Building the American and African Advocacy Gathering

The American and African Advocacy Gathering was born not from Eric Naindouba’s success, but from his journey through barriers and his refusal to let others face those same barriers without support.

Eric's mission statement captures the philosophy clearly:

But AAAG isn't another social service organization. It's something different. Something rooted in the African family-based cultural strategies Eric grew up with. AAAG treats members like "brothers, sisters, cousins, and nephews." This isn't metaphor. It's method. In traditional African communities, family takes care of its own, everyone has a role, and belonging isn't conditional. AAAG brings that philosophy to disability, refugee, and immigrant advocacy in Clarkston.

Eric envisions a community where people with disabilities, immigrants, and refugees don't navigate systems alone. Where someone seeing your potential the way Derona at Citizen Advocacy saw Eric’s, isn't rare luck but common practice. Where advocacy isn't a professional service but a relationship, the way Kathi and Jeremiah stood with him as true allies, not case managers.

AAAG creates safe environments where people can have "honest equal say" in the decisions affecting their lives. This matters because many people with disabilities have spent their lives having others make decisions for them, speak for them, and set limitations for them. Immigrants and refugees often navigate systems designed without them in mind. AAAG flips that script. Here, your voice matters. Your goals matter. Your dreams matter.

On Saturdays, AAAG gathers at Refuge Coffee in Clarkston, the same community where Eric arrived as a child, the same community where he fought for his education, the same community where others continue facing the barriers he knows too well.

Eric is currently planning an advocacy walk and developing programs specifically for Clarkston's diverse community. He has the vision learned from years of experiencing both the barriers and the power of advocacy. He has the experience from being the child labeled "cannot learn" to becoming a high school graduate and organization founder. He has the drive. The fierce determination that got him across that graduation stage.

He's developed connections and supporters who believe in the mission. But for real change. The kind of systemic transformation that ensures no child in Clarkston faces the barriers Eric faced, the kind of community care that extends to every immigrant, refugee, and person with a disability who needs an advocate - more people are needed.

This is the power of Eric's model: someone comes seeking support and finds community. They receive advocacy and learn what advocacy looks like. They discover their voice and help others discover theirs. The circle expands.

Eric received advocacy from Derona, Kathi, and Jeremiah. Now he advocates for others. Those he advocates for will become advocates themselves. This is caring community in action. Not charity, but reciprocity. Not services, but relationships. Not fixing people, but changing systems.

But the circle only expands if more people join it.

Eric Naindouba didn't just survive systems designed to limit him; he transformed his experience into an organization ensuring others won't face those barriers alone. He has grown into an incredible young man who leads, advocates, and builds community. The student they said should accept a special education certificate now holds a real diploma and dreams of college. The young man systems continue to try and isolate, instead gathers people together in the name of inclusion and belonging.

In doing so, Eric demonstrates what becomes possible when we move from being advocated for to becoming advocates ourselves, from receiving care to building caring community.

AAAG is just beginning. Eric has the vision, the experience, and the determination. He has connections and supporters who believe in the dream. But the circle only expands if more people join it. Clarkston's immigrant and refugee communities need advocates. People with disabilities need allies who see potential, not limitations. Systems need people willing to fight for inclusion and justice.

The advocate-to-advocate pipeline that transformed Eric's life can transform others, but only if people show up. Only if they commit to relationship over services, to fighting alongside rather than fighting for, to treating advocacy like family responsibility rather than professional obligation.

Eric proved what's possible when one person looks closer and sees what systems missed. When two advocates, Kathi and Jeremiah, committed to fighting for dreams rather than accepting limitations. When a young man refused to let others define the boundaries of his future.

Now he's asking: Who will join him in making sure others receive the same?

Whose advocate might you become? And how might your commitment, whatever form it takes, expand the circles of care, justice, and belonging?

To learn more about the American and African Advocacy Gathering, connect with Eric on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/people/American-and-African-Advocacy-Gathering-by-Eric-Naindouba/100071703940306/or visithttps://ericnaindouba05.wixsite.com/aaag.