So I was sitting at a Hibachi restaurant this fine Father's Day. The chef comes out after the black family sitting next to me take their order. All of a sudden, I thought about how I could make an AH where I was sitting in America, with an Asian family sitting next to me, and a Black chef making African cuisine.
So far, the only thing I could come up with was a Mali that somehow maintained its powerful status in Medieval Africa, connected with the west African coast, and eventually made it to the New World along with the Europeans.
So the challenge is to get Mali charged up and ready for colonial expansion by 1500, expand into the New World far enough so that they eventually have a growing colony that becomes just as, if not more, powerful than the homeland.