"Why Tourism?," by Johnny Coleman II

People ask me how did I connect ethnic marketing and tourism?  

The answer is anthropology.  I visited archeology sites in Egypt, I interned in the Smithsonian museums---just to give you a glimpse.  Over time these things transformed organically.  

Photo of Howard University.  Property of Getty Images.

After graduating from Howard University with my degree in anthropology I focused on marketing to ethnic groups.  I became an ethnic marketing consultant.  To get started I worked for free and did it with joy because I love my work.

Photo of Chadwick Boseman.  Property of Getty Images.

Everyone has ethnicity.  Some have a variety of ethnicity in their family.  Ethnicity is not skin color.  By applying my knowledge and skills in what is called cultural anthropology I was able to do proper research and build a real marketing campaign to reach an ethnic community.  I also advised ethnic communities how to properly promote their products or services: festivals; books; and health campaigns.  These things are important to know and do because if a person or organization does not understand the culture of a consumer or consumer group they will cause that person or group to hate their product or service by sending them the wrong message.

Photo of AMNH. Property of AMNH.

When I was 6-years old my first-grade class at P.S. 7 in Harlem New York City took a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (AMNH).  When 

Photo of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Property of AMNH 

I saw people working on a dinosaur exhibit and I knew at that moment what I wanted to do. I asked them who they are, and they said they are archaeologists; they were excited.  I remember that moment as if it just happened.  I then read anything I could on archeology, dinosaurs, geology and fossils.  I then read more books on world history, Native Americans and African ethnic groups; lots of National Geographic.  

In high school, I devoured the writings of by J.A. Rogers.  Rogers was the late anthropologist, historian, and a major contributor to newspapers nationwide during the Harlem Renaissance.  He was a member and invited speaker to the Paris, France Society for Anthropology (BEROSE).  He became famous after publishing From Superman to Man (1917).

Photo of J.A. Rogers.  Property of the Public Domain.

That is the same book that got me started.  For me, Rogers made anthropology simple to understand.  In college, I was a study-abroad student in the American University in Cairo, Egypt for a year and a half, learning the history and languages of Egypt; ancient Egypt until now.  When I returned home I attended Howard University in Washington, DC to earn the degree in anthropology.  

After graduating from Howard University I took my degree in anthropology and became an ethnic marketing consultant.  I worked as a broker to market products and services about or for ethnic communities.  This allowed me to travel and meet great people.  Those times were like a training for my work today in tourism.  I pursued promotions for ethnic groups whether I was paid or not.  

Here is a short list of examples:

• Promotion of coffee farmers, and coffee from Ethiopia, Kenya and Haiti
• Successfully raised money for coffee farmers in Haiti to fight the coffee tree fungus La Roya 
• Studied perma-culture design on an organic demonstration farm near Chicago, Illinois that was created to teach sustainability to people of African descent
• Celebrated sustainability and the environment at the Tesla showroom in Washington, DC 
• Publicly observed the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition on August 23rd

A major turning point is when I brokered a meeting with the Embassy of the Bahamas in Washington, DC  to support a client's tours created for people of African descent.  These things grew into a desire to share with the world positive stories and history using the heritage sites in the Shaw community surrounding Howard University.  This transformed in a food tour in the Shaw community.  At first it was international foods, then soul food.  Many have called unhealthy, fattening and dangerous.  Some even think of it only as the trash made into cuisine by enslaved Africans.  A deeper look into the origin and history of soul food proves otherwise.  

Photo of Colonel John C. Robinson.  Property of the Public Domain.

In 2021 I traveled to Ethiopia to build a tourism program for Afro descendants founded on the life and legacy of Colonel John C. Robinson (Father of Ethiopian Airlines).  This was my greatest combination of ethnic marketing and tourism!