There will always be someone who has it better or worse than us all. As Bob Marley said “Every man thinks his burden is the heaviest …Who feels it knows it not ” #CountYourBlessings .

I watched a 20/20 episode that reminded me to count my blessings.  Imagine never being able to be in a relationship or to easily and freely interact daily with people because certain sounds make it physically unbearable to be around them- and it’s a  disease called Misophonia that turns a seemingly “normal person” into “Incredible Hulk” style fits of rage that requires a cure instead of just personal choice. Imagine only having the taste for rocks and it being a condition called Pica instead of just the personal choice of being a picky eater with an acquired taste. I personally had to mute the sound of the women eating rocks because I couldn’t physically take it -much like the man with Misophonia ; however he has to find a way to mute the world because most sounds make him physically unable to function. I guess we all have levels of diseases & conditions with triggers that we either possess the capability to control or not. It’s about finding that balance and knowing when not finding that balance gets too out of control for you not to ask for help. The mind and its balances and imbalances are very powerful and no matter what we do to curb and control our ailments we can never run away from ourselves.

On this same day I also watched NY1’s The Call with John Schiumo , which offers New Yorkers an opportunity to weigh in on the topic of the day. The topic of the day was the recent news that the NYPD had more than 685,000 ”stop and frisks“ with over 40% being young Black and Latino boys/men.

“In a passionate opinion, a federal judge granted class certification status in a landmark trial opposing racial disparities in stop-and-frisk policing, and put the New York City Police Department on notice that they might face court oversight by the end of trial…Every person who has been stopped by police since Jan. 31, 2005, without reasonable suspicion will become a member of the class as a result of the decision, a number that court documents indicate will likely include “well over one hundred thousand” people…A staff attorney from the civil rights group that brought the lawsuit said the decision showed that the court understood that stop-and-frisk policy implicated high-ranking city officials in civil rights abuses…”The Court has rightly recognized that illegal stops-and-frisks are not limited to a few rogue police officers but are the product of a program designed at the highest level of the police department and affect hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of New Yorkers,” said Darius Charney of Center for Constitutional Rights. “As a result of today’s ruling, all those for whom this practice is a daily reality will now have an opportunity to challenge it as a violation of their fundamental constitutional rights and to ask the Court to order real changes in NYPD stop-and-frisk policy.”…In contrast, a New York City Law Department spokesperson offered muted criticism….”We respectfully disagree with the decision and are reviewing our legal options,” Connie Pankratz said.” READ MORE

A White gentlemen called in saying that the politicians , activists and Black and Latino people who were against “stop and frisks” were trying to run away from the crime riddled past of New York about 20 years ago during the crack epidemic, which somehow in our NYC narrative has become synonymous with Black, Latinos and crime- which now “stop and frisks” was/is part of the law and order of our society to prevent those days from rearing its ugly head again by keeping a certain sector of society in order on the streets or in a cage -domesticated from their animalistic wilds as to not ruin society for the civilized masters/majority. Ironically in this same week, a study came out to say that White people in America particularly in places like New York are no longer the majority. The  caller went on to say that if young Black and Latinos boys to men would stop with the sagging of the pants and make themselves look respectable then the police would see them as people who respected themselves and in turn treat them with respect. It just so happens that this is also the anniversary of Sean Bell’s shooting. While I agree that as a Black woman I as just as offended by the sagging pants of young boys and particularly the grown ass out men who we would all think would know better in they way the carry and represent themselves; I surely am not naive to the fact that clothing choice alone will not have police giving respect to these same young Black and Latino boys to men because just as many in designer suits have been disrespected, stopped and frisk with no wrong doing or explanation by police, as those shabbily showing their entire asses to the world.

A White woman called in and even challenged the host to stop saying it’s “stop, question and frisk” instead of just straight up “stop and frisk” as she stated even the Supreme Court had defined it because it makes it seem better than it is as if the police are stopping these young Black and Latino boys/men at an alarming rate to just possibly talk with them. The show’s host replied her by saying he will continue to call it ” stop, question and frisk” instead of “stop and frisk” because that is the name of the law and as a proffesional journalist he had no proof that all the stops by NYPD came with frisks. Even without proof stating that some came as just “stops and questions”, he was convinced that some had to have come with just questioning without frisks, as he went along to say how he doesn’t care what the supreme court said. That statement to me from someone that just proclaimed that he as a young White boy in the 80’s growing up in Staten Island-wore his bright green fat laces in his Adidas which was a part of the hip-hop style of that era and was never stopped and frisked by the NYPD;  yet that same hip-hop style back then and now is blamed for the frequency of young Black and Latinos getting “stopped and frisked”. He had even proclaimed to the caller that made the wardrobe argument that the debate on wardrobe had already been argued on both sides- with one side proclaiming freedom of choice and the other side proclaiming change starts with the the victim -I mean the suspect. I was floored when the usually cool John Schuimo got flustered with the White woman caller telling him the “uncomfortable truth” to a point where he raised a few octaves in his voice to reply that she was not teaching him anything he didn’t already know. As a journalist I thought he would know that the supreme court was the highest court to judge laws of the nation, so he should care what they say. The White female caller went on to say that it is obvious that the majority of the people who would be for the “stop and frisk” law would be White and the ones that would be against it would be Blacks and Latinos because they are the majority on the receiving end of it.

This all comes at a time when Trayvon Martin Vs  George Zimmerman is in the news with the same ideas of wardrobe, color and suspicion as a reason to “stop and kill” disguised as “Stop, question and kill when necessary to save the life of the aggressor”. This has brought the same divides in right and wrong depending on which side of the pedulum your deepest fear lies; whether it is in the victimization or being the victimizer- where we either  choose to put color aside or make it the focus in defining the victimization or the victimizer. Either way we can never run away from ourselves no matter how we paint the picture in our favor.  The same period in time when a young Black man makes world news for being killed because he looked suspicious in a hooded sweatshirt , a young White man made world news as the youngest self made billionaire with his signature wardrobe of choice being his Black hooded sweatshirt without any suspicion. When do we become a society or a world that truly faces our own truths. As Bob Marley said “Every man thinks his burden is the heaviest. Who feels it knows it not“.

As I was processing all of this last night, I saw these back to back tweets on my twitter timeline which said a lot to this very narrative going on not only in New York, but all over the world. Some of us are able to face our truths and demons and survive attempts to take away our lives like Abner Louima, Rodney King and  Chamique Holdsclaw and some like Amadou Diallo, Trayvon Martin, Mary Richardson Kennedy and Junior Seau are not. When racism and mental illness toppled with life hits you hard- your talents, your poverty, your wealth, your race or geographical location can not save you if you can’t attain the faith and tools needed to lift you out of the hood of darkness. This made me look differently at the horrific Basketball Wives bullying incident last week that had social media in such an uproar that it made the usually abrasive “I ain’t never scared” Tami Roman forced to deactivate her usually busy twitter account because she could not take the backlash any longer. As horrific as the incident may have been in seeing one woman break down another woman in such an abusive manner -I also realized that many of us failed to see that we watched Tami Roman literally have a mental breakdown on national TV with no recourse outside of serving as entertainment. If the rumors are true that this was all scripted then they all deserve an academy award and to have this train wreck of a show laid to rest as petitions have come out demanding before it ends up being the cause of someone’s life being taken away mentally or physically.

All I could think after seeing these  tweets was-Wow -Language is a powerful weapon. Something that has been coming up a lot lately in how we address one another and issues and how once again color/culture plays a role in the allocation of the address even when they are the same words.

I was at an African design forum the other day once again discussing and defining this idea of Re-Branding Africa and what New African Fashion is, when one of the panelist who happened to be half German and Ethiopian but raised all over Africa with Peace Corp parents – went into an argument with such conviction that somehow “Luxury” could be found in Italy or France, but not in the entire continent of Africa; Even though she makes and sells product that she brands as 100% Made in Africa to luxury retailers in the West while having convinced her “fellow Africans” that they do not make nor represent a globally recognized aesthetic of luxury products worthy of luxury production charges. Is it any worse when the same put down of the value of your worth comes from those who proclaim themselves as kin with an obligation to help you rise rather than from those who have built their reputation on keeping you stagnant or making you fall in order for them to rise?

What makes Ankara fabric designed in Africa any less luxurious than when Burberry designs it in London? What makes organic cotton grown in Uganda and made into a t-shirt in Uganda any less luxurious than the same organic cotton shipped to Italy, France or the USA and made into a t-shirt warranting the luxury label charging often 100 times more than their African counterparts? If Luxury is defined in fabrication and artistry of design and we start with the same source of luxury fabrication- all that is left is artistry. When your belly is empty  and craving to be fed- the luxury of waiting to indulge in a meal that will take all day to prepare in its finest artistry in taste becomes an unattainable luxury to indulge in for many African artisans. We all can agree that there is a lack of good paying jobs in Africa and that more often than not because of this there is only one income taking care of entire families with opens the door for exploitation in labor, not so much different from many parts of the world including Italy, France and USA which the panelist dubbed as known for luxury in a way that Africa has not arrived at yet. Much too often Africans are too busy with little choice between demanding real partnerships of investments in their labor or just being the laborers serving but not participating in the luxury market because of lack of opportunity, lack of information, financial circumstance in the fact that it takes money to make money  with Africans always never having money to make money, or being held back by the fear of change for the worse in rocking the boat and an unshakable pride in admitting that we often grow generation after generation never having been taught how to own our own, demand partnerships and just even knowing our worth. All of these things keep Africans stagnant in never attaining the luxury of being artisans with the luxury of time in the details it takes to attain the type of perfection where even imperfections add value to what is wanted and warranted in art. When you are automatically devalued because of geographical location, how can one attain that higher value unless they take themselves to a more geographically valued place?

Hearing the conviction behind the flawed arguments of  Africa not representing “Luxury” just made me wonder if the panelist making the argument had any real connection to the roots of Africa to categorically bypass its past- hailed to the highest of luxury with images of Emperor Haile Selassie I or Ashanti Kings and Queens long before she came to valiantly proclaim an obligation to pick up the pieces from their fall. She chose even to bypass the reality of Africa’s present, where just recently the Huffington Post had an article with the headline “Luxury Brands Target Nigeria As Boom Economy Creates New Class of Elite“. The use of words and descriptions in language is so important and powerful in its impact on the psyche of human beings. As Nelson Mandela said “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” All I can say to my fellow Africans constantly faced with this burden of language reaping havoc on our psyche and forward movements is that the time has come to know our worth- defined by us and not by the rest of the world outside of us.

“Scholars and scientists now conceive that Africa is the first place of mankind
Africans were the first builders of civilization
They discovered mathematics, invented writing, developed sciences
Engineering, medicine, religion, fine arts, and built the Great Pyramids
An architectural achievement which still baffles modern scientists’

[INTRO VOICE 2]
The 225th Emperor [echo] direct descent from Solomon and The Queen of Sheba [echo]
He is the “King of Kings, The Lion of Judah [echo]”
The name Haile Selassie I means “Power of the Trinity”

[Verse 1: Stephen Marley]
Educate yourselves, of Africa
To liberate yourself, Africa
Keep your heads up high
No more will we cry
Eeeeyh

Our history that they stole, Africa
Is written in our souls, Africa
Oldest nation on this earth
Know just what you worth
Well well

Ships that sail to distant places
Robbed us of our rising worlds
History says that you’ve betrayed us
Talking of the Gods you serve
Hear the rambling in the sky
Tears that our fore fathers cry
And today we’re still in chains
Take the shackle from our minds
You’re the corner stone
The king upon the throne

How beautiful are thou, Africa
Our nation have to bow, Africa
Don’t you fall from grace
You’re that secret place
Aye! Aye-ah-aye!

[Verse 2: Wale]
Power to the people, Motherland representa
I’m on trial with the man she my co-defendant
And I demand her attention, can you focus women?
I’m getting closer to the sky errytime I hit it
Haile Selassie I, “Power of the Trinity”
Soul made in naija, my voice made in Italy
White mans world that I’m livin’ in, some say
But it was Africa the continent we all came from
Can’t nothing come between me and you
So before I have seeds gotta understand my roots
Gotta understand the truth. We is all king’s ’round here
Lifes not all fair, work till we fall dead
Paul goin’ hard ’till I urn like a Pall-Bearer
Although my body’s in the U.S my heart’s there
I can never be ashamed of her, I got my features and my name from her
Mama Africa

[Verse 3: Stephen Marley]
The richest place on earth
Know just what your worth
Talking about the God you serve

Keep your heads up high

No more will we cry
They infiltrate our homes, Africa
They claim it as their own, Africa
Now we must stand tall
To break down all these wall-alls
Well well

Our children must be taught, of Africa
The science and the art, Africa
Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nahhh!

Educate yourself, Africa
To liberate yourselves, Africa
Keep your heads up high
No more will we cry

Beautiful are thou, Africa
A legend have to bow, Africa
Oh Oh!

Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)

Just this past week, New York Post writer, Phil Mushnick wrote a “racially condemning” or just “the uncomfortable truth” about Jay Z and his minority ownership of the new Brooklyn Nets as Brooklyn’s native son who would possibly be defining the style/marketing direction of the Nets with a suggestion of renaming the team “The New York Niggas/Niggers” in his usual cultural popularization of the word through the music that allowed him the luxury of being a minority owner of The Nets.

“…why not have him apply the full Jay-Z treatment? Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N—-s. The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B—hes or Hoes….”

I couldn’t really understand the point of this article outside of exposing the Jayz Jay Z we already knew and being yet another White person looking for an excuse to publicly use the word Nigger in his social commentary  on how Black people using the word Nigger has someone been the downfall of modern society poising even little White children like his own who had never heard the word used until they heard rappers like Jay Z say it. Oh Please Mr. Mushnick -you are full of shit and you know it- I would bet anything that your children heard that word long before they Knew who Jay Z was. The crazy part is that  White people don’t see the justifiable anger by Blacks to stick by Jay Z in this condemnation as making millions on polluting his own people and society at large with illegal and bad behavior, but yet they don’t see anything wrong with holding up the Kennedy’s as American royalty for doing the same thing. If the Kennedy’s can erase their past illegal activities and bad behavior that also polluted their own people and society at large  from the history books to become glorified as American royalty in making their wealth legit- then why can’t Jay Z?

According to Mushnick Jay Z will basically define the same Brooklyn and New York of Showtime’s Girls, caught up in the same race baiting or telling yet another side of an uncomfortable truth of not just Brooklyn, not just New York and not even just our nation but seemingly the entire world in the way we use language and perception in seeing and speaking to and about the same contexts. We either face the elephant in the room head on constructively or run away from it. Partly because of Mushnick and others statements this past week -the question came up for social media consumption and debate saying “When Do We Allow Whites To Criticize Blacks?“,  as if any clear conclsuion outside of race baiting was going to come out of posing a question like that in the race baiting Root. Yes I said it- there are Black focused news and information outlets that are just as much race baiters as their White counterparts. The definition of race baiting (the unfair use of statements about race to try to influence the actions or attitudes of a particular group of people) does not change because of color, the same way that Nigga/Nigger ’s definition does not change because of color. We all have to stick to one concise definition to keep a society from constant confusion in division.

I believe that faith in knowing there’s a higher power who creates miracles can save those who believe. The idea of a God that kills when faced with disobedience and non-believers, when one of the fundamental teachings of most faiths and humanity is “Thou shall not kill” is extremely ill-conceived to me and very UnGodly. I always hear people talking about they are “God-fearing” people, but I saw this quote that spoke to what I feel in my heart when I hear “God-Fearing”.

After seeing the images/words below in the form of a chain letter in hopes of being granted miracles by passing it along and by making one fear God in knowing that questioning or denying the power of God in anyway can eventually get you killed is very unGodly to me as well . This type of ideology makes me wonder about the teachings of religious fear mongering, which is far from the love from and of the higher power that I have come to know in my spirituality and faith.

We all should take a moment in prayer and reflection to really look deep within ourselves as we go to our selected places of worship on Sunday to truly decide if we are praising God in fear or in love, for by his/her deeds shall a man/woman be known because we can never run away from ourselves.

Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running,
But ya can’t run away from yourself
Can’t run away from yourself -
Can’t run away from yourself -
Can’t run away from yourself -
Can’t run away from yourself -
Can’t run away from yourself.
Ya must have done (must have done),
Somet’in’ wrong (something wrong).
Said: ya must have done (must have done),
Wo! Somet’in’ wrong (something wrong).
Why you can’t find the
Place where you belong?
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do (running away);
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do (running away);
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do (running away);
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do (running away);
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do (running away).
Every man thinketh his
Burden is the heaviest (heaviest).
Every man thinketh his
Burden is the heaviest (heaviest).
Ya still mean it: Who feels it knows it, Lord;
Who feels it knows it, Lord;
Who feels it knows it, Lord;
Who feels it knows it, Lord.
Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running
But ya can’t run away from yourself.
Could ya run away from yourself?
Can you run away from yourself?
Can’t run away from yourself!
Can’t run away from yourself!
Yeah-eah-eah-eah – from yourself.
Brr – you must have done somet’in’ -
Somet’in’ – somet’in’ – somet’in’ -
Somet’in’ ya don’t want nobody to know about:
Ya must have, Lord – somet’in’ wrong,
What ya must have done – ya must have done somet’in’ wrong.
Why you can’t find where you belong?
Well, well, well, well, ya running away, heh, no -
Ya running away, ooh, no, no, no,
I’m not (running away), no, don’t say that – don’t say that,
‘Cause (running away) I’m not running away, ooh! (running away)
I’ve got to protect my life, (running away)
And I don’t want to live with no strife. (running away)
It is better to live on the housetop (running away)
Than to live in a house full of confusion. (running away)
So, I made my decision and I left ya; (running away)
Now you comin’ to tell me (running away)
That I’m runnin’ away. (running away)
But it’s not true, (running away)
I am not runnin’ away. (running away)

We are at the point again in Africa -post colonialism- where Africa/Africans seem to be charging forward in a new era of the wind of change that will once again re-brand Africa/Africans not only to the world at large but also amongst Africans. I am a big fan of Franca Sozzani in her bold genuine steps to really be a trailblazer in the publication/fashion world to right international wrongs and to showcase beauty on a global scale, while encouraging and challenging us all to do the same.  I was elated to see Franca in my homeland of Ghana letting the world know that our designers can and are competing on a global scale and I was even more ecstatic to hear that Vogue Italia will be a media sponsor for the upcoming Ghana Fashion and Design Week. This is the sort of Pan-African inclusiveness that has been part of the African story and agenda since independence ; yet seems lost amongst many global Africans.

“It’s not often we build a web article and find the need to tag it with the keywords ‘Ban Ki-moon’ and ‘fashion’. Not that the UN secretary general isn’t stylish enough for us, but on this occasion L’Uomo Vogue has decided to give him the cover slot of their May issue in honour of an entire edition dedicated to ‘rebranding Africa’. Let them explain: “Africa is a land with a myriad of resources and unexpected opportunities; above all it is a young continent with a huge desire for self-affirmation and for men and women to be guaranteed the same measure of dignity. It is a ‘continent in progress’, a land in constant evolution, with an ongoing commitment to offering its people better living conditions,” the editorial team at the Italian men’s branch of Vogue explain in a press release. It continues: “Africa needs to recreate an image for itself that moves away from the picture of war and famine habitually presented to us by the media. And indeed there is a positive side to the continent, one where there are textile companies, oil deposits and modern cities rising up in countries we are as yet unfamiliar with; huge steps forward have been taken in the field of education, which have led to the building of primary schools, high schools and universities.” Who better, goes their thinking, to illustrate a celebration of Africa than Ban Ki-moon, who is interviewed by the magazine’s editor, Franca Sozanni, about the continent’s sustainable growth (the woman on the right is singer Lira, the picture is the other image being floated by L’Uomo Vogue to explemplify what else you can find between its covers)...That they have opted not to put an African person on the cover seems odd. But the image of a man (a very important man, at that) behind a desk, in a suit, the world sitting behind his shoulders, is clearly there to convey a certain seriousness. It will be interesting to see how such an exercise as ‘rebranding Africa’ plays out on the pages of L’Uomo Vogue.” READ MORE

“Africa is in the news — but not just for the sad and familiar reasons of conflict and suffering. The continent is entering the fashion arena, with the quality of its handwork, artistic creativity and its potential for economic growth bringing Africa literally in vogue. The key word for an overall résumé of changes in attitude and perception is “rebranding.” Ms. Sozzani did an “all black” issue for women’s Vogue in 2008, and she has subsequently promoted multiculture with a focus on black creativity and beauty on the magazine’s Web site, Vogue.it . Ms. Sozzani’s personal commitment helps to dispel any idea that rebranding Africa via fashion is a gimmick or that it might sit uncomfortably beside the deep-set issues of poverty, disease and gender. The editor has been appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for Fashion4Development — a global campaign that uses fashion-based initiatives to support the United Nations’ wider issues in helping Africa…” READ MORE

“L’Uomo Vogue‘s Rebranding Africa issue is an idea whose time has come,” Fashionista contributor and founder of Africa Style Daily Zandile Blay said. “From fashion to film to politics, the continent is in the midst of a total makeover so Franca Sozzani and L’Uomo Vogue are right to document it. But Blay says that coverage on Africa’s “makeover”–like the kind we’ll see L’Uomo Vogue‘s May issue–is too few and far between. “As an American editor I find it disappointing that only European publications are delving so deeply into the topic,” she said. “Where are the US publications in this global conversation?” Read More

While I believe in the notion of Re-branding Africa and understand that L’Uomo Vogue’s All Africa May/June issue is part of a UN initiative in assistance to help to re-brand Africa to the international community by truly living up to the idea of “free trade” -which more often than not leaves Africa/Africans at a loss with little dividends to show in freedom or trade; I would have preferred to ban Ki-moon from the cover -LOL!  In all seriousness, I would have preferred Ban Ki-moon to be replaced with some of the floating images inside of the special issue of Africans like the AC Milan players and South African singer Lira -who are truly the ones re-branding Africa globally. In all fairness the international world has not enhanced Africa/Africans as much as Africa/Africans have enhanced the world. Ban Ki- moon on the cover is not exactly the type of image of re-branding Africa that many of us Africans like myself have in mind as a re-branded post independence continent.

The wind of change that brought about a plethora of post-colonial independent African nations did not have to seek permission from the international world nor the UN to re-brand itself as free independent post-colonial nations with their own unique and personal African identity that was once heralded the world over with great leaders like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara, Jomo Kenyatta, Sekou Toure, Patrice Lumumba and so many other men and women past and present. We have in the past and continue til today to invite international assistance in our growth, but not in a growth of image that indirectly or overtly implies that Africa/Africans have to be more like the Western world to compete globally and to re-brand its image. The last November 2008 cover of L’Uomo Vogue’s first All Africa issue also made this same mistake by putting Forrest Whitaker on the cover with features of Quincy Jones, John Legend, Matt Damon,  Michelle Obama and others “all expressing their affection for and their personal connection to Africa“.  While this November 2008 issue according to Robin Givhan was to “focus on people, projects and ideas. She did not want to make an aesthetic statement about Africa. So she didn’t fill the magazine with images of Western models in overpriced vaguely ethnic frocks. And unlike a recent issue of India’s Vogue magazine, which sparked outrage among activists and humanitarians, this one won’t show peasants posing with $5,000 handbags. ”Fashion is not only about clothes,” Sozzani says. She broadens it so that it speaks to the vague and all-encompassing notion of identity..” Read More

Unfortunately one of Africa’s biggest problems is this vague all-encompassing notion of identity that usually never takes into account that Africa is a vast continent made up of a plethora of countries with their very own African identities. More often than not we live on the cusp of the two extremes where African faces are shown to represent Africa’s poverty and most things wrong with Africa, while Western faces are shown to represent the growth,progress and what is good about Africa. If it is about African growth, progress, charitable organizations and true free trade of emerging market business-there are Africans on and off the continent who can and should be representative of that firstly to Africans and secondly to the international world. We can speak for ourselves and have our own African images representing ourselves because we have been the ones generation after generation on the frontline of re-branding Africa and showcasing our African identity to the world.

“L’Uomo Vogue‘s May issue delves into a topic rarely explored by fashion magazines: World politics. In fact, the whole issue is dedicated to the “rebranding of Africa”, and features the unlikely cover star of 67-year-old Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the UN….Africa does not need charity,” cover star Ki-moon says. “Africa needs investment and partnership. Joining forces with civil society and private sector, including non-traditional players, like the fashion industry, has become indispensable. Sustainable development is my top priority” Read More

I, in full disclosure must inform that I have yet to receive my copy of this issue to delve deeper into the content beyond the cover; However as much as I congratulate Franca Sozzani on the bold step with the May/June second All Africa issue of L’Uomo Vogue -I still feel we have a long way to go in the international community along with our own African communities world wide in understanding that just as the re-branding issue of once emerging markets like China in its undeniable global growth and appeal at its heights during Kofi Annan’s term as UN Secretary General would have never had Kofi Annan on the cover to represent re-branding of China – Africans like myself would have also preferred to see the image of our own on the cover as our continental representation. The images of a continent/nations says a lot to and about its future!

In my own efforts in representing fashion, beauty and other companies trying to enter the African market, I have found enough difficulty in convincing clients that their westernized blonde and blue eyed/closer to White than Black ideal of beauty in their advertising and marketing strategies can not and should not be translated as representative of entering the African market without any African faces along side of it.  I also have found that there  is still so much miseducation and misconception that Africa can somehow be generalized like China or America, but the worst part of my experience has been in seeing that Africa generally presents itself continentally as a power struggle constantly hindering a lot of growth brought on by our own selves and our lack of being able to do anything on our own without aid and assistance from others because instead of building the right structures and finding African solutions to African problems, we rather spend more time fighting amongst ourselves in a power struggle to be top boss in doing things at our own time and setting self serving timelines in progress, while usually granting multinationals and the international community full and free access to be at the forefront and the face of our leadership and progress because as the saying goes “Everyone wants to be a chief, But nobody wants to be an Indian“?  Generation after generation we seem to be complicit in consuming and outputting the same ol’ same ol’ as we watch our dreams deferred. Africa/Africans need to collectively change our attitudes as Dr. Nkrumah said, in order to stop being complicit in hindering our own growth! We as Africans need to be more diligent and pro-active in setting the example and course for the future of our continent and in making sure the images representing our nations and continent are reflective of our independence stance in Forward Ever, Backward Never!

“In the future as the world of Africa & the West mate more & more into the totality of world culture, the creative strength of the African personality, which is evident in tribal sculpture, will contribute far more profoundly to human fulfillment than can yet be imagined” Dr. Kwame Nkrumah- 1966

“I am not African because I was born in Africa, but because Africa was born in me….I made it quite clear that from now on – today – we must change our attitudes, our minds, we must realise that from now on, we are no more a colonial but a free and independent people. But also, as I pointed out, that also entails hard work. That new African is ready to fight his own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his own affairs. We are going to demonstrate to the world, to the other nations, that we are prepared to lay our own foundation. Our own African identity…We have won the battle and we again re-dedicate ourselves. Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa….We face neither East Nor West, We Face Forward” Dr. Kwame Nkrumah

“Made In Africa”

[INTRO VOICE 1]
Scholars and scientists now conceive that Africa is the first place of mankind
Africans were the first builders of civilization
They discovered mathematics, invented writing, developed sciences
Engineering, medicine, religion, fine arts, and built the Great Pyramids
An architectural achievement which still baffles modern scientists’

[INTRO VOICE 2]
The 225th Emperor [echo] direct descent from Solomon and The Queen of Sheba [echo]
He is the “King of Kings, The Lion of Judah [echo]”
The name Haile Selassie I means “Power of the Trinity”

[Verse 1: Stephen Marley]
Educate yourselves, of Africa
To liberate yourself, Africa
Keep your heads up high
No more will we cry
Eeeeyh

Our history that they stole, Africa
Is written in our souls, Africa
Oldest nation on this earth
Know just what you worth
Well well

Ships that sail to distant places
Robbed us of our rising worlds
History says that you’ve betrayed us
Talking of the Gods you serve
Hear the rambling in the sky
Tears that our fore fathers cry
And today we’re still in chains
Take the shackle from our minds
You’re the corner stone
The king upon the throne

How beautiful are thou, Africa
Our nation have to bow, Africa
Don’t you fall from grace
You’re that secret place
Aye! Aye-ah-aye!

[Verse 2: Wale]
Power to the people, Motherland representa
I’m on trial with the man she my co-defendant
And I demand her attention, can you focus women?
I’m getting closer to the sky errytime I hit it
Haile Selassie I, “Power of the Trinity”
Soul made in naija, my voice made in Italy
White mans world that I’m livin’ in, some say
But it was Africa the continent we all came from
Can’t nothing come between me and you
So before I have seeds gotta understand my roots
Gotta understand the truth. We is all king’s ’round here
Lifes not all fair, work till we fall dead
Paul goin’ hard ’till I urn like a Pall-Bearer
Although my body’s in the U.S my heart’s there
I can never be ashamed of her, I got my features and my name from her
Mama Africa

[Verse 3: Stephen Marley]
The richest place on earth
Know just what your worth

[HARMONIZING WITH MUSIC]
Talking about the God you serve
[HARMONIZING WITH MUSIC]

Keep your heads up high
No more will we cry

They infiltrate our homes, Africa
They claim it as their own, Africa
Now we must stand tall
To break down all these wall-alls
Well well

Our children must be taught, of Africa
The science and the art, Africa
Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nahhh!

Educate yourself, Africa
To liberate yourselves, Africa
Keep your heads up high
No more will we cry

Beautiful are thou, Africa
A legend have to bow, Africa
Oh Oh!

Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)
Made in Africa, We share Africa (We share Africa)

As we honor the messenger on the 31st anniversary of his transition from earth to home going- leaving the world to carry on the teachings of love and freedom, and the love in freedom- I thought I should pay tribute in profile to Nestor Robert Marley’s mother on Mother’s Day- since she gave the world an incomparable gift of life , music and teachings that continue from generation to generation.

There has been so much press hype on the so called mystery of Bob Marley having a White father with the release of the Marley family and even the long lost and seemingly continuos bad blood between Bunny Wailer, Chris Blackwell and & Rita Marley finally coming together full circle in a authorized documentary entitled Marley; but here we unlock the mystery, wisdom, vision and soul of the woman who gave birth to the one called Marley.

“Cedella Malcolm Marley Booker (July 23, 1926– April 8, 2008) was the mother of Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley and a singer and writer…Booker was born Cedella Malcolm in Rhoden Hall, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, to Alberta Whilloughby and Omeriah Malcolm, a farmer, a “bush doctor”, and one of the most respected residents of Nine Mile (son of Robert “Uncle Day” Malcolm, who descended from the Cromanty slaves shipped to Jamaica from the African Gold Coast in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries). At 18, Cedella Malcolm married Norval Sinclair Marley, a white Jamaican of English ancestry, when she became pregnant with his son, Robert Nesta (which second given name “Nesta” means prophetically “wise messenger”). Norval Marley was a Marine officer and captain as well as the plantation overseer. His family applied constant pressure however, and although he provided financial support for them, the Captain seldom saw his wife and son. Bob was ten years old when Norval died of a heart attack in 1955 at age 70. Cedella and Bob then moved to Trenchtown, a slum neighborhood in Kingston. This was the only place Booker could afford to live at the time, being a young woman moving from the country to the big city on her own….While living in Trenchtown, Booker gave birth to a daughter, Pearl, with Taddeus Livingston, the father of Bunny Livingston – aka Bunny Wailer – who formed the original Wailers trio with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh in 1963…Cedella then married Edward Booker, an American civil servant, and resided first in Delaware, where she gave birth to two more sons, Richard and Anthony, with Booker. Anthony was killed in a shootout with Miami police after walking through a shopping mall with a 12 ga. shotgun and opening fire on responding police; Richard Booker survives her. After Edward Booker’s death in 1976, Cedella moved to Miami, Florida, where she was present at the deathbed of her famous son who died from cancer in 1981. Booker lived in Miami for the remainder of her life…” Read More

Briefly researching who Cedella Marley Booker- the mother was was quite intriguing and told me so much more about who the boy  named ” Messenger” who became a legend  really was. I never knew that Bob hand delivered his mother to the one and only Lee Scratch Perry to produce and globally introduce her musical talents and sound to the world as he had done at studio one with Bob Marley and the Wailers. I never knewthat Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley shared a biological sister in common named Pearl, which made Bob and Bunny not only kin through music as founders of the original Wailers , but also sharing a mother and father via the birth of their sister. I also never knew that there was a love story that produced this legend via the love story of a dark skin Jamaican Christian girl from St. Ann who at the age of 17 started a romance with a White  50 year old Jamaican man whose father was English of Syrian Jewish descent and whose mother was said to be a non-white mixed race Jamaican -which I will interrupt as probably an Asian and African global fusion which is representative of many  ”mixed race” people in Jamaica.

The newly released Marley film set the stage for all the hoopla and headline making narrative of what most are calling a true Bob Marley story with the family actually being fully involved and pushing the project after some earlier attempts with big Hollywood names like Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme , who for one reason or another just  could not find the right fit with the family in being able to speak the language of the life of Nester Robert Marley on film. As Nelson Mandela said “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. ” I would come to find out from Cedella Booker’s own words that this is a trait she past down to her son as a Marley legacy in never forgetting where you came from in language or otherwise.

When I read the quote by  Bob’s eldest son Ziggy Marley blasted all over the world saying “I think Bob always regretted that he wasn’t black.” I must admit I was irritated because there has been so much race baiting, religious baiting, tribal bating, political party baiting and any separation of ying and yang/black and white there is from all around the world on all sides, so I didn’t want what is being called the best insight into Bob’s life as a man, not just the artist put to film, to be the narrative of the tragic mulatto who lived this whole life of legendary greatness and global adoration as a Black man who brought the message to the world in a way that every one sang “Every man has the right to decide his own destiny ” while shouting out the African nation of Zimbabwe ;yet because of his father being a White Jamaican somehow made him less of a representation of a Black man. In a way maybe this is what drove Bob to be the embodiment physically and mentally saying “Me only have one ambition, y’know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together – black, white, Chinese, everyone – that’s all..I don’t stand for the black man’s side, I don’ t stand for the white man’s side. I stand for God’s side…”. It shows us all how society divides and conquers with manufactured divisions of race, religion, tribe, gender , sexual orientation and every division we can find when all that really matters is what is in one’s heart and soul. I don’t want my memory of Bob to be yet another man of greatness never to have had their soul satisfied. His passion in fighting for the Black man to be free & African EmPowerment in being the ultimate representation of the soul of a great Black man with unmitigated power who is embraced by the world over; yet he saw his exterior as closer to White than Black and it couldn’t catch up to his soul that ran deep in the beauty of Blackness of Africa – forever waiting in vain to be satisfied and possibly thinking that it should have been Peter’s face to his words…..”

While there are so many articles in the blogosphere about Norval Marley’s philandering ways  embedded with racilicious verbiage leading to visuals that intentionally unintentionally depicts Bob Marley’s father as some plantation era overseer that was bedding down young Jamaican plantation workers or their daughters without barely mentioning -if at all that Bob Marley was born in wedlock and according to Cedella’s own words with her being baptized with Nester in her belly with a father and husband that was a kind man who did his best to take care of her and Bob until he died when Bob was a young boy, not this strange tale/narrative of a dead beat father who was never in Bob’s life and had him and his mother in abject poverty while he lived his White rich privileged life that had been going around for generations. I hope in the hoopla of introducing the so called “unknown White father” into the narrative of the one called Marley that we also listen to the narrative of Cedella Marley -the mother and wife -in telling her love story within a marriage that bore a son named by his father  as Nester -The Messenger”.

Cedella- Nesta Robert Marley’s mum was a great children’s book author and musician and an even greater gospel reggae singer who carried the message of generations of singers, griots, teachers and wordsmiths who set that DNA free in a young boy who was told by a non believer that his birth name sounded like a girl’s name, so his mother allowed a name reversal to suit society, but she never stopped calling him Nester. From that root, the young boy grew up to live up to his birth name  as “Messenger” . The greatest gift and sacrifice a mother can ever make to the world  is setting the seed and allowing it to grow freely to live up to its ultimate potential -this is the legacy of Mama Cedella and what every mother in the world leaves and hopes to leave with every generation- Triumphantly!  Every mother’s ultimate redemption song -after passing through the good, bad and ugly times in trying your best to figure out and understand the balance of allowing the seed to grow freely and giving it the right amount of water nourishment, love , care and tenderness it needs to live a fully fruitful life-with rich soil setting the seeds for the next generation to also bare life’s fruits. No one knows a child more than an engaged mother. No matter what it says on paper a mother never stops calling your birth name.

” I think Nester have seen some resemblance of me in Rita (Bob’s Only Wife)… A lot of people would think that Rita is my daughter more than Bob my son…  Jah never make a mistake, he knows everything he is doing and he do it right…”

Rita Marley is yet another mother of Marley that I would like to pay homage to because she continued the legacy  in standing firm as the mother of generation Bob -a global African generation living and thriving the world over in Bob’s name. Getting to know Mama Rita in the video below also allows a closer introspective to Bob Marley the man and his wife and back up singer. Everything we have a commitment to is using us to get through its manifestations. It’s all a matter of the commitment in levels of mutual inity in the way we  engage those levels of commitment. When it came to Bob- music was surely a weapon in the deepest passions of love and war in evolutionary revolution of freedom. Basically an ecstasy induced by happiness, triumph and freedom- this is how and who I remember the always on time  Messenger- Nestor Robert Marley AKA BOB Marley .

We judge people on who they choose to love or have sex with- man or woman- with no concern to what they want and have agreed to because we only desire to hear ourselves preach world wide of the idea of the manifest destiny we hate; while claiming it in love at every step -as the path forward in telling others who and how to live as if that is our destiny. Rita Marley in her own words said “I didn’t feel like I was a wife, I felt like I was Bob’s background vocal, So their little  things I would have to remind him… hey bob… be careful….watch those girls…watch those this- then I became the watch eye, the mother hen… type & he would call me sometimes to get girls out of his room. I didn’t complain cuzs I felt I was there for the job & so the relationship became, more like I have a commitment to this thing“…Rita Marley- Mother, I-Three

Rita the mother hen understood her power as the ultimate say in the sweetness of the songs she made in expression of the special kind of bond, fellowship and love she shared with Bob, which even his own mother acknowledged as a deeply special kind of love that her son expressed to her about how he felt about his wife-Rita Marley. A love that could truly only be understood between them, but was evident to the world. Rita Marley in her words to show Bob that she can be her own girl /herself  beyond the background singer , mother, wife, one draw hit –has had an exemplary solo career of her own with beautiful love ballads serving every bit of the passion of the love songs era Bob Marley -writing about his romance with another woman named Cindy Breakspeare -Junior Gong’s mommy. While he may have written “Turn your lights down low“ and “she used to call me dada” for Cindy Breakspeare; he surely wrote “Satisfy My Soul”  and ” No Woman No Cry” for Rita, along with every song for the building, emancipation and empowerment of Africa for global Africans because he clearly chose her and in turn she clearly chose him to build his global African Nation from root to fruit. Rita Marley continues the legacy from yard to yard across the world, with a home base at its roots and gateway in Ghana, West Africa.

Rita Marly was never waiting in vain- she was taking back her power in fighting in love for her man with beautiful love ballads like “I’m still Waiting” with the knowledge that her place in the life of the messenger was as it was written beyond words, man and even beyond herself as a wife , mother an artist. In watching the videos of Rita and Cindy talk about their relationships with Bob, I get the sense that Rita was the syrupy sweet shy dark skin root Jamaican christian girl open to be shown the world , who fell in love with a “bad man pon de town” -relative to interpretation because she was captured and fell in love with the deepness of the love and passion in his soul, much like his mother Cedella and Bob Marley’s father Norval. Rita Marley has set her own path in a rich legacy of music and true essence of the blessing of motherhood and how we should hold it up to the most high. I end this tribute to Mama Cedella and Mama Rita …..  by saying Good Morning Jah!

Happy Mamas Day to all the lil mamas, big mamas, birth mamas, round the way mamas, village mamas, earth mamas…global mamas…U are all our Ye Yo’s! We love you and we thank you for all you have done, continue to do and will do in the name of the ultimate blessing of motherhood! Heres to building a greater future in reflections of our Sweet Mothers!

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#AllOfTheMothers #AllOfTheFathersWhoStandByThoseMothers #AllOfThoseFathersWhoWilBestandingByThoseMothersAfter Today

I was brought to think about my life as an African in the Diaspora a few weeks ago after I had an unvited engagement of words and looks with a Black American woman in a store, much like the restaurant incident scene in the African Booty Scratcher film which reminded me just how much of a Restless City I truly live in- depicted beautifully without the awful pain of the angst in the grittiness of it as poetically told by Nigerian photographer/filmmaker Andrew Dosunmu.

Here I was minding my own business waiting on the line to pay for my tank top; there was a heavy set Black American woman and her friend behind me already going on between themselves about why the man in the store kept looking at them like they were going to steal something. The heavy set woman coughs without covering her mouth and I feel the sprinkle of unwanted sickness in the air behind me. I turn around and gave her the look of  ”really-so you couldn’t just cover your mouth”. She was not pleased with this look and proceeded to loudly tell her friend “Did you see that, did you see what she just did to me” as she went ahead and mimicked my gesture. I turned back to her, looked at her and just shook my head like here we go. She didn’t take well to that either & proceeded to threaten me by saying “keep it up and catch yourself getting a beat down”. I proceeded to shake my head and laugh because she had no clue that she had the wrong woman today and that that big mouth- be the loudest voice in the room -threaten with physical violence- Basketball Wives ratchet style intimidation behavior was in no way going to work with me because as Star Jones’s twitter hashtag to put an end to this type of madness goes #EnoughisEnough. There was no way this woman was going to see that she did anything wrong  and possibly take any personal responsibility for her actions which induced my reaction, and there was no way I was going to allow her to intimidate me into submission even if she is three times my size with a whole lot of mouth.

That day I was going to be David to her Goliath, but with no physical violence in standing my ground in being able to walk into a store and make a purchase without having to be coughed on, intimidated and threatened by another human being just because she felt like it, was having a bad day or hated her life and therefore felt the need to take out her anger and frustration of her situation on me. I proceeded to just ignore her but she had already worked herself up about how I so called disrespected her by not being pleased with her coughing on me, so she went on to be the loudest mouth in the shop saying “these people come into this country from other places and they don’t know how to act”. I wanted to roll on the floor and bust out laughing at the idiocy of her statement under the circumstances, but I looked too damn good and was on my way to meet a friend for dinner so I just turned around laughed coyly and said ” So this is your country?” in a thick Ghanaian accent, which I totally don’t have on a regular basis particularly since I was born in New York but raised in Ghana as a baby; however at the times when these moments call for it, I bring it out proudly in full force since she had already ignorantly put me in the immigrant box without knowing anything about me- I guess based on my “exotic looks” clutching my fierce leather and raffia bag made in Burkina Faso, West Africa- even though technically I was just as American as she thinks she is. This is why I called her a Black American in describing her and not an African-American because obviously she wanted nothing to do with Africa nor did she respect Africa in anyway because to her I was just another immigrant in “her country”. She all of a sudden had nothing to say about my statement on whether this was her country that I was in, but now her friend in an effort to protect her in her foolishness instead of urging her to just squash it as a friend who knows better and is looking out for the best interests of a friend would do- decided she was going to have something to say as well. She looks at me and proceeds to say “oh she thinks she is better than you because you are poor”. Once again I wanted to roll on the floor in laughter of hearing such idiocy that made no sense to me whatsoever since I don’t know how I would know she is poor unless I just chose to stereotype her by her behavior and looks, nor how I would think I am better than her when we were both on the same line waiting to make purchases from the same store. I went on to purchase by item and walked past her as she went out of her way to try to bump me – which I just laughed , shook my head and told her that I hope that made her day because if she took it any further I would have had her immediately arrested.

When you act like an animal, you deserve to be caged no matter your race, gender, socio-economic class, sexual preference etc. because as human beings the one empowering trait we have above animals is our cognitive skills to know right from wrong and to not just act out without thinking about the consequences of our actions-which seems to be lost to many particularly in this day and age of glorified violence/bullying on reality TV- particularly amongst women where there never seems to be any consequences- which is far from reality.

This took me back to many years of my own and many other Africans’ experience in the Diaspora, particularly when it relates to Black Americans and other Blacks in the Diaspora who have this unmitigated low self esteem, lack of self love and respect factor that automatically somehow makes them think Africans and others feel as if we are better than them just because we choose to carry ourselves differently with a type of dignity and self respect that is so called “foreign” to many. The struggle to make it outside of Africa for Africans is often even harder than to make it in Africa, but for most Africans failure is not an option because none of our lives are our own because we build ourselves up to build up our families, villages and nations- As the saying goes “it takes a village to raise a child” and each one of us willingly or unwillingly carries that pride or burden with every move in achievement that we make, so the least of our life problems are thinking that we are better than other Blacks in the Diaspora, but we definitely strive to be better Africans in representing our continent and nations while in the Diaspora as to not be lumped into any negative stereotypes -which we do feel we are better than!

These African filmmakers and actors beautifully and simply tell the stories of everyday life of everyday Africans in the Diaspora caught between the very fine balance of our two worlds that are often as much different as they are the same in many aspects of life, struggle and the constant pursuit of attaining happiness in our  African Dreams.  Please checkout these films and support the Global African film industry that is burgeoning from Africa to the Diaspora.

Directed by Andrew Dosunmu, RESTLESS CITY tells the story of a young man surviving on the fringes of New York City, where music is his passion, life is a hustle, and falling in love is his greatest risk. African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement will release the 2011 Official Sundance Selection in theaters, beginning April 27, 2012.

AFRICAN BOOTY SCRATCHER the short film by Nikyatu Jusu.
Prom nears and things seem to be spiralling out of control for the typically composed ISATU. In this coming of age story,West African tradition conflicts with American idealism and Isatu is forced to reassess her alliances.

Bronx Princess By Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed
Rocky Otoo is the Bronx-bred teenage daughter of Ghanaian parents, and she’s no pushover. She is a sassy high-achiever bound for college. With freedom in sight, Rocky rebels against her mother’s rules. When their relationship reaches a breaking point, Rocky flees to her father, a chief in Ghana. What follows is captured in Bronx Princess, a tumultuous coming-of-age story set in a homeland both familiar and strange. Her precocious — and very American — ideas of a successful, independent life conflict with her father’s traditional African values. Reconciling her dual legacies becomes an unexpected chapter in this unforgettable young woman’s education.

Prince of Broadway is the story of Lucky and Levon, two men whose lives converge in the underbelly of New York’s wholesale fashion district. Lucky, an illegal immigrant from Ghana, makes ends meet by soliciting shoppers on the street with knock-off brand merchandise. Levon, an Armenian-Lebanese immigrant, operates an illegal storefront with a concealed back room where counterfeit goods are showcased to interested shoppers. Lucky’s world is suddenly turned upside down when a child is thrust into his life by a woman who insists the toddler is his son. While Lucky copes with his new domestic dilemma, Levon struggles to save a marriage that is falling apart. The seedy side of the wholesale district is revealed through a journey that continually confronts the interplay between what is fake and what is real.
Set in the shadow of the Flatiron building and soaked in the colorful bustle of Broadway, the film is as much a brutal drama as it is a tender comedy. Shot in a fast-paced guerilla style that is akin to the hustler lifestyle, the film reveals the lives of immigrants in America seeking ideals of family and love, while creating their own knock-off of the American Dream.

SideBar
Interesting discussion of the Uncomfortable Truths

As we go thru Europe to find the soul of music being brought by the Daughters of Yaa sprinkled all over the world in warrior queen goodness, our passport in global fusion leads us to make a stop in Germany  and London Via African foundations to find no other than Y’akoto, Joy Denalane and Emeli Sandé. Y’akoto is the half German, half Ghanaian songstress born in Hamburg and raised in Tema.

Y’akoto’s voice is heaven sent from Jazz, Soul, R&B, Afrofolk, Afro-pop and all genres that the industry stuck on labels can put her sound with ; she flows effortlessly in bringing the universal spirit of soul filled music that immediately captivates your mind while occupying your body in the type of feel good music that as Bob Marley says “once it hits you , you feel no pain”. Y’akoto is amongst the new wave of Global African soul singers like Sena, Wunmi, Anbuley, Asa,Nneka, Tawiah and a great  crew of true artists around the world who are this generation’s throwback to eras gone by when music was live and consumed by global collaborations in the universality of versatility  that is so intoxicatingly soulful regardless of language or borders. Y’akoto is working with her fellow German superstar- Producer/Artist Max Herre- who is married to another global fusion in German Chocolate, the German/South Africa -Joy Denalane. These women speak the global language of music between borders bringing separated worlds together in their global fusion while naturally and respectably celebrating all the sums of its parts.

“She has been compared to some of the biggest names of her craft, such as Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and has proved in many concerts that she’s as convincing on stage as in the studio. Both her EP Tamba and the Single “Diamonds” have set the bar high and raised expectations for her debut album….Now, the day has arrived: Babyblues, the first longplayer of 23 year old singer Jennifer Yaa Akoto Kieck a.k.a. Y’akoto from Hamburg is here! In collaboration with Mocky, Haze and production team Kahedi (Max Herre, Samon Kawamura und Roberto Di Gioia), the cosmopolitan with roots in Ghana and residence in Hamburg, Germany recorded 14 songs – songs that excel with their simplicity and focus as well as through Y’akoto’s voice which, despite her youth, has an amazing maturity and depth.” Read More

“Y’akoto’s music feels like a piece of chocolate, which slowly melts on your tongue. Born in Hamburg with a Ghanian descent Y’akoto creates the sweetest soul music, wich just makes you chill out and feel deep relaxation….Her musical style reminds you of Nneka or the brilliant Erykah Badu, both of whome performed live with Y’akoto already. Her colleagues as well have a high opinion of her. Max Herre characterizes her as “a talent, who you meet up with once in a decade, if at all.” At the end of march her debut album “Babyblues” will be on sale. The first single is entitled “Diamonds” and impresses with a smooth groove, understated african rhythms and the intense soulful voice of Y’akoto.”Read More

Joy Denalane represents the best of German Chocolate in her musical flavoring. Berlin’s own German-South African songstress, Joy Denalane, is so underestimated- her voice is sick-more heaven than hell-silky smooth with the grit like a throwback to classics like Aretha, Gladys & Chaka -one day she will also have strictly 1st name recognition because her voice is PURE FIRE! I was introduced to this phenomenal women on her Heaven or Hell track with Raekwon a few years ago, but with my exploration of her body of work, I fell in love with a future legendary voice , sound and soul. Her collaborations with her husband- famed German artist and producer Max Herre has brought so much beautiful music to the world, creating a musical power couple that the world needs to be as familiar with as they are with Beyonce and Jay Z.

With collaborations with artists like her husband Max on 1st Liebe AKA First Love, it brought me memories of that perfect love found by hip-hop and soul between Mary J. Blige and Method Man when they gave our generation our own love anthem in a classic throwback.  I am completely in love with Joy and Max as a couple because the music they make together oozes with the pure love and the sexiness of two beautiful souls whose fire burns through their lovemaking, with the final undeniable product being two beautiful baby boys who are just as deliciously pleasant to the eyes as their music is pleasant to the ear. From English to German, whether collaborating with Lupe Fiasco, Bilal or their counterparts in Germany, the soul of Joy’s voice never ceases to bring pure sweetness of  sounds to any  track. In 20008 Joy and Max founded their own recording imprint, Nesola Records.  Her first album Mamani which translates to Mother was produced by her husband Max and dedicated to her mother, then came her second album and first English language album entitled Born and Raised, which was recorded in Philadelphia along with her newly released third album Maureen . Joy’s recording in Philadelphia has brought back the classic Philly soul sound reminiscent of the greats of the past with a new global fusion flavor. I am proudly proclaiming that this is one of my favorite artists of the future. Take a listen and indulge in the pure goodness of the JOY of good music! Just in case you are still wondering who Joy is -she is your favorite artists favorite artist -LOL-get to know Joy!

I was the daughter
Of a little known king
When they came
And put me in a castle
My eyes had never seen
They spoke in tongues
I’ve never heard
They took me to the sea
At the edge of the earth
I journied tempest waters
Reached these distant shores
My clothes are tattered
And my soul is worn
I bore a daughter
In captivity
They came late one night
To take her away from me
I cried and I cried
Oh, Lord have mercy on me
Can’t they see
That little girl
Is royalty

Chorus:
I held my ground
And took my stand
Can’t help
Feeling sometimes
That I’m a stranger
In this land
In this land of mine

My mother used
To cook and clean
For the rich folks
On the hill
Made sure
I got an education
And could hardly
Pay the bills
I studied
Schools of thought
And philosophies of man
Started questioning
The contradictions
In this land
I left the classroom
Joined the rallies
In the street
Marching hand in hand
In the Mississippi heat
I spent so many years
Of my life on the move
That confrontation
Was the only thing i knew
Talking unity and how
We gone push on through
Can’t even say no more
If anything’s improved

(Chorus)

I’m a family man
With a wife
And two kids to feed
I dedicated my life
To seeing we succeed
The way I sought to make it
I learned to follow the rules
So we can make sure
Our children visit
The finest schools
Grandmas on the weekends
Going on about the good old days
When decent black folks
Be trying to make a change
My parents used to tell me
To live my life steadfast
But some may ask me
What it is that I have

(Chorus)

LOVE, MARRIAGE AND BABIES – MAKE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC…..DON’T YOU AGREE….

There’s so many things to say right now
I got so much on my mind
Look at what is going down
How much higher can we climb
The system that we’re living in
Depends on poverty and greed
But people don’t need charity
It’s justice that we need

Pre-Chorus:
There’s disrepair
It’s surrounding you
And it’s worse than it’s ever been
We’ll overcome
Overcome the things they do
We’re halfway there
Cause we know the truth
But living is another thing
We’ll overcome
Overcome the things they do
Lift your voice and sing

Chorus:
A change is coming our way
Step by step and day by day
We’ll live by all that we say
Step by step now come what may

There’s war all around the world
In the name of democracy
Can’t tell the rouge from the just
When they bring hypocrisy
I see my sisters on the move
Making sure we all contend
Must’ve lost something on the way
We reduced ourselves again

Pre-Chorus

Chorus

Rap:
Before we go forth
We gotta take ‘em back, back
So we can know what we did
Cause if we never know what happened in de past
Then we can never know, that’s what it is
If we don’t do it for us
We gotta do it for our kids, kids
So they don’t gotta relive
See, there’s so much happening, it ain’t gonna get fix
With singing and rapping and we gotta take action
And turn that preach into practising
Cause what happen back then, will be right back again
But each one teach one, cause we only as fast
As the last one straggling, so help ‘em out

Bridge:
Step by step day by day
Said it won’t be long, it won’t be long
Step by step come what may
I feel it coming on strong
Step by step day by day
We gonna overcome
Step by step come what may
As long as we are one

Chorus
Can’t tell the rogue from the just

What more can you want than a soulful brainiac who can engage you in intellectual conversation, give you some medical advice and blow out your eardrums with her superb vocal range. If this type of woman sounds interesting to you then allow me to introduce you to Adele Emeli Sandé - known by her stage name Emeli Sandé because the United Kingdom can not have two Adele’s at the same time. Emeli has more than carved out her own path as a singer/songwriter who has penned songs for artists such as Alesha Dixon, Chipmunk, Leona Lewis, Cheryl Cole, and Tinie Tempah just to name a few. Emeli was born in Scotland to a Zambian father and an English mother. She studied medicine at University of Glasgow, but decided her calling to heal would have to come through her music instead of formalized medicine. At the tender age of 24 Emeli is a force to be reckoned with as a writer who writes all her own material along with having a great vocal range that will surely see her having a career in longevity doing what she does best- bless the world with her gift of great soul music. Simon Cowell has called Emeli his favorite songwriter of the moment  and 2012 saw Emeli crossing over the pond to bless USA audiences with our newest global fusion import via London with a foundations of roots equally firm in Zambia, England and Scotland. At the top of 2012 she was engaged to her long time boyfriend who is a scientist, juxtaposing an amazing home of high level intellect with high level music to match – My kind of home!

“Emeli Sande is the future superstar you probably already love. The incredible lungs behind one of this year’s biggest songs, Heaven, Emeli has already had a number one, after appearing on Professor Green’s Read All About It, and could be Christmas One with her new single Daddy. 2012 is the year Emeli steps into spotlight and goes stellar – after already winning a Brit’s Critic’s Choice Award – with the release of her debut album Our Version of Events, out February 5. Emeli is also taking her beautiful street soul on tour – currently supporting Coldplay in Europe, then headlinling her own UK tour dates in April.” READ MORE

“Even though this forthcoming debut album from Scottish-born pop singer Emeli Sandé doesn’t hit the US ‘til June 5, I’ve had it since Feb n’ just couldn’t wait to give the curious a peep into her stellar LP! Be on the look out for her US (live!) invasion for dates in April in NYC n’ LA, then later in her summer tour opening for Coldplay across North America. Introducing us to her soulful, royal vocals is the album opener n’ single, “Heaven” (also remixed by Alpines which I’ve uploaded for your listening pleasure) that’s graced w/the right orchestral n’ choir accompaniment to catapult her into such a majestic pop status. Seeing her live also confirms how incredible her talent is. A natural on stage n’ already grabbing the Critics Choice Award at the Brit Awards for 2012, this is the next UK diva following in the prestigious footsteps of Adele n’ Florence + the Machine who both won these accolades in the past. As the LP continues w/other songs such as “Mountains”, “Clown” and her other single “Daddy” feat. Naughty Boy, you’re roped into her sensational songwriting, almost always pushing you into a state of deep pondering along the lines of love’s peaks, desperations n’ complexities, all bringing out emotions that physically instigate a tear or 2 or 3… Let’s say, you’ll be crying easily if you’re going through a normal life, so don’t be ashamed. What’s Sade to the 1980s, might as well be Emeli Sandé to the 2010s. Believe me, her pop appeal is stamped through “Maybe” – one of my ultimates – or “Suitcase” and “Breaking The Law” where she exposes just her vocals to these acoustic gems. Soon, I have no doubt you’ll be singing along, longing for love, elongating heartbreak n’ lounging to these timeless Emeli Sandé songs as your soundtrack to hopefully a long-lasting (yes n’ sometimes painful) life…” READ MORE

When I saw this Image it shook me as an African to the core of my bones not because of any shock value effect but because I was once again hit with the reality of Africa in my Africaness of what was, is and will be the future narrative of Africa and Africans if we continue the cycle of recycling these types of images in reality or fictional narrative.

I wasn’t sure if this was an official image since it’s a social media campaign and they can say they didn’t realize it can have any negative connotations outside of the reality of describing exactly what you see in the image in a sort of United Colors of Betton kumbaya moment… you know the post racial…Tanning Epidemic…who lives it knows it not error that looks like a repeat of errors gone by, or was someone trying to  stir up the pot in delegitimizing the efforts of Kony 2012 by inferring some type of white supremacy thru spreading an image and knowing the reality of its open connotations will taint the organization or just make its foundation known.

I started seeing the Kony 2012 postings for this campaign going viral just as fast as I started seeing the postings against it.  At first I ignored it as another internet viral “put the poor helpless Africans killing each other on global blast again for a good cause…” you know- another let’s utilize our foreign goodness, beauty, privilege and celebrity to paint the beautiful picture of death knowing that your soul can never live the reality type of marketing levels that we have become accustomed to, like when a bunch of celebrities dying on social media with a global moment of silence in not hearing their everyday genius words that make us care so much about them that we can’t go a day, let alone days without hearing their words, seeing their pictures and knowing their every move as we walk vicariously with them thru their lives believing that it is partly a reflection of our own lives in the making – so we donate money to show how much we love and adore them and feel good about ourselves at the same time type of life’s addictions in New Crack City. We’ve become crackheads telling ourselves that buying the crack even though it’s bad for our health that at least we’re helping the dealers take care of the children so that has to count for something in the bigger picture of giving back…Right?

One can’t help but to hate Kony and to see this marketing genius in academy award winning moment in the height of social media branding and technology. As everyone posted on Kony 2012 whether for or skeptically against it for the foundation of its charity- just as many of those same people were in a flux on social media talking about the new iPad. I mean damn with Apple having what someone wrote as having its Nike moment in finally admitting their human rights violations of their workers in China, social media was a buzz from Africa to USA, to Europe and Asia talking about the newest iPad and how disappointed they were in its upgrade, but they’ll buy it anyway…how much do we really care about hunamity when at the end of the day we don’t really have to live the reality. How can you post on Kony being the worst ever and sending your money to serve the cause of bringing him to justice, while throwing even more money at Apple- a company that has just admitted human rights violations against those very workers who are making the products that you can not live without even while complaining that there’s minimal change to the one you just threw just as much money at a few months ago, while these same workers were being abused to get these products out to you to the point of many suicides with a solution of putting a net over the bottom of the building to catch their fall instead of actually giving them freedom to have a living wage to allow them to live? Whether be it in Africa, America, Haiti or China the exploitation of the soul of poverty is the same. “I don’t know that the person who introduced cholera in Haiti, the U.N. peacekeeper, or soldier from South Asia, was aware that he was carrying the virus,” Clinton told reporters at a hospital. “It was the proximate cause of cholera. That is, he was carrying the cholera strain. It came from his waste stream into the waterways of Haiti, into the bodies of Haitians.”…But Clinton added that what “really caused” the cholera outbreak was the country’s lack of proper sanitation“….Read More

From China to the Congo, We, myself include are all part of this dangerous cycle of exploitation capitalism thru poverty. The story from the heads of these corporations whom we aid in their exploitation capitalism often say that they are not any worse than anyone else, or at least they are there trying, or like I heard a Red Cross representative being challenged about the millions to billions collected in aid to Haiti and the lack of progress say in a PBS documentary “who do you think supplied those tarps that they use for shelter and that they have to start from somewhere” . All I could think was wow really with millions to billions in aid the first place to start is giving away tarps for outdoor makeshift shelters? How about creating some construction jobs and having people get a decent living wage while building affordable homes for themselves and their fellow Haitians- but I am just a dreamer who doesn’t seem to understand how money works because I have never had millions to billions to work with.

None of us want to deal with the bigger issues because it means having to take full stock and self evaluation to really stand in giving up some of our own freedoms to allow freedom for many more throughout the world. It takes human beings to kill other human beings, so it will only take human beings to find their humanity to no longer live for the kill, unless the kill is the foundation of the cycle of humanity that we wish to continue. No matter how we try to define and redefine it, death is death and it is final the world over. When a bomb is dropped in Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East or anywhere in the world it produces the same destruction without accountability to casualties- innocent or not- in serving its purpose to deliver on its target. In our need to help others by imposing our self righteous will, we often end up creating nothing but continual chaos. Let’s employ people in giving them a hand up toward independence and self sufficiency which is the dream and basic human right of us all, but too often not the main purpose of many NGO’s particularly in exploited nations with exploited people who do not realize their on voices in determining their own future. Today technology has  paved the way to allow unprecedented global access in the fight against poverty and to find the much needed yet eluded balance in equality. Fair Trade in the era of technology should mean that just as a Kenyans and other African nations have set up technology that is far more advanced than the western world, allowing  them to use their mobile phones to buy products on the streets of Nairobi, then if fair trade were truly fair and free – they can sell their locally home grown and made products to major retailers all over the world without an NGO or well meaning middle person from abroad having to get their cut in making their journey out of poverty to self sufficiency that much harder and longer to be able to keep all parties in business.

“My frustration with the group has largely reflected the concerns expressed so eloquently by those individuals who have been willing to bring the fury of Invisible Children’s true believers down upon themselves in order to point out what is wrong with this group’s approach: the warmongering, the self-indulgence, the commercialization, the reductive and one-sided story they tell, their portrayal of Africans as helpless children in need of rescue by white Americans, and the fact that civilians in Uganda and central Africa may have to pay a steep price in their own lives so that a lot of young Americans can feel good about themselves, and a few can make good money. This, of course, is sickening, and I think that Kony 2012 is a case of Invisible Children having finally gone too far. They are now facing a backlash from people of conscience who refuse to abandon their capacity to think for themselves…” READ MORE

If at the end of the day from celebrity endorsements in limitless publicity and global branding and the usual made for Hollywood movie narrative with White people saving global Africans is all a part of the business of saving lives, then we need to altruistically teach those who are part of the business the business, but once again unfortunately that is not how the cycle works because there always has to be someone at the bottom to set the foundation for the workings of the top. We ned to ask ourselves the real questions like can and does Democracy as it is sold from the West work all over the world or are Africans and others who try to adapt to foreign ways of life instead of building on their own way of life just merely running out of luck to be eventually left with none of the perks and dreams that freedom and democracy was to bring.We need to take the messages of the problems of the world that these charities, individuals and institutions educate us about and really ask ourselves how committed we are to solving these problems for the long term instead of just having our philanthropic pat ourselves on the back moments for doing something or being involved in a cause for good- as far as we know it, just for it to be forgotten until the next viral video hits the internets and our big and small screens.

“Any leadership that teaches you to depend on another race, is a leadership that will enslave you” Marcus Garvey

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own..” Benjamin Disraeli

As human beings we all have a responsibility to other human beings and that responsibility should involve sharing with them the tools of self sufficiency because there has never been any freedom in dependency and having to beg someone else for your daily bread.  As Digital Underground rightfully said “all around the world same song”  because as Dr. King  said  ”Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere“. I am tired of global Africans constantly waiting for saviors outside of themselves, then saying that Whites setting up charities in global African nations is about White guilt and exploitation, as they sit down and watch their own people suffer and do nothing but blame others for those very same conditions which they have lived in or watched from afar as the sum of who they are with apathy and a dangerous mixture of escapism and defeatism. I am just as tired of White people going into global African nations and societies with so called good intentions laced with a sense of entitlement in trying to fix the problems of global Africans with no consideration of embracing an African solution to African problems in having those they help aspire to be forever indebted and grateful to them for saving them from themselves and those who look like them in order to give themselves relevancy in the equation of problem to solution. We all need one another and as the African proverb says “two heads are better than one“, but as Chimamanda Adichie explained in the danger of a single story…“Show a people as 1 thing, as only 1 thing over & over again & that is what they become. Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story” “Media Terminology is Extremely Important. It Sets the Tone for How The Story Is Perceived by the Audience. Many media outlets have various style guides about how they go about reporting such stories. Fundamentally the basic rule when you look at the western media’s coverage of terrorism is- terrorism is what other people do to us, it is not what we do to them…Truth is already a casualty of a war that hasn’t even started yet” Today I watched as former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan became the man of the hour serving as a UN special envoy to Syria declaring “The Killing Must Stop” . Well, the killing must stop all over the world. The killing of life through bullets, bombs, images and language must stop all over the world in order to stop the decline in our humanity. We need to deal with the language and imgery we use in our causes for humanity. As an African child watching global UNICEF Ad. Campaigns employing the world to “help Africans by donating a dollar or a few quarters a day”, you know the one that generations have joked about poking fun at the pathetic Africans with babies happily living in dirt  because those that gave birth to them don’t know any better.

I often wondered if they knew, cared or thought about how that language and imagery spread world wide affected the psyche of African children like myself on the continent and in America navigating our way thru schools in America that only educated its people on Africans being made into slaves in America, as we try to explain to young impressionable minds that our Africa was more than children with bloated bellies needing the cost of a basic soft drink to survive and that we have and will always be more than just the summary of our enslavement and colonization narrative. Today thanks to the game changer of technology in Africa, Africans have found their voice in debunking stereotypes and directly answering in their own viral videos, posts and tweets to those who continue to exploit inaccurate portrayals of Africa and Africans.

If we are going to be real let’s ask why we choose these types of images and verbiage in selling Africa to appeal to people for aid and who exactly are we appealing to. How often do we see UNICEF, the Red Cross and the plethora of charitable organizations utilize the images of celebrities and those global Africans from the same nations which they serve to speak for their nations and to be the face of a -yes we can attitude in Africans doing for Africans even if it’s through the assistance of those not of their culture? Does Africa not have our own Angelina Jolies, Madonnas, Bonos etc. in the world who would make much more of an impact in changing the story of global Africa to global Africans by seeing the possibilities of what can be instead of the same imagery from slavery, to colonization, to civil rights to modern day so called post racial world that still puts out mostly or only the images of White people saving global Africans from themselves and those whom look like them? Humanity is full of flaws and even the best of us with the greatest of intentions sometimes falter to repeat the cycle of the condition of our conditioning. When and how will we be committed enough to not repeat the cycle or is the cycle put in place so we can all play our usual parts to keep the same story going with no one really willing to rock the boat to change course?

“Perhaps when charities are looking for spokespeople and ambassadors they should look to Africans as well. They should look at our “celebrities” and prominent figures, people who understand Africa far better than any celebrity visiting for charity projects who’s rushing from 5-star hotel to disease-ridden village and back again to the 5-star hotel. Our celebrities, in my opinion, have a responsibility to their countries, whether they live in them or not. That way communication doesn’t just stop at a TV ad or a glitzy campaign. People from beyond the continent can help with a fresh perspective but, truly, nobody knows the problems we face as well as an African does. We don’t only know about the corruption, we know who the main culprits are. We know who will waste the money; we know where the real thieves live. An African celebrity doesn’t need to look at a picture of a starving child to feel empathetic; they probably don’t have to look much further than their own village. Youssou N’dour as a UNICEF ambassador makes sense. He may not prove as popular on twitter as Lady Gaga, but I believe his interests in improving Africa are more genuine…Author of Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo, has been highly critical of celebrity campaigns: “[I] was at a party to raise money for Africans, and there were no Africans in the room, except for me… I’ll make a general comment about this whole dependence on celebrities. I object to this situation as it is right now where they have inadvertently or manipulatively become the spokespeople for the African continent.” READ MORE

It just so happens that before I got side tracked with hype of Kony 2012,  I was on a Ugandan high elated to tell the readers of this blog about two great Ugandans that I was introduced to this week in order to add a different image of the Idi Amin Hollywood movie narrative where the focus is the Last King of Scotland saving Ugandans from yet another African dictator directed by the same Kevin McDonalad now telling the story of Bob Marley and according to his own words finding the most new and interesting facts about Bob Marley being that ”he was a vegetarian & that his father was a White man from England” -SMH! The connectivity to soul can never be manufactured…it’s planted from root to fruit, so it is difficult to have certain expectations of those who are not of its roots to bare its ripe fruits.

As I once said in my own blog “I am not implying that non-global Africans shouldn’t be allowed to write books about Africa; however I am questioning the expert title given to these writers who are telling stories of people & places that they are often no more than passerby’s  & visitors of, while those who actually have been immersed in & live the culture are often passed over for equal opportunities to tell their own stories….” READ MORE

I came across a great new global African from Uganda by the name of Michael Kiwanuka who has been named BBC’s sound of 2012 – an accolade that in the past had been given to globally acclaimed artists like Adele and Corrine Bailey Rae. When I first heard Michael’s voice, it brought amazing solace and satiation to my heart like the taste of fresh cold water from an African spring after walking miles in harmattan heat.

I was also able to meet a great woman who represents so much for the trials and tribulations as well as achievements in fashion and philanthropy for global African women and Ugandan young women in particular named Erlin Ibreck. Erlin is amongst our African super sheroes and global African daughters of Yaa Asantewaa who are often overlooked because their work goes beyond seeking the spotlight.  Erlin is amongst our many global African women who have  followed their dreams in blazing the trail thru careers that maybe unconventional to the idea of the security of financial freedom that their elders seek for them, so they can have an easier road to life than they did. As I sat with Erlin, she informed me that she was from Uganda just in case I didn’t know, there was a certain joy and bond to hear those words as an African woman and to hear her stories of working with the greatest photographer that my homeland Ghana has ever had, James Barnor. Erlin was one of his models for one of the greatest magazines, DRUM, which celebrated its 60th year anniversary in December and in the 50’s and 60’s represented the greatness of the global African image often never seen by the global world and best of all it was produced in Africa.  Just knowing of her existence, hearing her story and seeing her as the Program Director for the Strategic Opportunities Fund at the prestigious Soros Organization known all over the world gave me instant elation of the possibilities of the future for young global Africans like myself  just by having her example. I thought wow- Africans and in particular young Ugandans need to hear these voices and to know these stories, and after seeing the Kony 2012 video, I thought to myself why do these charities and istitutions never utilize or colloborate with those who are immersed in and living the culture on a daily basis and whom as Bob Marley says “can’t run away from themselves” because even privilege does not allow it when the foundation in the roots has been set from birth, something which those that are not of the culture can never truly say or own.

If Kony 2012 in re-sparking up the old debates brought on by global Africans like Dambisa Moyo, Wangari Maathi , Kimmie Weeks and so many others in challenging us all to follow the money and the usefulness of NGO’s fighting the same causes for centuries and decades with little change in Africa and other parts of the world, and if it opens the eyes of global Africans to really look in the mirror to face their truths in asking themselves the real questions on why the image above of “White people saving Africans” is always the global image of fighting the African cause and how Africans are complicit in letting that continue in order to truly seek out and act toward the necessary changes needed in our collective global dialogue and fight for human rights and true freedom in self empowerment- then it has done something great; whether we agree with the delivery, premise or the charity that it supports. Unfortunately it often takes harsh reality in many forms to wake us all up to our own reality , fears and our true purpose in this world. Life is hard as it is, so when we start to want to save the world it begins to be overwhelming in the fine balance of altruism and self serving profiteering.

So many AfriCan generations leave Africa to make a difference and to be that change just to repeat the cycle, the same way that the generations of NGO’s come to Africa to make a difference and to be that change also repeat the same cycle. Many of us taking a stand as change makers for Africa and her Diaspora today are the generation of the great leaders of  the wind of change that came through Africa in the 60’s as well as her Diapora; and subsequently the White children of that same era and the Obama generation are also taking their place in the legacy of activism and being change makers. This so called Obama generation, in the subgrouping of those labeled as the educated White college students from middle class and privileged  generations who are often credited for catapulting then Senator Obama’s  presidential campaign from obscurity to viability with their own viral blasts in being part of hope and change are the same generation of Kony 2012 who had access enough to walk thru the annals of American government to demand the signature of President Obama to send troops to Uganda to aid in bringing 1 Ugandan man to justice, while Black Americans who overwhelmingly voted to put President Obama in office can not seem to even get a seat at the table to get the assitance needed in the killing of young Black boys and girls on a daily basis in Chicago, Detroit and many of those urban areas that have streets named after the civil rights legacy of Dr. King, Malcolm X, W.E.B Dubois, Harriet Tubman and so many others who built the foundation for this nation to ever even consider  having a Black President after over 200 years.

We are continuously consumed by the power we don’t have  and what others are doing or not doing for us instead of building on the power and foundation that we do have to also have a seat at the table in order to also do for ourselves in demanding the same changes that Kony 2012 and other White led charities wield all over the world in coming to the rescue of global Africans. Somehow we have accepted being the consummate minority without a voice in a constant state of emergency that needs a voice that is not our own to get to the mountain top.  These charitable organizations wouldn’t be there if there wasn’t a need for them to be there; whether it’s in good or bad, in saving or preying. There has been a global uproar against presidents like Mugabe who is labeled a tyrant and a dictator for having the audacity to strip Whites in Zimbabwe of their land to give it back to the indigenous people of Zimbabwe, but where is the uproar of thousands to millions of displaced Africans who have been stripped of their lands to make room for NGO’s and multinational companies coming to Africa under the auspices of aiding to build a new Africa, that seems to have no need for African input?

An African can’t just go to Europe, Asia and America and just acquire land no matter how hard they work even though that is the American dream sold to the world, but American and European NGO’s can more often than not go to Africa, acquire land and often weild more power to have a seat at the table of our presidents much more often than our own elected officials. Who do we fault for that- the nation who has put the laws, infrastructure and foundation in place to protect its culture from foreign invasion in taking power from everyday people of that nation. or the ones who have remained lawless with an open door- free for all atmosphere- to exploit anything and everything as needed, as long as the select few maintain their wealth and positions.

“Imagine if every young person on the continent of Africa stood up against corruption, it would end and our lives would be better even without international aid or intervention. We can do it ourselves.”Liberian Activist,Kimmie Weeks

“From now on – today – we must change our attitudes, our minds, we must realise that from now on, we are no more a colonial but a free and independent people. But also, as I pointed out, that also entails hard work.That new African is ready to fight his own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his own affairs. We are going to demonstrate to the world, to the other nations, that we are prepared to lay our own foundation. Our own African identity…. Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. Thy claim it as their own and none can keep it from them. We face neither East nor West: We Face Forward..THE SECRET OF LIFE IS 2 HAVE NO FEAR” Osageyfo Kwame Nkrumah Those who are suffering and dying can’t afford to wait to think it thru on where they receive assistance from. We are conditioned by our conditioning and I’m just trying to figure out how we get past that cycle because either we learn from history or we don’t, but either way the show must go on. Either way everyone feels they are where they should be and are entitled to be there to take their positions. I want to know the source of this “Kony 2012 White people Saving Africans” image above for the full story, but either way we must handle the truth. It all comes from an idea and a cause…where are our ideas and causes…And why are our dreams usually deferred…or are they?

When does the foolishness end all around…from the exploited to the exploiters…from Africa to the West, East and all points in between.

“The photograph was immediately criticized.A widely-cited student blog “Visible Children” called it an indication of Invisible Children’s emphasis on direct military intervention in Uganda. The Racialicious, a race and pop culture blog, said the photo helped paint a “picture of neo-colonialism.” Others quoted Chris Blattman, a political scientist at Yale, who wrote that Invisible Children’s program “hints uncomfortably of the White Man’s Burden… the savior attitude.”

To get the story behind the photograph, I turned to Glenna Gordon. who captured the moment at the Sudan-Congo border during the 2008 peace talks while she was on assignment for the Associated Press. Hear her take on the Kony 2012 campaign after the jump.

Q. How did you happen to be there to take this photo?

Gordon: I was on assignment for the AP covering the 2008 peace talks between the Ugandan government and the LRA, and we were all sort of stuck at this small camp, in the same space, to wait for the talks to resume. There was nothing to do. I saw that the Invisible Children guys were [posing with guns], and I thought I should take some pictures.

Q. What were the reactions of the SPLA members standing with them?

Gordon: The SPLA were into it, because they were bored too. People were having a lot of fun videotaping it, taking Polaroids and posing with all of these guys. Everyone was into it.

I think I felt a lot of discomfort, but I didn’t say to stop it, which maybe I should have because if we were attacked by LRA then, the SPLA should have had guns in their hands.

Q. Invisible Children has received some criticism that their efforts and this photo seem “colonialist,” or hint at the “white man’s burden.” What do you say to that?

Gordon: I think all of those things are true. The photo plays into the myth that Invisible Children are very much actively trying to create. They even used the photo on their official response page. I don’t think they think there is a problem with the idea that they are colonial. This photo is the epitome of it, like, we are even going to hold your guns for you.

Q. What did you think of the Kony 2012 video?

Gordon: I can’t bring myself to watch the video. I found all of their previous efforts to be emotionally manipulative, and all the things I try as a journalist not to be. After the peace talks in 2008, they put out another video, and I saw the footage used in these videos blending archival footage with LRA and SPLA and videos of them goofing off. It was the most irresponsible act of image-making that I’d seen in a long time. They conflated the SPLA with the LRA. The SPLA is a government army, holding weapons given by the government, and yet they did not create any division between them and LRA. That’s terrible.

Q. How did you see other aid groups and Ugandans respond to Invisible Children while in Uganda?

Gordon: People who have lived there for years, bona fide aid workers who have studied foreign policy and other relevant fields like public health, who are really there because they are trying to solve problems — they see Invisible Children as trying to promote themselves and a version of the narrative.

Most Ugandans also think they are ridiculous. They say “Invisible Children! They seem pretty visible to me.” Even the name is so loaded.

In Uganda, Invisible Children has programs operating but I don’t want to speak to those because I don’t know them.

Q. The Kony 2012 campaign has made a lot of people aware of Joseph Kony. Do you think there will be a tangible impact of Kony 2012?

Gordon: The LRA isn’t even active in Uganda anymore, so we’re getting the issue to the spotlight with so much misinformation. I applaud efforts to bring humanitarian crises to the limelight, but if we do so with misinformation, we are sure to make mistakes. We need to do so with an eye toward accuracy and responsibility.

Q. The filmmaker of Kony 2012 featured his son in the video to help people understand the situation in Uganda. Do you think that contributed to the film’s success?

Yes, and I think that it is a legitimate comparison to make in the film between Ugandan and American kids. It’s a mistake to think that we shouldn’t have the same expectations for livelihood, education, etc. for children in both countries. And that idea may create more political will….“ READ MORE

“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed…“Being black is not a matter of pigmentation – being black is a reflection of a mental attitude. Black Consciousness is an attitude of the mind and a way of life, the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time. The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. Black man, you are on your own…” Stephen Bantu Biko

We need more thinkers in the world not just intellectuals and politicians self righteously telling us all what is best for us. We need those thinkers who are not afraid to face our truths in fears of failure. This little story I received from a friend sums it all up to me. Today I choose life in knowing that I am exactly where I need to be with much more life to come for me and for Africa.

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village. A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long.” they answered in unison.

“Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?”

The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

“But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children,

and take siestas with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. We have a full life.”

The tourist interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard (a consultant?) and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.”

“And after that?”

“With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.

Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant.

You can then leave this little village and move to

Mexico City, Los Angeles , or even New York City !

From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.”

“How long would that take?”

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years.” replied the tourist.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? Well my friend, that’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the tourist, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?” asked the fishermen.

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings enjoying your friends.”

“With all due respect sir, but that’s exactly what we are doing now. So what’s the point wasting twenty-five years?” asked the Mexicans.

And the moral of this story is: Know where you’re going in life….you may already be there.

There’s nothing wrong with money but we must not give our souls to it in worship because that is when it becomes the root of all evil. Money has many forms abstract and concrete. It’s the overzealousness in giving our souls to it in worship that corrupts us and keeps the endless cycle going in the condition of our conditioning with very little in embracing our true humanity in being our brother and sister’s keeper, allowing and providing the basic necessities of life and the pursuit and enjoyment of happiness at any and all levels. We can’t love money more than we love ourselves. I employ us all to take Kony 2012 and the global dialogue it has catalyzed in seeking our own truths in knowing where we are all going in our lives in order to find out if we are already there in being the change that we want to see. As Helen Keller put it  ”The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.”

The Uncomfortable Truth… “You guys are as stagnant as the water in the lake. We come in with our large boats and fish your minerals and your wildlife and leave morsels—crumbs. That’s your staple food, crumbs. That corn-meal you eat, that’s crumbs, the small Tilapia fish you call Kapenta is crumbs. We the Bwanas (whites) take the cat fish. I am the Bwana and you are the Muntu. I get what I want and you get what you deserve, crumbs. That’s what lazy people get—Zambians, Africans, the entire Third World.” “I see you are getting pissed off,” Walter said and lowered his voice. “You are thinking this Bwana is a racist. That’s how most Zambians respond when I tell them the truth. They go ballistic. Okay. Let’s for a moment put our skin pigmentation, this black and white crap, aside. Tell me, my friend, what is the difference between you and me?” “Absolutely none,” he exclaimed. “Scientists in the Human Genome Project have proved that. It took them thirteen years to determine the complete sequence of the three billion DNA subunits. After they were all done it was clear that 99.9% nucleotide bases were exactly the same in you and me. We are the same people. All white, Asian, Latino, and black people on this aircraft are the same.” “And yet I feel superior,” he smiled fatalistically. “Every white person on this plane feels superior to a black person. The white guy who picks up garbage, the homeless white trash on drugs, feels superior to you no matter his status or education. I can pick up a nincompoop from the New York streets, clean him up, and take him to Lusaka and you all be crowding around him chanting muzungu, muzungu and yet he’s a riffraff. Tell me why my angry friend.” “Please don’t blame it on slavery like the African Americans do, or colonialism, or some psychological impact or some kind of stigmatization. And don’t give me the brainwash poppycock. Give me a better answer.” He continued. “Excuse what I am about to say. Please do not take offense.” “You my friend flying with me and all your kind are lazy,” he said. “When you rest your head on the pillow you don’t dream big. You and other so-called African intellectuals are damn lazy, each one of you. It is you, and not those poor starving people, who is the reason Africa is in such a deplorable state.” He was implacable. “Oh yes it is and I will say it again, you are lazy. Poor and uneducated Africans are the most hardworking people on earth. I saw them in the Lusaka markets and on the street selling merchandise. I saw them in villages toiling away. I saw women on Kafue Road crushing stones for sell and I wept. I said to myself where are the Zambian intellectuals? Are the Zambian engineers so imperceptive they cannot invent a simple stone crusher, or a simple water filter to purify well water for those poor villagers? Are you telling me that after thirty-seven years of independence your university school of engineering has not produced a scientist or an engineer who can make simple small machines for mass use? What is the school there for?” “Do you know where I found your intellectuals? They were in bars quaffing. They were at the Lusaka Golf Club, Lusaka Central Club, Lusaka Playhouse, and Lusaka Flying Club. I saw with my own eyes a bunch of alcoholic graduates. Zambian intellectuals work from eight to five and spend the evening drinking. We don’t. We reserve the evening for brainstorming.” READ MORE “There’s a difference between the one who rents a house & the one who owns a house. The one who rents a house doesn’t care if the walls crack & crumble, they can always move to another house. The one who owns a house knows that no one else will take care of it thus they paint the walls & mend the cracks. It is not President Obama’s job to save Africa…it is not Madonna’s job & OUR governments have shown that it is not their job either. Responsibility is not shared it is earned, freedom is not given it is taken! When we decide we want freedom we will have to get it ourselves because if this country/continent burns we burn with it!”

In honor of Ghana’s 55th year of Independence and women’s history month we honor and celebrate the daughters of Yaa Asentwaa- the image makers and global African powerhouses representing the future of the Black Star Nation of Ghana thru their powerfully creative endeavorers. March 6, 1967 Ghana was declared an independent African nation with the first globally recognized Black president who forever changed the global lexicon on what “Black Star Power” and “African Personality” was, is and will be.  Before Dr. Kwame Nkrumah stood at Black Star Square AKA Independence Square – there was Yaa Asantewaa who would forever epitomize why we call the continent with the most natural resources Mama Africa. Yaa Asantewaa showed why many African nations  are built on matriarchy and how the power of the women from village to city has always been there and will forever be there for the birth, nurturing , growth and progression of its future.  America may have Rosie the Riveter as their icon of unstoppable women who refuse to sit back  and be denied or have their freedom be deferred to their men to do right by them in a time of war; the women who gleefully say to their men anything you can do I can do better; however Rosie ain’t got nothing on Yaa.  Women of global Africa and in particular the women of the the Black Star Nation of Ghana will forever have the legacy and battle cry of Yaa Asantewaa empowering them in their sense of spirit and responsibility to building the future of Ghana as they consume & embody these words.

“Now I see that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king. If it [was] in the brave days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo Anokje, and Opoku Ware, chiefs would not sit down to see their king to be taken away without firing a shot. No European could have dared speak to chiefs of Asante in the way the governor spoke to you this morning. Is it true that the bravery of Asante is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this: if you, the men of Asante, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight! We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields.” Yaa Asantewaa-Queen King Of Kings…

Today we have great young women of global Africa continuing to build on this legacy, while remembering that Dr. Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah said “Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa.”

Get to know some of the many women who I call  ”Daughters of Yaa Asantewaa” hailing from the Black Star Nation…The work of Independence Continues……

Politics & Governance

By now most know that Samia Nkrumah has become one of Africa’s new darlings for the future of women in politics. With the polarizing Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the former first lady & founder of the 31st December Women’s Movement out of the running for the 2012 Ghana elections, many have their eyes on Samia Nkrumah to possibly be the first woman elected to Ghana’s presidency, following in the footsteps of her father & Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf & other women presidents around the world in also solidifying her place in the world record books as 1st. With the rise of Samia Nkrumah being elected as MP (member of parliament ) in her father’s hometown & then being named the chairperson for the CPP ( her father’s party ) along with the subsequent departure of Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, who was the CPP’s 2008 presidential candidate as well as the foreseen flag-bearer for 2012, there is now an opening for Samia Nkrumah to surge forward toward her presidential dreams & to follow in her father’s footsteps….READ MORE HERE

By now most people have become familiar with the ICC (International Criminal Court ) in its bias to bring only African heads of states and criminals to justice as representative of the criminality of governance in the world. While the ICC maybe criticized particularly amongst Africans for its apparent bias, today I celebrate one of our own Daughters of Yaa Asantewaa showing that in order to have a say at the table of power , one must first have a seat at the table. Get to Know Judge Akua Kuenyehia….

“Akua Kuenyehia’s office, on the top floor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, is filled with Africa. There are maps of the continent, African art on the walls and a shelf of beautiful African carvings…Judge Kuenyehia, one of three female African judges at the ICC, is first vice-president of the court. And because all the cases currently at the ICC are African, the Ghanaian judge feels that her knowledge of her home continent serves her well…For example, she and her colleagues had to approve the forms that victims of war crimes fill in if they want to take advantage of the court’s unprecedented move to allow them to have a greater involvement in proceedings….”When people run away from conflict they often take nothing with them, so we cannot ask them to produce passports, email addresses or paperwork,” explained Judge Kuenyehia…As well as being first vice president, Judge Kuenyehia is also one of the judges in the pre-trial division, which deals with preliminary issues, including admissibility of cases and the confirmation of charges against an accused. This means she assesses all the evidence that Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo brings against a war crimes suspect, and decides with the other pre-trial judges whether a case should come to trial…A former lecturer in criminal law, gender law and international human rights law at the University of Ghana, Judge Kuenyehia has co-authored several books and influential papers on how law is interpreted and implemented throughout her continent. She told IWPR she has spent many hours arguing over cases with her husband, who is still a practising lawyer in Ghana…She has sought to encourage African women to gain a better understanding of the law, setting up networks of female professionals who go out into communities to promote awareness of legal rights and issues…She represented Ghana on the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, CEDAW, committee in 2003 and worked hard to contribute to its reputation and influence….READ MORE

Filmmakers

Filmmaking has grasped young Ghanaian women like wildfire in excellence amongst this new generation. There are a plethora of Ghanaian women filmmakers that are making their mark on the global film industry, while being in the forefront of building the African and in particular Ghanaian film industry, so many that I just can’t name them all, but be prepared to know their names because the takeover is coming to a theater/TV screen near you. We can not celebrate the future until we celebrate the past and in filmmaking there is no other woman representative of the Black Star Nation better than Auntie Efua AKA Efua Theodora Sutherland, whose own legacy continues through her charitable organization  Mmofra Foundation- where children and culture connect.

Efua Theodora Sutherland (1924-1996) renowned playwright from Ghana, affectionately called Auntie Efua, entered in the annals of African cinema history in 1967, in association with the production of Araba: The Village Story. The film was produced for the U.S. television network ABC to document the successful Atwia Experimental Community Theatre Project. The initiative is recognized worldwide as a pioneering model for the now popular Theatre for Development. She is well known and admired as dramatist and writer, continuing in her chosen field of drama having never produced another film. Her role as foremother in African cinema, documenting African culture and experiences, is indicative of the practices of many African women. Some women have entered filmmaking as a primary career, while others have used the moving image as a medium of expression in their work. And thus, Efua Sutherland was a devoted and passionate cultural producer whose vision and influence continue to reach far and wide. At the funeral of “Auntie Efua”, Kofi Anyidoho reflected on her life in this way:

“Dr. Efua Theodora Sutherland. ‘Auntie Efua’ is best known for her pioneering work as a cultural visionary and activist, her impact on society at once comprehensive and enduring. Teacher, research scholar, poet, dramatist, and social worker, she devoted her life to the building of models of excellence in culture and education, and to the training of young people who would carry her vision into the far future…” It was also in the final phase of her work that she gave to Ghana and the African world probably her grandest artistic vision for uplifting and reuniting African peoples through the arts—an original proposal for the Pan African Historical Theatre Festival, the Panafest Movement. This final gift underscores the significance she attached to connections between Africa and the Diaspora. She played a very critical role in the establishment of the W.E.B. DuBois Memorial Centre for Pan African Culture. She belonged to an extensive global network of friends, many of them eminent creative minds….READ MORE

HERE…NOW… THE FUTURE ……

Amma Asante (born 1969) is a British Ghanaian writer/director/producer who has recently garnered the coveted big budget film project that many filmmakers dream of.  Amma’s first feature film A Way of Life was partly written to honor the Welsh identity of her niece and nephew. It won her a BAFTA (British Academy Film Award) for special achievement by a writer/director in a debut film. According to Amma “I found myself wanting to challenge the stereotypes, and show that people who seem different can be incredibly similar. I wanted to find the humanity that links us all, really. That’s what a good film is all about….” Amma’s second feature film of her career will be “Belle“ based on a true story of Dido Belle ( a mixed raced woman raised as an aristocrat in 18th-century England) projected at a budget of  over 10 million dollars.  Amma Asante is showing herself as a force to be reckoned with not only in the responsibility in educating the world on people like Dido Belle, but also being the manifestation of global filmmakers telling our global African stories all over the world.

“As a child, Asante attended the Barbara Speake stage school in Acton, London, where she trained as a student in dance and drama. She began her film and television career as a child actress, appearing as a regular in the British school drama Grange Hill. She fronted the “Just Say No” campaign of the 1980s and was one of nine Grange Hill children to take it to the Reagan White House. She went on to gain credits in other British television series including Desmond’s (Channel 4) and Birds Of A Feather (BBC1), and was a Children’s Channel presenter for a year. In her late teens, Asante left the world of acting behind and eventually made the move to screenwriting with a development deal from Chrysalis. Two series of the urban drama Brothers and Sisters followed, which Amma wrote and produced for her production company and BBC2. Asante’s 2004 feature film, A Way of Life, was her directorial debut. In November 2004 The London Film Festival awarded Asante the inaugural Alfred Dunhill UK Film Talent Award, created to recognise the achievements of a new or emerging British writer/director who has shown great skill and imagination in bringing originality and verve to film-making. February 2005 saw Amma collect the award for The Times Breakthrough Artist of the Year at The South Bank Show Awards and nominations for Best Newcomer at both the Evening Standard and London Film Critics Awards. At the BAFTA Film Awards in February 2005 Asante received the BAFTA Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a Writer/Director in a debut film…Read More

I recently got to know filmmaker Akosua Adoma Owusu and found out she was part of  the petite spifires of the Black Star nation much like myself. I was happy to be introduced to her by our ever growing daughters of Yaa Asantewaa sisterhood slowly and steadily erecting globally, after first being introduced to her work “Me Broni Ba” AKA My White Baby-the bane of our colonial lexicon of affection in mental slavery . Akosua tackles a deeply seeded root from Africa to the Diaspora that have told generation after generation of global Africans that somehow being compared to White or Whiteness equates to being beautifully right. Akosua was 1 of 23 filmmakers selected to receive a Creative Capital 2012 grant for her upcoming project Black Sunshine which tackles yet another deeply seeded subject that is often untouchable not only in conversation let alone on full theatrical blast for the world to get in on the conversation of Albinism and the African perspective. As our global creatives continue our legacy, I look forward to having more and more of our stories told in our own voices.

“Akosua Adoma  Owusu is an award-winning filmmaker and artist of Ghanaian descent. A protege of prolific filmmaker, Kevin Jerome Everson, she received her MFA in the Schools of Film & Video and Fine Art at the California Institute of the Arts, and her BA at the University of Virginia. Owusu`s short film “ME BRONI BA” (“My White Baby”) garnered critical acclaim with screenings at over 60 international film festivals including Rotterdam, London Film Festival, Visions du Reel, Silverdocs, and the Cannes Film Festival at Short Film Corner. It was ranked Top 10 in the October Issue of ArtForum Magazine in 2010 and earned several Best Documentary awards, including a Golden Gate Award nomination in New Visions at the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival….Following the success of “ME BRONI BA,” Owusu`s next short work, “DREXCIYA”, was inspired by a myth of the Detroit-based techno band. It was praised at the 2011 Tarifa African Film Festival ‘for its radical nature’ and ‘poetic insight’ and went on to win Best Experimental Film at the Expresion en Corto Film Festival in Guanajuato, Mexico. Shortly after graduating from CalArts, she was the youngest of 42 black conceptual artists included in the group exhibition, 30 Seconds Off an Inch, at the famed Studio Museum in Harlem, where she also exhibited solo video projects. Her videos have shown at art venues including the Museum of Modern Art, Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid, the National Gallery of Art, Transformer Gallery, BOZAR, LA Freewaves, Vox Populi, Spaces Gallery, and The Luggage Store Gallery. She was also a featured artist at the 56th Robert Flaherty Film Seminar and a Directing Talent at the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Durban Talent Campus in South Africa….Owusu`s professional experiences include Development and Production internships at Echo Lake Productions and HBO Films. For the latter, she received an Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences grant to provide post-production assistance on Chris Rock’s documentary Good Hair. She participated on the screening committee and jury of AFI Silverdocs and Festival Des Trois Continents. One of five recipients and the first Ghanaian to receive the award, Owusu will be funded by Focus Features` Africa First Program to direct a short film entitled “KWAKU ANANSE”, an adaptation of a traditional Ghanaian folktale mixed with live action and animation. She is currently developing her first feature, “BLACK SUNSHINE”, about a young albino girl. The film participated in the “Produire au Sud” workshop in 2010 and the Amiens Script and Screenplay Development Fund in 2011. The feature is an international co-production with Owusu’s company, Obibini Pictures, musician Salif Keita, his Salif Keita Foundation, and Arizona Films based in France…. READ MORE

California based Leila Djansi is a rising star amongst Ghanaian filmmakers. With her  often controversial love/ hate relationship with Ghanaian media, it seems Ghanaian audiences just can’t seem to get enough of how beautifully she captures their nation and tells their stories, while bringing an international audience to Ghanaian films by making great choices in casting and telling stories that are relatable to the world. Leila’s films continue to win awards in Ghana and abroad. Sinking Sands was no different winning 3 out of the 9 nominations and her newest release “Ties That Bind” seems to be accumulating the same praises of fine filmmaking starring great global African actors like Kimberly Elise, Ama K. Abebrese and Omotola Ekeinde.

You are among a growing number of African women who have studied filmmaking in the United States. You began your career in Ghana before traversing the Atlantic. What was your experience with cinema growing up in Ghana?

It wasn’t an elaborate experience really because not much was going on then. But, what was ongoing was fun. From where I am now it seems very amateurish but its how I got here. I learned the basics and got myself fortified for where I am now.

What are some of the differences and similarities in working in Ghana and the United States? Do you bring both an US aesthetic and Ghanaian perspective to your work?

Apart from the US working environment being more conducive, really not that much difference. I do try to bring both aesthetics to bear. If you are going to make an appealing film, you must make it within an acceptable standard.

Among your film credits are, I Sing of a Well, Sinking Sands and the soon to be released Ties That Bind. What have been some highlights during the production of the films? How have they been received?

Highlights, they were all fun to make. Tears and Laughter. Money and No money. I Sing of a Well was not well received. Ghana is a very tricky and delicate place. The people’s minds get conditioned and it takes time to add more to what they already know. So from the get with I Sing of a Well, we made mistakes. Casting, budgets and logistics wise, we made grave mistakes. But all that was a learning process which made Sinking Sands a success and more acceptable….READ MORE

Shirley Frimpong-Manso seems to be the go to writer/director/producer amongst established and up and coming Ghanaian actors who want quality work locally that sets the bar higher than your average Nollywood or Ghallywood films. Shirley seems to bring the challenege that many Ghanaian actors need in pulling out academy award nominated and winning roles for some of Ghana’s top actors like Lydia Forson and Jackie Appiah. She is one of the few women filmmakers from Ghana who is making great strides and gaining international recognition while being based solely in Ghana.
“Frimpong-Manso is a founder and CEO of the film, television, and advertising production company Sparrow Productions. Frimpong-Manso “seeks to raise the standard of film production in Ghana and Africa by telling progressive African stories as seen through the eyes of Africans.”She won ‘Best Director’ at the African Movie Academy Awards 2010…. Read More

Sam Kessie, a London born,Ghana raised & now Atlanta residing writer/director/producer/set designer and all around film creator, who has done it all from the bottom up into an award winning filmmaker taking on the daunting & epic task of telling the story of one of Africa’s sports heroes,Azumah Nelson AKA The Professor, can now add 2012 Ghana Music Awards nomination to her accolades for her beautifully crafted video  “No One Knows” by M3NSA featuring Asa. Sam has made it her goal to follow in the footsteps of great women of Ghana like Auntie Efua by also setting up her own charitable foundation The TKAFoundation or (Tomorrow’s Kaleidoscope of Artists) which raises funding in support of the arts along with teaching the freedom in filmmaking to Ghana’s disadvantaged youth.   ….Read More

FASHION

All you have to do is step off the plane at Kotoko airport to know that Ghana is where it’s at for fashion on the continent. I maybe biased but if you don’t believe me ask Franca Sozzani of Italian Vogue. It seems the world is delightfully enthralled with everything African these days and nowhere is the demand and elation of endless satiation more felt than what is being called the new renaissance of African fashion. For decades the grand dame of New York fashion week’s front rows, Zelda Kaplan had been wearing and telling everyone about her insatiable love and passion for African fashion, or as she tells it  ”Primitive Cultures”. This year in the most dramatic fashion forward of ways Zelda died sitting in her front row seat adorned in her beautiful primitive fashion without the show even stopping. Well Ms. Zelda,may the notion of “Africa as primitive culture” get laid to rest with you in fashion’s past because today’s African fashion innovators are far from primitive and have been steadily challenging the many preconceived and adopted notions about what African fashion is all about. There are countless male and female fashion designers doing the damn thing globally while raising the Black Star flag, but here a just a few of Yaa Asantewaa’s daughters of fashion that you should get to know.

Mimi Plange to me is the budding female version of Oswald Boateng, representing Ghana on a global high end level without utilizing the expected fabrications and stylings of what is traditionally seen as Ghanaian or African, yet making everyone proud from Ghana to the Diaspora in knowing that their brands represent the best in quality globally . Mimi is slowly and steadily becoming the new young talent that is the toast of the town amongst fashion elites like Andre Leon Talley, whom she counts as a mentor along with collaborating with the Sex and the City’s fashion god of sexy to die for footwear (until the red bottom takeover), Manolo Blahnik.

“With a mother who modeled for Ghanaian magazine Drum, Accra-born Mimi Plange has loved fashion from an early age, sketching under the guidance of an architect uncle. She learned the trade as a freelance contractor, first as a women’s designer at Rachel Roy. For her fall/winter collection under the label Boudoir d’Huitres, the designer presented 28 looks inspired by her homeland in a loft-like space with a sense of professionalism and a keen eye for editing…Her fourth collection shows just how adept she is at finessing her ideas into shapes geared to an upscale consumer who wants to dress in a variety of ways—she’s no Jane One-Note. She took the idea of African scarification to come up with the zigzag concepts on simple white sheaths, as well as for her cool biker trousers in luxe leather teamed up with a camel-hair T-shirt. She has a refined sense of fabric and mixes the rich copper tones of the African plains in wonderful little dry wool slip-like dinner dresses, some falling from jeweled halters, and others draped origami-style in bustiers that are flattering, not just a design conceit…READ MORE

Christie Brown is the go to designer at home in Ghana where she too brings Haute Couture to the home grown fashion in crowd by utilizing traditional fabrications with untraditional structuring of beautiful fashion creations. With a newly opened boutique in the hot shopping district of Osu,where foreign currency is king- Christie Brown will be sure to draw in her fair share of locals and visitors looking for top quality high fashion with dollars, pounds, euros and cedis to spare.

“Aisha Obuobi – creative director and founding partner of Christie Brown Ltd – began her love affair with fashion at an early age. Her grandmother, who the brand is named after, was a seamstress so she grew up watching Ms. Christie Brown, stooped over a sewing machine, creating beautiful clothes…like pieces of art – out of rich, vibrant materials. As a little girl, she reveled in playing with shreds of African print material and designed mini collections for her favourite dolls…Aisha started this label whilst in her final year at the University of Ghana, Legon, where she majored in Psychology and she is driven by the desire to create beautiful pieces that will enhance the natural beauty in Christie Brown’s clients. In 2009, Aisha won the highly coveted “Emerging Designer of the Year” award at the inaugural Arise Fashion Week, in South Africa. She was invited to sit on a panel at the African Economic Forum, which took place at Columbia University, New York, and Marie Claire (international) featured Aisha as one of twenty-one “Daring Women of 2010″, noting the “the energy, the courage, the creativity,” and “the drive” behind her work.…” Read More

As far as fashion journalism goes there is no other than Ghana’s own Zandile Blay. I first met Zandile during the time when she used to curate networking events for fashionistas while complaining about having to travel to London again for a lengthy period for work and study- poor thing-LOL! Those days have come and gone with stints at Paper Magazine and Huffington Post, but Zandile has continued to establish herself in the cutthroat world of global fashion journalists while still steadily letting the world know about all things beautiful that Africa has to offer thru her labor of love Africa Style Daily. Zandile while writing about the world of global fashion has also been the subject of many writers who also celebrate her “it girl” fashion sensibilities. Zandile recently penned a New York fashion week story letting Huffington Post readers know about the African fashion invasion that is slowly creeping up in the fashion world, ready for its close up!

“From the exuberant sexiness of HVS to the sumptuous elegance of David Tlale to the architectural austerity of Telfar, their labels show an African aesthetic that goes beyond ‘Tribal Prints.’ Yet, that we are even exposed to their aesthetic at all speaks of their greatest triumph: an ability to break into the West despite scarce resources, scant mentorship and few mainstream fashion contacts. In fact with the exception of Plange, who counts Duro Olowu and Andre Leon Talley as mentors, almost none of the designers above can boast of similar connections. In addition, they seem far from being on the radar of career-changing program’s like the CFDA Fund, Ecco Domani Fashion Fund or W Hotels’ recently launched Fashion Next…To solve this, these enterprising African designers are leveraging alternate methods like Twitter and Facebook to gain support and exposure…” READ MORE

Belinda Baidoo is a model, new mom and entrepreneur leading the way with others who are looking to change the face of Ghana’s fashion with upscale styled boutiques sprouting up along the busy international area of Osu in the capital city of Accra. As they say home is where the heart is and Belinda’s love for fashion is being developed at home in Ghana where she began her career as a model. Belinda opened the b2 models agency to give aspiring Ghanaian models the mentorship and opportunity  to blaze their own trails right along her own. Belinda first came on the scene after winning Top Model of Afrique in 1998 & then went on to sign with a Q model management , one of the top agencies in New York-known to many as the global fashion capital of the world. Belinda has been seen on billboards, advertisements in New York’s infamous Times Square along with international fashion magazine spreads and major Ad. Campaigns for international companies such as: Guinness, L’Oreal, Nike, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren and Motorola. Belinda has also been featured in international publications such as Vogue, Essence and Cosmopolitan, just to name a few. Belinda thru her modeling agency  b2Models continues to mentor & develop Ghana’s international models of the future.

Cultural Curators

The great writing daughters of Yaa Asantewaa like Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and Ayesha Harruna Attah are telling the beautiful stories of the Ghanaian experience in literary form with their books Powder Necklace and Harmattan Rain, while what I call cultural curators of our generation are utilizing multimedia platforms to continue the oral, written and visual history of our global African experience.  There are so many cultural curators amongst the daugthers of Yaa Asantewaa who are finally coming into their own and getting their just due proudly preserving the culture of Ghana/Africa while maintaining the balance of sharing the culture through a global creative lens.

I recently had the pleasure of finally meeting Nana Oforiatta-Ayim on her travel to New York to showcase her work as part of The New Museum’s Triennial entitled “The Ungovernables” – showing until April 22, 2012. Nana was first introduced to me by iconic living legend of photography, James Barnor because of our collective dedication to see the wonderful artistic cultural history of Ghana preserved and well showcased for generations to come. We are now on course to build our global Black Star Collective in honor of Yaa Asantewaa and Dr. Nkrumah by putting Africa first because we know that Africa was the beginning and is the future.

“Nana Oforiatta Ayim is a cultural historian, writer and filmmaker based in Accra and London. She is currently working on a research publication and exhibition for the EU/AU on cultural heritage and contemporary arts institutions in Africa with architect David Adjaye (2011, Bozar, Brussels) and a book on Ghanaian photographer James Barnor (2010, Trolley Books, London). Her writing has appeared in publications such as The National Geographic, The Statesman, The Dubliner and Time Out. She has lectured and presented her scholarship at Universities, including Cambridge, Kumasi, London and Oxford. She has curated exhibitions and events for institutions such as The British Council, The British Museum, The Liverpool Biennial, The Royal Festival Hall and The Victoria and Albert Museum. In her fiction and short films she deals with the themes of translation and the gaps within language. Her first fiction book ‘The Tightrope Walker’ will be published in May 2010. Her films have been nominated for awards at various festivals, such as The Milan African Film Festival, The RAI Ethnographic Film Festival and The Real Life Documentary Film Festival. They have also been shown at venues such as The Museum of African Diaspora and used in university curricula. She is a founding director of ANO, a non-profit organization dedicated to the interface of culture and development in Africa and its Diaspora. She has an MA in African Art History and is completing a PhD in African Languages and Cultures at the University of London...” [Credit:This is My Africa]

I was introduced to Yaba Blay’s documentary (1)ne Drop dealing with the never ending issue of identity politics and colorism amongst Blacks in America before I ever knew it was done by a Ghanaian, then I learned that this Ghanaian professor was young, in touch and will organize the daughters in a quick New York City minute if  and when ever she sees our young girls and boys being disrespected  and led astray by the likes of those in and outside of our community.  Yaba Blay and other non-Ghanaian daughters of Yaa Asantewaa created  ”We Are the 44% ” coalition to bring much needed awareness to violence against young Black and Latina girls.  Blay does not only act from the heart of a mother at these times but also from the power of the legacy of Yaa Asantewaa fully locked & loaded to defend and protect the culture.

“Yaba Amgborale Blay is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Lafayette College where she also teaches courses in Women’s & Gender Studies. She received a BA in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Salisbury State University, an M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology from the University of New Orleans, an M.A. and Ph.D. in African American Studies and Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Temple University. Prior to her tenure at Lafayette College, she taught African American Studies at Temple University, African and African Diasporan Studies at Florida International University, and Africana Studies at Lehigh University. Professor Blay has developed and taught such courses as Engendering Black Popular Culture, the Politics of Hip Hop Culture, Black Images in the Media, Dimensions of Racism, and Black Feminisms….”Yaba’s research interests are related to Africana cultural aesthetics and aesthetic practices, the politics of embodiment and African/Black identities, issues of gender in Africa and the Diaspora, Black popular culture, and critical media literacy. Her dissertation, Yellow Fever: Skin Bleaching and the Politics of Skin Color in Ghana, relies upon African-centered and African feminist methodologies to investigate the social practice of skin bleaching in Ghana….” READ MORE

As a a long time fan of WBAI, it’s always great to hear a Ghanaian voice even if it comes in a British accent-LOL! Esther Armah is not only a sweet in the morning radio voice but also a writer whose first book “Can I Be Me” -a collection of essays about her travels as a journalist navigating her Black British identity across Africa & America- hit the top 10 list for best selling books for January and February on the website African American Literature Book Club dedicated to books by and about global Africans/Black people.

“Esther Armah is a radio & tv host, playwright and award-winning international journalist. In New York, she hosts Wake Up Call, WBAI 99.5FM’s morning show and is a regular commentator and guest host on GRITtv with Laura Flanders  and MNN’s Ancestor House with Camille Yarbrough. Esther has written extensively on African Diaspora issues for The Guardian in London, Essencemagazine in the US and West Africa magazine in Africa and Europe. The themes of her written work are reflected in the issues portrayed  in Armah’s four New York stage plays,  Can I Be Me? Forgive Me? Entitled! and SAVIOUR? Esther is the creator and moderator of ‘Afrolicious: an Emotional Justice Arts and Conversation’ series in New York. A global citizen, she now lives in Brooklyn, New York…(Source Here)

PHILANTHROPISTS

To say June Sarpong is a trailblazer is to say the least about her many accomplishments. This young icon of British television has become one of the best known Ghanaian philanthropist with honours from Buckingham Palace as an ambassador of  the Prince’s Trust along with being a Co-Founder with her fellow Bristish Ghanaian and former Hollywood executive Dee Poku of W.I.E (Women: Inspiration and Enterprise) – an organization that empowers and inspires women through its websites, symposiums and community.

“This month’s profile is a TV/radio personality who was at the forefront of urban youth TV programmes during my teenage years.  In era where “dark skin” women were not shown much love on TV she was a pioneer of the “young black female presenter”, here’s her story; Sarpong was born in London to Ghanaian parents. She was educated at Connaught Girls School in Leytonstone and Sir George Monoux College in Walthamstow. She began her media career with Kiss 100 and later became an MTV UK & Ireland presenter (MTV Dance Floor Chart and MTV Select show). As the one of the female faces of Channel 4’s Sunday morning strand T4 for the last nine years, she interviewed Tony Blair for a T4 special, When Tony Met June which aired in January 2005. She also runs her own production company, Lipgloss Productions. Projects in development include a sitcom and a programme on climate change…In recent years, Sarpong has presented other series including Your Face Or Mine?, a game show co-hosted with Jimmy Carr for E4; Dirty Laundry, an urban talk-show which was an original idea of Sarpong’s; Playing It Straight, a dating game-show filmed in Mexico for Channel 4, and Sarpong has presented the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party and the Party In The Park. Sarpong is a regular at the MOBO Awards and has presented them for three years in a row. She has also appeared on BBC Television’s Question Time, 8 out of 10 Cats, and Have I got news for you. She also has appeared on the programme, Never mind the buzzcocks and introduced reports on youth culture for This Week. In 2006 she hosted ITV2′s WAGs Boutique. Sarpong has also appeared on the third series of Bo Selecta…)…Sarpong is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and also campaigns for the Make Poverty History movement. In April 2005 she visited Ghana to make a film for Make Poverty History. She also hosted the major Make Poverty History event in London’s Trafalgar Square in summer 2005 on behalf of Nelson Mandela and Bob Geldof. Also On 7 July 2007 Sarpong presented at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London…Probably her most significant honour to date came at the age of twenty nine and after six years as a broadcaster, she was awarded an MBE in the 2007 New Year Honours List for “services to broadcasting and charity”…. READ MORE

Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo while building her career in editorial positions at globally known publications like Seventeen and Essence, established her charitable organization African Health Now to make sure that global Africans without money and insurance would be able to have basic healthcare after the personal experience of her father suffering a heart attack in Ghana catapulted her to seek to make a difference for others who are less fortunate financially but just as deserving of proper healthcare. Nana’s annual healthcare drives in Ghana where she comes as mother Christmas, fundraising and organizing Ghanaians to come together to take care of the basic healthcare needs of our communities has now been expanded to include the diaspora with an ever growing number of global Africans unable to receive basic healthcare because of lack of insurance and money.

“In 2006 my father suffered a heart attack in a taxi cab after leaving the hospital and being treated for numbness in the leg. Considering that at my father’s age at the time he was 68, any US hospital would have automatically checked his heart and other vitals especially if he came in for numbness in the leg or any lack of mobility of the leg or arms. However that is not the case in Ghana, at most hospitals you could barely get to see a doctor let alone have someone run your vitals. And though we were fortunate enough to have the means to get him better care, it made me wonder what happens to people who don’t have the means. And who speaks for them? ” READ MORE

Rebekah Frimpong -Filmmaker/Poet/Mentor/Activist and Philanthropist has manifested her words “Revolution over loot! Africa must be free in our hearts, Africa is our home only we can change the landscape of tomorrow”, as she works tirelessly to keep her dreams of being a great filmmaker alive while helping others manifest their dreams through her philanthropic work  with her Mama Africa charitable program. Rebekah is constantly on the move in creativity with all her heart and soul poured into project after project regardless of the obstacles and challenges put in her way as a filmmaker and philanthropist.

“Rebekah A. Ofori-Frimpong was a Miss Ghana Africa USA 2010/11 finalist in the Miss Africa USA 2010/11 Pageant , she is also a mentor, teacher, filmmaker, and activist.  As a Miss Ghana USA 2010/11 finalist, she pushed for a platform of Global Health for Africa and for Africans living in the United States.  She believes that a new face of African health is possible by encouraging African people to empower themselves through healthy lifestyles.  Her approach to Global Health and presenting a new face of African health is to connect communities in the United States and Africa through a three tier approach that will encompass social, environmental, and preventative measures in relation to improving health conditions worldwide.  She attributes her success to her mother and the many strong women in her life.  She has studied Public Health at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and has a pre-med degree in psychology and life science from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has had many years of experience in clinical research, education, women’s health, and environmental studies.  She developed MaMa Africa concept four years ago after working with teenage mothers in Virginia.  The MaMa Africa program, Rebekah hopes will be something that can be implemented around the world and she aims to reach at least 1, 000 mothers by 2012…” READ  MORE

Menaye Donkor Muntari- former Miss Universe Ghana 2003, Model, Actress, Philanthropist prides herself in being an image role model for young girls, particularly young global African girls, by promoting a healthy body image that comes with self love and confidence. Menaye’s modeling career and editorial credits span from Africa to Europe and America including being the only African woman featured in Fox Sports sexiest World Cup WAGs (Football wives & girlfriends) in 2010 along with a feature in Maxim Magazine’s Italian edition ,just to name a few. Menaye has an ongoing health & fitness blog with OK! Magazine’s Famously Fit and will be a guest judge on the African based Project Runway styled show entitled “Fashion Power” shooting in Ghana & Nigeria. Menaye is not only a beautiful model, but also a great philanthropist who recently commissioned an ICT center at her namesake charity school for boys and girls in Ghana. Menaye has been a great role model for young girls in Ghana with her push for education, AIDS awareness and her upcoming new fashion based shows making the dreams of young fashion designers and fashionistas from Ghana come true with an opportunity for mentorship and to promote their designs internationally. The Menaye International School in the central region of Ghana offers free education to over 150 underprivileged children and she continues to build a brighter future for Ghana one child at a time.

MUSIC IS A WEAPON

The daughters of Yaa Asantewaa have taken over the music world in the craziest of ways from opera, to rap, to R& B, to dance, to hip-hop, to pop and all sorts of mixtures and inflections brought together thru their global African experiences. These women know the power of music and they use it as a weapon to tell our global African stories while debunking the myth of a singular African sound. There are so many greats musically coming out of this generation but here are  a few of the ones to watch.

Born in Battersea to Ghanaian parents, Tawiah’s soulful rock melodies with gospel inflections compliment her quirky rainbow child punk rock fashion stylethat is very much her own. One can clearly hear & see the culmination in adaption of her personal influences which she touts as Kim Burrell, Björk, Radiohead, Erykah Badu & Ella Fitzgerald as her musical favorites & Vivenne Westwood as her fashion favorite. Tawiah comes to us from the Brit School peforming academy in London,which boasts recent success stories like Amy Winehouse, Adele & Leona Lewis. Tawiah’s short resume in music is impressive as she has rocked the stage singing backup for Corinne Bailey Rae & touring with uber producer Mark Ronson’s band. Taiwah recently inked a deal with Warner Music Group & is ready to take the world by storm as yet another child of the Black Star nation who will meet a meteoric rise to fame!

Vienna-born and raised, with parents from Ghana, Anbuley is a vocalist with presence and a style that sticks in the mind. She’s also got an unerring sensibility when it comes to drawing on those roots of hers to make inspired dance music…’The singer started out adding her resonant voice to some deep, Africa-inspired bass tracks with producers like Bert on Beats and Ku Bo. If you heard those, you remember them. Last year, she put out her equally memorable Tsakemo EP, followed by the Kemo’ Yoo Keke EP on Austria’s Seayou Records.The cuts mix the stunning efficiency of Euro dance with the organic power of the traditional music Anbuley grew up with. A lot of that power is channeled through her voice. And it sounds even more heavy when you know “Kemo’ Yoo Keke” is about not letting people push you around….” READ MORE

While American Hip-Hop connoisseurs debate over whether the Australian import and newly signed artist on T.I.’s Grand Hustle label, Iggy Azalea, or the toast of European fashion couture houses and Harlem stunner Azealia Banks are the two to watch in the new renaissance of female MC’s to give the reigning queen Nicki Minaj a run for her money and talent; the other side of the atlantic is toasting Ghana’s own dominating female MC and Queen of Azonto, Tiffany, who will be making her US debut at Ghana’s 55th Independence Concert on March 17th, 2012 at the Armenia Hall Ballroom produced by Boogie Down Nima Productions.

Rhian Benson Born in Accra, and raised in Wales, Ghana and India, Rhian grew up in a very musical environment. Her Welsh mother was an accomplished singer, and her father, an Ashanti naval officer, is a gifted guitarist. Rhian started playing piano at the age of nine and picked up guitar soon after and before long, a budding singer songwriter. Behind the warm honeyed voice is a sharp mind, Rhian gained an economics degree at the London School of Economics and worked in banking in the City for a time, a somewhat stark contrast to her own desires for a life in music. Her studies continued at Harvard in America, until her mother fell ill and Rhian returned home to care for her ailing mother. With time to think she found healing and release in music and decided to chase her singing dreams, feeling as though it was a risk worth taking in order to dance her heart’s dreams into life. With the help of Danish rising star production duo, Daniel Fridell and Jonas Rendbo, Rhian has diligently and lovingly cooked up the ingredients for her new album title ‘Hands Clean’ to be released in early 2011. HANDS CLEAN is a refreshing departure from Rhian’s previous work. Rhian’s well known sultry vibes are teamed with a collection of pulsating electronic grooves to introduce her fans to a hidden ground where Sade meets DJ Shadow. This is a bold album that dares to redefine modern soul music. Rhian has been nurturing her expressive style and is looking forward to showing the world more of her exquisite soulful sound. Everything about this album has been organic and refreshing, and Rhian is quoted as saying: “I met Jonas and Daniel for a brief writing session in Copenhagen a while ago and we just hit it off immediately, the guys were so passionate about creating truthful music that speaks from the soul to the soul. They instantly understood the sound and feel I was looking for… so I asked them to produce the entire album with me and I thank God they said yes!’ Rhian’s sophomore album -‘Hands Clean’- represents a strong evolution of her unique style and ventures into fresh and bold sonic terrain for the critically acclaimed singer/songwriter. These confessional tales of love and life represent a new direction for this singular artist as she journeys beyond the ‘Gold Coast’. “I experienced great change in my life since writing my first album so when I began writing ‘Hands Clean’ all I wanted to do was create a sound that in some way captured that state of flux”. READ MORE

As far as an authetic soul sound of Ghana goes there is no other than the reigning queen Rebecca Acheampong, AKA Becca, who has taken Ghana and Africa at large by storm with powerful music celebrating positivity, womanhood and sisterhood.  The glowing beauty of Becca shines as bright as a black star on a clear moonlit night when she calls us to Push and bring the Fire of  an African woman.

“Becca, the latest sensation in Ghana Music. The beautiful, simple and young looking 22 year old lady, an old student of Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast and Croydon College in London where she attained her certificate in Child Care and Education is back to her motherland Ghana to prove what she is made of…”. READ MORE

And Then there’s the incomparable Ghanaian Hungarian who goes by the name Sena. Sena is amongst the many European daughters of Yaa who are taking over the world of truly global music with versatility and their pulse firmly placed in their African foundation, such as  German Ghanaian songstress Y’akoto . To say the world needs a bit of Sena Dagadu in their life is truly an understatement because Sena’s effortlessly powerful voice resonates within the soul with that sort of soothing satiation that makes one remember why music is as essential to life as water and should be cherished in pure love. Yes I am a big fan of Sena, whether she is lending her voice to the reggae rhythms of her band Irie Maffia, taking us through the journey of global Jazz’s soul with Forward Ever or Barabas Lorinc Eklektric, FOKN’ around with the Bois in Ghana and Budapest or blowing our minds with another unexpected solo project that introduces us to a new sound in how we hear Shakespeare’s sonnets. Sena is the truth, fully representing for Hungary and the Black Star Nation of Ghana as a musical daughter who would make Yaa Asantewaa proud as she takes over the world with her electrifying sound. Now sit back and enjoy a truly independent global Black Star experience!

“The Future of Ghana is Bright …provided our leaders will make good use of financial resources…I believe that Ghana can do much better by investing in its people. I think that if you don’t provide education and training at all levels, we will miss that boat because Paradise is right here in Ghana. I believe it…I think we have a great Ghana but we have more to go but we have all the pieces in place to polish up into a wonderful place…God put us at the center of the universe for a reason. We are the shining bright start of Africa and I think Ghana is coming into its own…I also believe that Ghanians this year have taken a whole new appreciation for Ghana, but at the bottom of it is we need to work out our economics because at the end of the day it boils down to our economic strength apart from our spiritual strength. We’re thru with poverty, we’re thru with being highly indebted anything, we’re thru… I think we are going to a new place, completely new and it will have nothing to do with the spirit of poverty because there’s a spiritual awakening also happening right now in Ghana and that awakening is also identifying what that spirit of poverty looks like and we will have nothing to do with it. I think 10 years from now if we should have this interview again , we’ll be telling a different story…”

“I want to see a time when the children of Africa will not have a need to go overseas to make it..” Princess Asie Ocansey- CEO Neko Tech Centre -Daughters of Yaa Asantewaa

Photo Credit HERE

It seems every single year since I have been old enough to be interested in watching the Oscars, I have heard the same narrative from Black America talking about lack of inclusion and how Hollywood has no respect for Black stories  and  Black actors, and how they choose to tell the same single story about Blackness and reward the same types of roles when it comes to Black actors. Well this year on the 84th year of the Oscars, the narrative is sadly no different. I have had to watch a Black woman defend herself to her own people & literally strip herself down to her bare essence of Blackness to take her power in claiming that her voice too is relevant in the bigger picture; and I must say Ms. Viola Davis has done it beautifully in making me a believer and pumping my fist in solidarity with her and the many others who have had to bare this cross & burden voluntarily or involuntarily in being the voice & hope of  the much too often silenced people through the usual loud voices of our intellectuals in shaming, dooming & glooming future Blackness.

We fail to see the danger in our telling of our own single story of pain, slavery, colonization, disenfranchisement and blaming of Hollywood and everyone within earshot of our wrath for exclusion and lack of opportunity in being given the chance to tell our own stories and to claim our own freedom and destiny in progress and achievement. We continue this same narrative generation after generation wondering why we can’t seem to move forward in living up to and claiming our full destiny, while often forgetting the narrative of self determination that brought us out of slavery, colonization and having to beg for the crumbs off the table of those who once owned us and saw us as lesser than themselves.

Today, as I watch the people of Senegal & many other global Africans continue to fight for their freedom from within the confines of leaders who look just like them without a care in the world from Black media outlets consumed with the fight against Hollywood , The Help and Chris Brown and Rihanna- all I could think of is whatever happened to the days of Pan-Africanism , when we saw and believed that we as global Africans had one struggle and that our liberation depended upon the unity in the collective of our priorities in fighting against that struggle. As Dr. Kwame Nkrumah said “Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift.Thy claim it as their own and none can keep it from them. We face neither East nor West: We Face Forward. ”

We as a community take every opportunity to tighten the noose of Black Liberation around Tyler Perry’s neck in continuing to only see and to tell the narrative of the darkness of black without looking beyond our self righteous noses and personal disdain in seeing and telling the story of liberation brought on by a Black man who never gave up on his dream in order to get to the point where many had hoped our chosen one Spike Lee would have gotten by the same will and spending power of our people. Every time we choose to voice our disdain for Tyler Perry , we must remember that we are voicing our disdain for our own people in our own community because they willed him into existence, just in the same vain that every time we cheer on Spike Lee’s expletive driven tirades of disdain for Hollywood and Tyler Perry , we should remember that it is in calling and begging to be given  some crumbs off of the table of the same master which we are told  time and time again has to give us the green light to be able to tell our own stories and to do right by ourselves in freeing ourselves. As the saying goes “don’t bite the hand that feeds you“. If we want to be consumed with gaining acceptance and accolades from Hollywood instead of looking to our global billion plus selves, who have built industries in Africa and continue to get accolades throughout the world for their own self determination in building toward our global rise and recognition, then we must learn to fall back as the servants of those who we beg to feed us financially, spiritually , creatively and literally in attaining our daily bread- while dismissing the idea of what can be if we changed our mindset and invested in ourselves globally.

“Any leadership that teaches you to depend on another race, is a leadership that will enslave you” Marcus Garvey Jr.

Why did it take “The Help” to be written and put on an international screen by White people for Black America to all of a sudden realize that there had to be responsibility taken in telling the story of our domestic workers when we have had many platforms for many years to tell their stories locally and globally? Why did we have to wait for George Lucas to take 23 years to give us “Red Tails”, when we have had these stories and have been making films far better with lesser budgets than Red Tails? We fail to take ourselves to task in only utilizing our platforms as writers, journalists, filmmakers, investors, commentators, bloggers, pundits and town criers only when the time of outrage calls for it because we seem to be stuck in the narrative of our pain and struggle, which we are complicit in constantly selling to the world.  Did these stories not exist before and will they not continue to exist long after “The Help” is nothing but Oscar’s past?

With all the Black millionaires and billionaires that we celebrate in the frivolousness of their expenditures, why do we not take them and ourselves to task for the fact that after so many years of slavery and Civi Rights- we are still begging for Hollywood and White people at large to give us the opportunity to tell our own stories? We refuse to take the Oprah’s of the world to task for having the power and platforms to do just that by saying they have done enough for Black people and that they can spend their money however they want and don’t owe Black people anything, yet we somehow feel justified in saying Hollywood and White people at large somehow should spend their money on us in giving us the opportunities to tell our own stories because of the free labor given by our ancestors and those who came before us- without ever seeing the fact that those who came before us also gave the Oprah’s, BET’s,  Edmond’s Entertainment’s, RLJ Development’s and so many other Black owned platforms the same opportunity with their free labor and hard work toward change, freedom and progress to exist and to continue the work that they started in lifting our communities locally and globally by telling our own stories.

To somehow have greater expectations of those outside of ourselves than those within ourselves is by far the epitome of the dangerous depths of mental enslavement. Continuing to make the narrative about how racist Hollywood is and in the same breath begging them for inclusion to me is pretty much the same as talking about how racist the KKK is & then trying to change their mindset by begging them for Black inclusion. Would having Black membership change the fundamental business model, practices and foundation of the KKK? Business is about competition and in business you are only as good as your lack of competition in alternative choice in whatever you are selling to potential customers, so let’s focus on getting in the race for what we feel we deserve and truly competing instead of hoping for our competitors to somehow go out of business or change their business model in order for us to be able to survive and to have an opportunity to reach the top. Team Work Makes the Dream Work. Why should it ever be OK for someone like Oprah to create a whole network and have Black people as an after thought when ratings are down, and somehow have her partners blatantly say that they will not be “selling out” by totally investing all efforts in targeting the Black community; yet it is not OK or somehow racist when Hollywood and White people at large say and do the same?

“We’re not going to sell out and just chase one demographic or segment,” he said. “We’re going to nurture the success we had with “Sweetie Pies.” The Oprah brand is very broad. How we translate that to the screen is the challenge we have.” READ MORE

This is not by any means an indictment on Oprah personally because we all know that she has and continues to do her part for the advancement of our community; Rather this is a wake up call for us to realize that Hollywood and White people at large have always been consistent in their narrative toward us just as much as we have been consistent in our narrative toward ourselves and them. We are the ones that have become disconnected, confused  and inconsistent in being the change we want to see not Hollywood or White people at large because they are just fine with seeing us where we are because it is often beneficial to them. We somehow find it OK to be disrespectful of our elders like Bill Cosby who gave the entire world a different narrative of the Black family and Blackness that was foreign to many, without realizing that we are the ones who dropped the ball from what he and many others like him started in putting in the work and according to conspiracy theorists going even as far as having his only son inadvertently as the sacrificial lamb in silencing him to make sure his dream of wanting to see us reach higher heights by buying NBC to make sure we had a seat at the global networks table was never realized.

As we come to the close of Black History Month in America, I hope Viola Davis & Octavia Spencer both win the Oscars for “The Help” and that it continues to eat up the souls of all those who are completely against this Oscar narrative to take personal responsibility in doing better by knowing better because more often than not in our history our leaders who we now admire, celebrate and quote had their dreams and missions of empowerment and advancement of us as a people taken down by their own in being the perfect pawns for those who continue to benefit from the danger of our own single story. I hope before all of you watch the Oscars today that you listen to the words of Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis to Tavis Smiley and look at the bigger picture by looking at the man and woman in the mirror, whether you agree with them or not and make that change that you want to see because if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem.

“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed…“Being black is not a matter of pigmentation – being black is a reflection of a mental attitude. Black Consciousness is an attitude of the mind and a way of life, the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time. The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. Black man, you are on your own…” Stephen Bantu Biko

“Emancipate Yourself from Mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds” Bob Marley

“Show a people as 1 thing, as only 1 thing over & over again & that is what they become. Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story”

“And that’s what people want to see when they go to the theater. I believe at the end of the day, they want to see themselves – parts of their lives they can recognize. And I feel if I can achieve that, it’s pretty spectacular.…And this is what was fascinating to me about ‘The Help’; they were ordinary people who did extraordinary things.…Can I just tell you, I think it’s the most beautiful thing about young people today, it gives me so much hope for the future, that they don’t really recognize race the way my generation does…” Viola Davis

“We don’t have to wait for someone to greenlight our projects we can create our own intersections..we don’t just have to act in the sitcom, we can own the show & the network..we don’t have to be at the end of the line waiting for a hand out, we can be at the front giving a hand up..we don’t have to wait for somebody to give us 40 acres & a mule we can buy our own.. U can b born into a whole lot of a nightmare but God can usher u into a dream” Tyler Perry

“We will never survive as a group until we get into communities & not neighborhoods…We’ve been so busy dealing with the hurt & pain & the misery & glamorizing a hand few that have made it, that we have never really looked at like the say your role model ..if u haven’t got a role model in ur house then u should fall on ur knees & pray to God because something is wrong” #ItTakesAVillage….

Menaye Donkor Muntari-  former Miss Universe Ghana 2003, Model, Actress, Philanthropist & Sulley Muntari- AC Milan /Ghana Black Star footballer will be in New York on February 26-29th for the Ghana Vs. Chile friendly match promoting unity & peace for the upcoming Ghana elections along with giving their fans in the United States an opportunity to see their Black Stars in play at Philadelphia Union’s Pple Park for the first time since they became the global fan favorites at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the sad loss that brought back the old wounds of the Black Star Nation at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Sulley Muntari is currently on loan to AC Milan from Inter Milan, where he played his first game & scored the first goal to garner AC Milan a 3-0 win against Cesena , returning AC Milan to the top of Serie A. Muntari was part of Coach Jose Mourinho’s European Cup winning team in 2010, which marked Inter Milan’s first European Cup win since 1965. Muntari was one of three African players featured in Vanity Fair’s spread shot by famed photographer Annie Liebovitz dedicated to the 2010 World Cup held for the first time in Africa. With over  thirty goals scored in his career, Muntari maybe known on the field as an aggressive hot tempered passionate player, but off the court  he is a make love not war loving husband & uncle to many, who sites artists like Usher amongst his favorite artists to listen to before warming up for his matches. Sulley was also recently featured supporting Ghana’s top hip-life recording artist Sarkodie and the Azonto dance craze that has taken over the world from the shores of Ghana West, Africa.

Menaye was the only African woman featured in Fox Sports sexiest World Cup WAGs (Football wives & girlfriends) in 2010 and has been featured in Maxim Magazine’s Italy edition along with countless other magazines in Europe and Africa. She has an ongoing health & fitness blog with OK! Magazine’s Famously Fit and will be a guest judge on the African based Project Runway styled show entitled “Fashion Power” along with the makeover show “M.O.D” (Make Over Divas & Men of Distinction) shooting in Ghana & Nigeria from March thru April. Menaye is not only a beautiful model, but also a great philanthropist who recently commissioned an ICT center at her namesake charity school for boys and girls in Ghana with her husband Sulley Muntari, along with giving the funding needed for the Ghana Black Star Supporters group to be able to cheer on their National Team at the 2012 Africa Cup Of Nations. Menaye has been a great role model for young girls in Ghana with her push for education, AIDS awareness and her upcoming two new fashion based shows making the dreams of young fashion designers & fashionistas from Ghana come true with an opportunity for mentorship and to promote their designs internationally. WithVogue Italia’s Franca Sozzani’s exploratory trip to Ghana and Nigeria to learn more about the fashion industry in Africa, it has put more of a spotlight on what African celebrities like Menaye have been doing in making sure they often wear African designers to their high profile events. Menaye and Sulley are in the forefront of supporting and funding many projects dedicated to education, arts and sports programs in their native country of Ghana, West Africa and are excited about coming to see their fans and supporters in the United States.

For Endorsements/Press Inquires:

Contact: Aretha A. Sarfo @ VISIONS Entertainment & Publicity/Global FusionProductions Inc.

aretha.amma@globalfusionproductions/212-280-0699