Harlem resident and advertising powerhouse Valerie Graves has turned her creative vision toward Africa with the launch of The AfroGames Johannesburg, South Africa’s inaugural fusion festival of basketball, music, fashion, and culture. Produced by Graves’s company, Azibo Productions, the one-day June 2024 debut — timed to South African Youth Month — brought together top DJs, Hip-Hop and Amapiano artists, streetwear designers, visual artists, philanthropists, and a thrilling 3-on-3 college basketball showdown.
“The AfroGames was a total immersion into basketball culture,” Graves said. “We had games going all day while DJs spun tracks, and the energy was electric — music and sport blending together.” Young South Africans cheered on teams from ten universities, having already participated in pre-event campus tournaments organized through a partnership with Atlanta-based Snake Nation.
Graves built her career in the “Mad Men” era of advertising, rising to creative executive at UniWorld and Vigilante/Leo Burnett, where her award-winning work for AT&T, Burger King, and Pepsi pioneered hip-hop–inspired spots featuring Ludacris and Busta Rhymes. She later served as senior vice president of creative services at Motown Records and as creative consultant to the NBA, producing the NBA Cares and NBA Foundation campaigns. Her memoir, Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be, chronicles her journey as one of the few Black women in advertising at that time.
Inspired by former President Barack Obama’s endorsement of the NBA-affiliated Basketball Africa League (BAL) as a bridge to social justice and youth opportunity, Graves envisioned The AfroGames to spotlight the sport’s broader cultural appeal. She secured media partnerships with Paramount Africa’s BET and MTV Base, featuring live broadcasts hosted by MTV VJs, and tapped Brooklyn-based Raphael Edwards — co-founder of the Cape Town Tigers, South Africa’s first BAL franchise — as co-producer.
“African youth share the same passion for basketball culture — the music, fashion, and technology — that drives urban communities back in the States,” Graves explained. A focus group of South African college students confirmed her hunch: the appetite for a holistic basketball festival was real.
With the success of the inaugural event, Graves is already planning The AfroGames 2025 for September 27 in Johannesburg. New this year is a curated “Black American Tourism” tour, inviting U.S. visitors to experience the festival and South African culture firsthand.
For more information or to get involved, visit www.theafrogames.com.