financing the project himself. However, his long-term goal is to build a space that evolves through community support and involvement. "Hopefully we have something that will continue for the rest of my life and beyond," Reech concludes.