| (Photo above right: Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago and the
Most Rev. Joseph O. Bowers, SVD, Bishop of Accra, Gold Coast (Ghana)
with Sargent Shriver and other officers of the Chicago Interracial
Council) Ghana and The Right to Abode
For
African Americans
November 2001, Ghana's parliament passed
legislation which allows any person of African descent in the
Diaspora to live and work in Ghana indefinitely.
Previously, African-Americans in Ghana had continually to
renew visas and work permits, which proved to be both costly and
bothersome. Those who have advocated the African-American cause
celebrated a small victory. Ghana is the first and only African
nation to adopt legislation providing Africa's dispersed family
a legal right to return.
The actual document is called The Right to Abode and while
there is an application process and a few minor qualifications
that are outlined, it indeed provides a new opportunity to
Africans in the Diaspora.
There are approximately 1,000 African-Americans living in and
working in Accra, Ghana's capitol city. The number of
African-American visiting Ghana a year amounts to 10,000. Ghana
attracts far more African-Americans than any other nation on the
continent. This is due primarily to to mild weather, beaches, a
low cost of living, and the sense that Ghana could be a
spiritual homeland for many African-Americans.
According to some reports, Ghanaians are intolerant of
African-Americans. They are referred to as obruni, the
two word for white or foreigner, as well as societal treatment
that includes such norms as the denial of government jobs, the
right to vote, and higher costs for hospital visits. In his 2001
article, "Tangled Roots, for African-Americans in Ghana,
the Grass Isn't Always Greener," Pascal Zachary of Wall
Street Journal spoke of such mistreatment.
The African-American Association of Ghana (AAAG) denounced
the article and said that it undermined a 42-year relationship
between Ghana and African Americans and threatened tourist
revenue. "Americans are terrified by anything that takes
their comfort away," said Mr. Akbar Muhammed, spokesperson
for the AAAG.
Kofi Glover, a native of Ghana and a political science
professor at the University of South Florida, explained
"Whether we like it or not, Africans and African-Americans
have two very different cultures." Glover goes on to
describe slavery as a divisive bond between Ghanaians and
African Americans that could perhaps prohibit African Americans
from ever establishing a permanent homestead in Ghana -- right
to abode or no right to abode.
"[Ghanaians] did not experience White domination like
the Africans in Kenya, Zimbabwe, or South Africa. We do not
understand the whole concept of slavery, or its effect on the
attitude of a lot of African Americans, mainly because we were
not exposed to it."
Source: Newsletter@akomatours.com and Stacey Barney
www.BlackElectorate.com --
snbarney@hotmail.com
* * *
* *
|
Dentist Dr. Robert Lee
Championed
African-American Community in Ghana
In the
mid-1950s, Dr. Robert Lee, a dentist from South
Carolina, moved to Ghana to escape racism in the
south. Over the next half century, Lee became a
fixture in the African-American community in the
West African country. Dr. Lee died on Monday, July
5th at the age of 90. But few here in his home
state, or in the States at all, knew of his work.
But in Ghana, he made a name for himself. Dr. Robert
Lee, trained as a dentist, moved to Accra in the
mid-1950s. Over the past half century, Lee became a
fixture in the black American ex-patriot community
in Ghana.
NPR
Host Michel Martin talks to NPR West African
correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton about his life
and legacy.
Dr. Robert Lee NPR Interview
Dentist Championed
African-American Community In Ghana
Dr Robert Lee passes on
|
 |
| |
Dr. Robert Lee (right) in 2009 with
Kwame Zulu Shabazz |
*
* * * *
 |
Cape Coast Castle. A Collection of Poems By Kwadwo Opoku-Agyemang
Cape Coast Castle is
one of three slave castles on the coast of Ghana. The poet
believes that a place so savaged became a victim of society,
and a new orientation can only come about by breaking the
ancient silence. Naming the trauma involves him in exploring
the condition of the African world. Weaving an intricate
network of powerful images, his verse is both forceful and
lyrical. A teacher of literature at the University of Cape
Coast, the poet is acknowledged as a strong voice among the
new generation of African poets.
|
* * *
* *
The State of African Education
(April 200)
Attack On Africans Writing Their Own
History Part 1 of 7
Dr Asa Hilliard III speaks on the assault of academia on
Africans writing and accounting for their own history.
Dr Hilliard is A
teacher, psychologist, and historian.
Part 2 of 7
/
Part
3 of 7 /
Part 4 of 7
/
Part 5 of 7 /
Part 6 of 7 /
Part 7 of 7
*
* * * *
The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery
*
* * * *
The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
* *
* * *
 |
John Henrik Clarke—A Great and Mighty Walk
This
video chronicles the life and times of the
noted African-American historian, scholar
and Pan-African activist
John Henrik Clarke
(1915-1998). Both a biography of Clarke
himself and an overview of 5,000 years of
African history, the film offers a
provocative look at the past through the
eyes of a leading proponent of an Afrocentric view of history. From ancient
Egypt and Africa’s other great empires,
Clarke moves through Mediterranean
borrowings, the Atlantic slave trade,
European colonization, the development of
the Pan-African movement, and present-day
African-American history. |
 |
* * * * *
* * *
* *
If you like this page consider making a
donation
* *
* * *
updated 5 October 2007 |
