Dear friends, brothers and sisters, Linz is a wonderful city, with many ethnicities and nationalities. Linz is the European Cultural Capital for the year 2009. I do not wish to disclose everything to you but I wish you could discover the beauty of Linz yourselves.

You are the ambassadors of your various villages and towns and at the same time the ambassadors of the African Cultural heritage. Africa is a continent with such a diversity of life, the heart of the world and the land of sunset. This is the message in your music. And this message we believe will reach all parts of the world because many nations in the world are represented in the cultural diversity of Linz.

Most of you undertook so many hurdles to see this dream realised, the dream of building a cultural bridge between the two neighbouring continents - Europe and Africa.

We in the African community in Linz are still struggling to get our place in this society, and so your presence is a big benefit for our endeavours. The beauty of this city is not only in its structures but also in the people of Linz. We still have a long way to go in changing the perception of the white about the black. You may experience this or not, since some bad feelings are represented by a rather negligible minority here, and this is very little compared to the odyssey some of you might have been going through in your home areas. Or compared to the beauty and hospitality of the people of Linz.  But, just as we do here, let the sun of friendship shine and let the feeling of freedom and festivity fill the air.

Your presence is a great enrichment to the cultural diversity in the city of Linz, at this year of Linz being the Cultural capital city of Europe.  We are proud that you are part of it. At the same time, you are the pride of most Africans living in this part of the world. Through your presence and performances, you will be satisfying our nostalgic feelings of home and we very much appreciate you in our midst. We know too, you will be spreading the spirit of hope, perseverance and the joy of life, which has kept you through in the midst of oppression, poverty, cultural exploitation, bad governance just to mention but a few.

The Black Community Upper Austria is an umbrella organisation for all African organisations in Upper Austria province. We welcome you to this wonderful city. You will hopefully experience Linz in its fullness with all your senses and let the message of peace reach all peoples and nations. In these words I say you are welcome.

Ikechukwu Okafor 
President
Black Community Oberösterreich