Sometimes in life what makes my day is to hear of other people’s accomplishments. Today is one of those days. As Ghanaians & people all over the world who respect freedom & the greatness of man to bring about a global mindset toward change & freedom celebrate Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s 102nd birthday &  Founder’s Day In Ghana; I am delighted to hear that the young people of my Black Star Nation are Honoring the Past By Building The Future!

Ghana taking the lead from the Gaddafi led AU’s 13th Ordinary Summit in the Libyan town of Sirte, where African leaders adopted the centenary birthday celebration of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as a continental event by stating, “We unanimously agreed to celebrate Dr Nkrumah’s centenary birthday & put it on the AU’s calendar of Special Events“, went on to  finally  take action in 2009 to make Dr. Nkrumah’s birthday a national holiday, celebrating the man, his achievements & his strong vision for a united & independent Africa. Dr Nkrumah became one  of Africa’s most prolific leaders who is celeberated all over the world from a memorial in New Delhi, India to a commemorative stamp in Russia & a New York State Senate resolution celebrating his contribution as 1 of the founders of Pan-Africanism. As diginitaries from around the world visit & send well wishes to Ghana in honor of Dr. Nkrumah’s 102nd birthday today, I can’t help but to acknowledge the elephant  not in the room,Muammar al-Gaddafi- the modern day African leader who thru Dr. Nkrumah’s influence spoke publicly in a push to carry out the vision of a United States of Africa. Today, Gaddafi has basically been deposed in the same style of people’s revolution cloaked in a western backed coup d’état that met Dr. Nkrumah. We are now left once again to look toward the future, hoping a new leader will emerge to carry the torch of a United States of Africa.

“It is time to give life to the dream of a united Africa. If we could even make the regional and economic committees at the sub regional levels work, we will see a much faster progress than we are seeing today. Let Africa not deceive herself, nobody is going to move out of the front of the world queue and create space for us to take a place… We have to work together to move up the front of that queue…it was time the continent rewarded Nkrumah’s commitment to see among other things, a united Africa liberated from poverty, noting that African leaders must back their words with action to ensure the realization of Nkrumah’s dreams for Africa.” READ MORE

While politics in Africa continues to disappoint most Africans, the future is bright among the young people who refuse to have the actions  & lack of progress in African politics defer the dreams of the Africa they want to see & build. One of these young people is Ghana’s own Mantse Aryeequaye. I remember meeting & interviewing Mantse for my labor of love documentary entitled Black Star Rising. I met Mantse in Osu, Ghana in 2008 as a young writer, visionary & man about town who spoke about creating pirate radio in Ghana, growing up as a hip-hop head in Ghana & being a part of the MOP (movement of people) in Ghana who were showcasing the vibrancy of the talents & Arts in Ghana…Now fast Forward to July 16, 2011 & the dream of what the future of Ghanaian arts celebration will hold, has not only been mobilized but realized & celebrated as a movement & festival started in a small historic fishing town that will sooner than later find its global fusion in local & worldwide recognition like the plethora of established & emerging global street arts festivals that have sprouted up in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, London, Paris etc.

The name of the festival- Chale Wote geniusly exemplifies the spirit & style of Ghanaians in every way, bringing us back by taking us forward to our essence in nostalgic future! Chale Wote is the Ga word for flip-flops that all Ghanaians rock & it also translates to man/homie let’s go! The Chale Wote festival juxtaposed the best of Ghanaian fashion, music, art, culture and the new generation of sports in Ghana that is more BMX bike extreme sports than football. The beautifully raw rugged streets of  the small fishing town of (Jamestown) James Town in the capital city of Accra holds so much of Ghana’s history of greatness for producing some of the greatest boxers like the legendary Azumah Nelson-the first African Boxer to be inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame & rising stars like Joshua Clottey, along with Ghana’s Greatest Photographer James Barnor & his Ever Young photography studio. James Town is also home to Ghana’s oldest prison, James Fort,  which held Dr. Kwame Nkrumah & many of Ghana’s freedom fighters as the nation woke up, fought & regained its power against their former colonizers to elect Dr. Nkrumah as our very first president while still being held in prison.

Jamestown is located right on the Atlantic Ocean & is a lively  colorfully boisterous town with many open spaces & beautiful architecture juxtaposed with the dense poverty of economics but not of spirit ,which served to be the perfect location for the Chale Wote  Street Arts Festival!  Big Ups to Mantse & all those who dare to dream, dare to take the chance in lighting a spark that may set the fire of greatness, all those who have no fear of failure because they are too consumed with the desire of creating success, and those collectively brought together their passion to make this beautiful expression of Ghana come to fruition. There maybe some who may call you failures because they are void of the unwavering love in black star souls & are hollow without ability to soak up the idea & manifestation of potential in dreams & actions. I can’t wait to hopefully be there to bare witness to the experience in the flesh & to hopefully be able to contribute on the next go around in April 2012! CHALE WOTE!!!

“The premiere edition of the CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival, held on July 16th, was a success because many people believed in a simple idea. Teamwork and artistic talent make a powerful combination. With only three months to plan and a limited budget, more than a dozen young creative professionals rolled up their sleeves and got to work on the largest free street festival to ever hit Accra. The result: a 12-hour fantastic street maze of live action art stretching from the Mantse Agbonaa to the old Kings Way building—graffiti + street painting, bike/skateboard/rollerblade street stuntin’ parties, art installations, experimental theater, a fashion circus, drumfunkbass music, spoken word, and a live music concert—never before seen on this scale in James Town. The idea began at a Talk Party in Osu back in March. The monthly discussion series is hosted by ACCRA [dot] ALT. “We were tired of talking about change. It was time to take action and generate a viable economy for art in this city. CHALE WOTE is well on its way to making Accra a cultural hotbed and international destination,” says filmmaker and ACCRA [dot] ALT producer, Mantse Aryeequaye….” READ MORE

Photo Credit: Nana Kofi Acquah

Follow The Organizers: Accra[dot]Alt

Photo Credit: KwesiBlack.com

For other photo credits go to : Face2FaceAfrica.com

I have been watching the Al Jeezera documentary series “Surprising Europe” for awhile now & unfortunately I am far from surprised at most of the stories. What I am mostly surprised at is the comments by everyday people & their lack of  humanity, compassion & understanding of history  & how we are all connected good & bad by our history whether we like it or not.

“The Time is always right to do what is right…Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation and this means we must develop a world perspective”Martin Luther King Jr.

Europe has not & can never repay Africa for the damage & rape of its people & resources from the Trans-Atlantic slave trade to colonization. It is sickening to me how people think colonization that is just 50 + years removed is still not effecting/affecting Africa/Africans. If Africans were to receive reparations for the free labor & stolen jewels, minerals & resources taken from Africa by Europeans & Americans maybe Africans could have a fighting chance & not have to go to Europe/America to replenish what was taken from them, but that never seems to be the conversation that Europeans/Americans want to have when it comes to debating issues of immigration & xenophobia.

Europe/America still benefit from the free labor & stolen spoils of Africans, yet no one wants to see that part of history that is not only part of our recent past, but also a present day occurrence because disrespecting Africa/Africans has somehow become an acceptable part of the global world order. If Africa were to take back all of its contributions to the world we live in, most of our lives would change drastically & dramatically from the basic cellular phone we use, to the basic cotton in the clothes we wear & so much more. The world at large likes to show Africa/Africans as bottom feeders who just beg & take without ever acknowledging its centuries of continual contributions to every aspect of our daily lives all over the world. Africans must demand reparations from the vultures who have fed on it for centuries & continue to do so even today, if Africa is ever going to build up the continent as a whole. Africans must also hold their own leaders accountable for utilizing their resources to help the people of their nation toward self sufficiency & opportunity to not only build up themselves, but also their nations as a whole.

Africans complain about their home countries being bad & lacking opportunities, yet they go abroad & often suffer worse fates than they could ever imagine in their own countries as they are treated as lesser than, common criminals & unwanted pests, yet somehow they find justification in believing that this is a better life than what they can have at home if they put in the same work, sacrifice & self determination to make it with dignity. I am always reminded about how a White European man making millions in my homeland tried to convince me that I should not return home because there was no opportunity there & that I was too much of a New Yorker to deal with Africa. How laughable I thought coming from a White man who is the minority with very little to no connection to Africa other than his exploits in business, telling me  as a native that he can survive & live well in my native land but I could not. I was basically being told by a White man that Africa was opened for business for him in attaining his African dream in the re-newed frontier market, yet somehow that same dream of wealth & opportunity was far fetched for me in my own homeland-SMH!

We are all responsible & complicit in this sick cycle of mental slavery that continues to have a strong hold on the African mind puppeteered with full advantage by decendents of those who once colonized & enslaved. A mind that has told the African that he/she can not make it on their own without outside aid. Africa/Africans seems to stay in an endless cycle of waiting for someone outside our selves to save us from our plight & ourselves. Slavery never ended with the emancipation proclamation or any other piece of paper or legislation in Europe or America because it continues today all over the world right under our noses, but we have somehow convinced ourselves that it has ended or that modern day slavery is somehow different. I look at my fellow brothers & sisters in Africa & abroad & the pain, humiliation & helplessness endured in our collective inner city blues that makes me want to holler & throw up both my hands as Marvin Gaye said because I can’t see how human beings can endure so much without ever finding the will & strength for an uprising to change their fate at home & abroad. When will we come to the point of finding African solutions to African problems?

“CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE THINK & THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME” Denzel Washington as Steve Biko in Cry Freedom

We must get to the point in our world when we truly change the way we think in order to change the way others think of us. If Africa is so horrible why do so many Europeans go there constantly for business, investments, pleasure & so much more & why aren’t those Europeans/Americans living in Africa for years without citizenship labeled as illegal immigrants? When Mugabe seeks to  reclaim African land for Africans & oust Europeans from Africa in order to take back the land to give back to Africans, he is seen as a tyrannical crazed dictator, but when Sarkozy, Berlusconi, Cameron, Obama etc. seek to oust Africans & so called illegal immigrants from their nations they are seen as great leaders who are upholding the laws of their lands. If Africans can not dictate the laws of Europe & American land, then who gives Europeans & Americans the audacity to dictate the laws of Africa’s lands. We seem to forget that we are all human beings at the end of the day with the same basic common needs.  As Martin Luther King Jr. Said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere“. The brother & sister that you shun & look down on may one day be the brother & sister that you will need to help you up in your time of need.

“The Obama administration had deported about 1.06 million as of Sept. 12, against 1.57 million in Bush’s two full presidential terms.This seeming contradiction between rhetoric and reality is a key element of debate over U.S. immigration policy, and stakes are high for 2012’s presidential election as Obama faces criticism from both conservatives and liberals.…” READ MORE

While Africans scramble to get out of Africa the rest of the the world scrambles to get  a piece of Africa. The wind of change has come again in our world & in a time of global economic crisis , it seems that the whole world is once again looking to Africa for resources without any real interest in helping to build up the continent & its people because  a fully developed Africa will never again be Europe & America’s dumping ground nor will it stand still with little fight to be raped of its resources over & over again by Europe, America nor Asia. Wake Up World , Wake Up Africa & change the design!

“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” Stephen Bantu Biko

“It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity. Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world. Although most Africans are poor, our continent is potentially extremely rich. Our mineral resources, which are being exploited with foreign capital only to enrich foreign investors, range from gold and diamonds to uranium and petroleum. Our forests contain some of the finest woods to be grown anywhere. Our cash crops include cocoa, coffee, rubber, tobacco and cotton. As for power, which is an important factor in any economic development, Africa contains over 40% of the potential water power of the world, as compared with about 10% in Europe and 13% in North America. Yet so far, less than 1% has been developed. This is one of the reasons why we have in Africa the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty, and scarcity in the midst of abundance. Never before have a people had within their grasp so great an opportunity for developing a continent endowed with so much wealth. Individually, the independent states of Africa, some of them potentially rich, others poor, can do little for their people. Together, by mutual help, they can achieve much. But the economic development of the continent must be planned and pursued as a whole. A loose confederation designed only for economic co-operation would not provide the necessary unity of purpose. Only a strong political union can bring about full and effective development of our natural resources for the benefit of our people..” Kwame Nkrumah, I Speak of Freedom: A Statement of African Ideology

Yes Ya’ll  Forbes’s Magazine has named Tyler Perry the “Highest Paid Man in Entertainment” not just Black Man. Kudos to Tyler Perry! I saw a post of this with a comment that said “It says a lot about what we pay to see” & all I could do is SMH because people always find the need to complain about what someone else is doing, while they sit around & do nothing or wait for opportunity to knock at their door. Well guess what? If Tyler Perry was one of those people just sitting around complaining & waiting for opportunity to knock on his door or Hollywood to green light his projects, he would probably still be homeless & very bitter like many of his critics who somehow have not put in the work he has, yet they somehow feel entitled to the wealth & opportunities bestowed upon him.

“Actor/director/screenwriter/producer/author Tyler Perry, whose films have grossed more than $500 million worldwide, sits alone atop a new Forbes list of the highest-paid men in entertainment, beating out such contenders as Simon Cowell, Jerry Bruckheimer and Leonardo DiCaprio. From May 2010 to May 2011, Perry raked in $130 million from a number of ventures, including his TV shows, “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne,” as well as his variety of Madea films and DVDs and his upcoming feature film role as the detective in “I, Alex Cross.” Just behind Perry is producer Bruckheimer at $113 million, which comes from his take for the $1 billion-grossing fourth installment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, as well as his hand in producing a number of hit TV shows, including “The Amazing Race” and the “CSI” franchise…” READ MORE

Tyler Perry being the highest paid man in entertainment says a lot more about hard work & believing in yourself even when you have hit rock bottom. At the end of the day Tyler Perry is a self-made man & media mogul & no one can deny him that even if you are not a fan of his work. Those who complain about him should at the very least develop his work ethic & model to tap the many untapped niche audiences who they say want & deserve more than what Tyler Perry offers & give them what they want-That’s all! Kudos Tyler Perry & I hope you keep winning because it touched my heart to see a childhood friend after many years invite me to his own written & directed play, tell me that he hopes to be the next Tyler Perry. No matter what critics say, that to me says a lot more about who we are as a people that we can be an inspiration for the creativity of the next generation.

It took me a while to come around to being interested in Tyler Perry’s work because I was caught up in the media hype of complainers, critics & naysayers without seeing his work for myself, but when I finally gave it a chance, by chance of a girls night out to see “Why Did I Get Married“, I was pleasantly shocked that I enjoyed it & finally gave Mr. Perry’s bread & butter Madea a chance just to realized that there was a lot of substance behind the comedy, which some take as buffoonery even though these characters exist in our global African world. As much as we say we are tired of the one dimensional images of us , many of us want to keep us one dimensional in the image of us that we personally want to see. I say let’s show all of our multidimensional sides & have a balance in indulging in what we choose without having to put someone else down for choosing another side. The fight is in the challenge for more opportunities not limiting Tyler Perry or any other person’s opportunity. I say before you overtly criticize another, check your own record & do the right thing!  As the late great 2Pac said “I Ain’t Mad At Cha” Tyler Perry!

“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.. You can be born into a whole lot of a nightmare but God can usher you into a dream” Tyler Perry -

92Y put on an excellent panel with pioneer women in television. In this day & age when we are once again debating the images of our nations globally, the words of Nichelle Nichols brought it all full circle as she described how the iconic character Uhura was devloped & how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the original trekky who kept Uhura alive  in orchestrating his dream in the image of our nation. I was mesmerized by the beauty of Nichelle Nichols, who like fine wine has grown old gracefully & beautifully. I was beyond impressed with this panel of pioneering women of television & their behind the scenes stories that add so much more  to the history & legacy that we know.

“They are the legendary women of television who strolled, sprinted, fought, laughed, cried and loved through worlds that took viewers to places past, present and future. They broke through barriers and glass ceilings to become much beloved and powerful television stars. Join 92Y as they share their compelling behind-the-scenes stories from their illustrious careers that are featured in PBS’s Pioneers of Television. Alison Stewart moderates the discussion“. via Fora.tv

Nichelle Nichols, Stephanie Powers, Linda Evans, Angie Dickinson, reminded me of  Maya Angelou’s phenomenal woman within Nina Simone’s Four women, representing the images of a nation beyond color, beyond sex & beyond fictional characters. They gave us hope, fantasy & vision in the possibilities in the freedom of powerful imagery.  As I watched these women, I wondered who are & will be the pioneers of television speaking on this panel decades from now. Will our progress be seen as going backwards or forward? These woman set forth that to whom much is given much is expected & why waste freedom in putting forth the lowest common denominators of our humanity. Each woman spoke about how they stood up for the integrity of their iconic characters- Linda Evans & Stephanie Powers fought for the image in the sanctity of solid loving marriages by refusing to be part of their characters if infidelity was scripted in &  Nichelle Nichols & Angie Dickinson stood up against doing things that were out of character for Uhura & Pepper.  I loved the joy & sisterly pride that exuded out of Angie Dickinson as she spoke of Regina’s King’s role in Southland being kin to iconic Pepper. She let out an “aww man they are great” as she spoke of the new generation of strong women characters who kick ass  as well thought out powerful characters instead of the focus just being on their beauty.

As we debate about the negative images of women & Black women in particular plaguing reality TV and the lack of substance in lead roles in films & television, these women remind us that we had & still have a voice to stand up for integrity  & to seek to be part of collaborations that showcase positive images of integrity instead of just being puppets for money. We all have a responsibility in creating the image of our nation.

I recently saw the cover of Nelson George’s upcoming film Brooklyn Boheme & just thought about the many stories of history, legacies & progress that lie behind the associations of these three men continuing the formulation of Dr. King’s dream in orchestrating the image of our nation. I thought about how through the hip-hop nation, our global connections & experiences with like minded people who may or may not look like us, but are of us as human beings who share the ideal that love is a verb in putting in the work collaboratively, as we formulate the image of the United of States of Africa, which we all as humans have interests & roots within.

There has been much talk & mediarized rhetoric led my leaders of American & European Nations who say China’s investments in Africa will lead to recolonizing Africa & how Dr. King’s statue was crafted by Chinese artist Lei Yixin, instead of an African-American one, taking away from the fact that there was a collaborative dream team of global people who brought this dream to fruition & that the face of Africa is changing in love & marriage . As our earth continues to shake us up with revolutions & quakes, Dr. King’s very image at this time reminds us all that global & local collaboration was part of the formula of Dr. King’s dream & his image for his nation.

“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”

Today Mississippi & many nations all around the world seems to be going backward , but it is never too late to change course. Having a reminder in the symbol  & press around the monument of Dr. King being errected couldn’t have come at a better time. We need all of our Gene Roddenberrys, Lei Yixins & others all around the world collaborating with us to help see & build the image of our nation for the future.

I couldn’t help but recollected a conversation had with a friend about image, President Obama & Watch The Throne. His words rang prolifically as he mentioned how he can not see why Kanye West would ever want to be bragadocious in the friviality of the same Hollywood style materialism  & warped sense of of value in self that took his most precious gift -his mother- instead of just shunning it completely. He reminded me that Jay Z had always been about the floss & swag life & that someone who can sell crack to his people, look himself in the mirror & brag about it, lacks the conscience to care about the image of his nation, so as an OG instead of teaching his mentee to do  & be better he just teaches him to follow in his footsteps. At first I though his evaluation was a bit too harsh,  but all I could think of was “Ain’t no love in the heart of the city” & how much we do need to practice, give & receive more love in the hearts of our cities because sometimes the sensitive thugs do need hugs too. Too many cities, villages, towns & nations have lost their love for their people & humanity in general & it seems that all around the world is the same song.

My friend went on to wax poetic that as an African he had seen many Black presidents, so seeing President Obama’s rise to the presidency didn’t have the same all encompassing dream realized effect on him as others based solely on his Blackness, and that rather his actions spoke volumes to him as an African because he watched the first Black president of the United States make his first order as commander in chief  be the murder of Africans in Somalia when other nations in the same predicament refused to call for their murder & he watched as the same president led the way with NATO in moving to topple the Gaddafi presidency & perhaps the only modern day African president who has been putting his money & voice toward an independent United States of Africa- free of foreign aid & intervention, by orchestrating the same types of western backed coup d’états cloaked in the sham of aiding a people’s revolution that fell on past revolutionaries like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah – the man who gave voice to the words “United States of Africa“ with a Pan-African dream & image in mind.  The hypocrisy of the foreign policy of President Obama, NATO & the UN is clear when comparing Syria VS. Libya . Neither NATO nor the UN has moved to aid the citizens of Syria who are being massacred daily with visuals to show for it ,while we only had hearsay of imminent danger of Libyans to justify going all out in spending billions to bomb the hell out Libya in a push for regime change.

A pundent on American news spoke of how there seems to be little interest amongst Americans in the so called “Libyan Revolution” which was a much diffrent sentiment for Egypt , Tunisia & even the London riots because deep down inside perhaps whether we hate or love Honorable Louis Farrakhan, we are pressed to find any lies in his speech in Harlem denouncing NATO’s intervention & regime change tactics in Libya as the story unfolds as false mission accomplished media propaganda comes to light & Donald Trump  showcasing the core of American corporate policy & values in calling for all of Libya’s oil to be taken as compensation before the so called people’s revolution comes to a resolution.

As Black people debate amongst themselves on whether to criticize the president & to hold him accountable as he asked to be during his campaign for the presidency, he goes on a presidential pre-campaign bus tour to listen to & bring jobs to the rural mid-west while bypassing the needs of urban Blacks, who are disproportionately suffering from the loss of jobs & spiral into deeper poverty; yet somehow we are to blindly support, wait & believe that he has a master plan that is inclusive of bettering the health, wealth & image of our global African nation instead of just being yet another politician who would sell out his people in order to accomplish his personal agenda, as we have seen from many Black & White presidents world wide.

It seems many of us all over the world are waking up to the need to watch & be accountable for the image of our nations & the love for our nation & its image shown through concrete actions. I watch organizations like ImageNation, Society Hae , Young African Visionaries ,  Face 2 Face Africa & so many others  doing their part to make the image of our global African nation their mission in fulfilling the dream of the United States of Africa &  being the children of Uhura’s light. We should be giving these people, places & organizations  as much attention in their progress as we give those who set us backward. I was called to a meeting where a long time friend invited me on to his production team producing a show at Beijing Fashion Week in order to collaboratively put our global flavor into a bourgeoning global fashion industry  & possibly becoming future trail blazers. The same day I randomly bumped into Hype Williams a global African trail blazer in his own right, who will be directing new film entitled “Lust” , so many years after being the lauded creator who produced some of hip-hop’s ground breaking music videos & the cult classic Belly.  I  stand elated to see my cousin Coptic, an award winning music producer going back to his roots in bringing his global African expertise to formulating the new faces, sounds & images of the Black Star Line. The sense of duty & pride in the richness & greatness of our global African image is being reformulated, revised & reinvigorated today in the light, life & legacy of Uhura’s United States of Africa.  The stories and times behind our historical legacy  should always be recorded & passed down in the oral traditions of modern day griots, in order to give us all a bit of a reminder, particularly at times like today when we seem to have lost our direction in formulating the image of the dream.

There are great global fusions in collaborations that will be seen as groundbreaking legacy that future generations will also look to for inspiration decades from now. We have a choice in whether we will accept the call of Dr. King to stick it out , stand up , mold, create & revolutionize the image of our people & our nation. As we celebrate & honor Dr. King as the first person of color & non-president to be memorialized on the famous Washington National Mall, steps away from where he first told the world about his dream, how are we collectively & individually answering the call for creating & putting forth the image of our nations?

“The Time is always right to do what is right…Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation and this means we must develop a world perspective”Martin Luther King Jr.

Nichelle Nichols continues to play her role as the communications officer as the symbol & legacy for future Uhuras representing the United Sates of Africa 45 years after she introduced Uhura to the world. #AfricanGirls #RareGems @RealNichelle

Hearing the horror of the rape statistics of young girls & women in the Congo & the deafening cries of how high unemployment & deplorable school systems are affecting the mental state of young Black children in America , I couldn’t help but be overjoyed & want to shout it out for the world to hear that even in our doom & gloom there is a silver lining of hope for the future of young Black children globally.  Allow me to introduce you to 12 year old China Anne McClain & 15 year old Saheela Ibraheem, who are repping the future of  how Smart Black Girls will continue to rock globally from the USA to Africa.

“China Anne McClain, 12, was taping a scene for her new Disney Channel comedy here recently, when fiction and fact collided. As the cameras rolled, her character — heading off to start big, bad high school — got some parental advice…“Just be prepared, Sweetie,” her television mom warned. “There’s going to be a lot of temptations here.” ..The same counsel applies to Ms. McClain in real life, as she prepares to make a full-tilt, Disney-backed charge for the title of Next Tween Queen. Pretty and talented yet nonthreatening, Ms. McClain, as an actress and singer, clearly has the potential to commandeer prepubescent culture. “A.N.T. Farm,” the series Disney tailor-made for her, will have a preview on May 22; the premiere is in June. She also has a record deal…Children’s television is at a transitional moment when it comes to female stars. At Disney, the Big Three — Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato — have all moved on. Miranda Cosgrove, the star of “iCarly” on Nickelodeon, turns 18 this month. Both companies are feverishly trying to mint new headliners capable of drawing the attention of tweens, roughly defined as viewers 9 to 14.” READ MORE

China Ann McClain maybe known to many as the adorable sassy little daughter from Tyler Perry’s TBS television show  ”House of Payne”  &  acclaimed film “Daddy’s Little Girls“- which she starred in with her sisters Lauryn & Sierra on a road to the McClain dynasty of triple threat actors that may come to rival the Wayans & the Smiths. China Ann has been crowned as Disney’s new princess with a show created specifically for her on the Disney Network  called A.N.T Farm. For child actors having your own Disney show is just as much the crème de la crème in making it as getting that acceptance letter to Harvard is to academic scholars, which a 15 year old daughter of Nigerian immigrants living in New Jersey has achieved.

“Many parents dream of their children going to Harvard one day. But one local resident has actualized the goal of getting into the prestigious university — at 15 years old! Saheela Ibraheem, of Edison, was also accepted to MIT and 13 other schools,including Princeton and Columbia before settling on Harvard after falling in love with the campus. Ibraheem skipped two grades and said the key to success is figuring out what you love to learn as early as possible — something she did at age 5. If you are passionate about what you do, and I am passionate about most of these things, especially with math and science, it will work out well,” Ibraheem told CBS 2′s Cindy Hsu. Her mother, Shakirat Ibraheem, said Saheela has been way ahead of the academic game since kindergarten — never cutting corners and trying to do everything on her own…“She’s like always independent,” the teen’s mother said. “I never get to help with her homework because she’d say ‘it’s my work mommy, not yours.’”..The Harvard-bound teen speaks Arabic, Spanish and Latin. She said she hopes to become a research scientist and study the brain.  Ibraheem’s teachers at The Wardlaw-Hartridge School said their student was an old soul…“I believe that she’s 15 years old, because I’m told that. But other than that I have a hard time,” Jim O’Halloran said…In addition to academics, Ibraheem plays the trombone, softball and soccer. Despite her activities, Ibraheem said her number one priority was her family. Her 7-year-old brother Saleem was her biggest cheerleader when it came to picking a college.” READ MORE

Behind the great achievements of these two young beautiful Black girls is the support of loving parents & family who understand that it takes a village to raise a child in an exemplary manner. At a time when young people in general & Black youth in particular are desperately searching for role models, two of their peers have become the everyday tangible role models that are leading by example. These two young ladies are  showing that not only do Black Girls Rock but also that Smart Girls Rock!

When I conceived  & implemented the Smart Girls Rock Ad. Campaign for my former client Vanilla Star, these were the types of  young girls I had in mind, who I felt corporate industries that target tweens & teens should be endorsing with their advertising campaigns, if they really wanted to see a world filled with positive role models for young women instead of the ubiquitous TMZ train wrecks vying for constant attention through negative behavior. Young people have enough ups & downs to deal with in just getting through growth spurts, finding & defining who they are  & the basic growing pains of life without the constant bombardment of all things that add on that extra pressure toward self loathing negative behavior  instead of celebrating them for who they are.

Saheela Ibraheem represents just the type of role model we need globally because she shatters so many stereotypes & the possibilities in what many have deemed impossible just by being who she is: a Muslim, a Nigerian, an American, a  girl and a child prodigy who at the age of 15 will be attending Harvard to study neuroscience or neurobiology. Nigerians today stand in unity to celebrate a native daughter abroad who will represent the might of a super eagle to fly without religious & tribal boundaries, heralding a new face of  the future of Nigeria to the world. She has opened the door for so many more young girls who check off the many boxes that society uses to describe them by going beyond those boxes, to dream big & to live their dreams as big as they want to live it!  As Disney makes its way into Africa & more Africans make their way into elite American Universities, no one may know what tomorrow will bring, but with these two young ladies representing the future, I am more than hopeful that the future will be bright! We salute China Anne McClain & Saheela Ibraheem- two of many Smart Black Girls Who Rock!!!

Spring of the Artful Renaissance: Creating an Innovative Eco-Chic World Where Art Meets Technology

Immediate Release

Friday, May 13th 2011, MoCADA located at 80 Hanson Place in Brooklyn, NY will host Spring of the Artful Renaissance: Creating an Innovative Eco-Chic World Where Art Meets Technology, preparing & giving the tools of an open door to endless possibilities in creativity for the new generation of future leaders. Spring of the Artful Renaissance: Creating an Innovative Eco-Chic World Where Art Meets Technology is an artists & art connoisseur’s fundraiser event benefiting the Summer 2011 Street Academy Project in Accra, Ghana. The TKAFoundation in association with AKOSIA aims to bring awareness and to make the dreams of 40 children from the Street Academy come true this summer as they learn & enjoy a creative filmmaking journey that brings storytelling to life by writing, creating, directing and producing two short films on their own.

The TKAFoundation (Tomorrow’s Kaleidoscope of Artists Foundation) is the brainchild of filmmaker Sam Kessie, born in London to Ghanaian parents who later raised her in Ghana where she developed her love for filmmaking as a way to cross-global boundaries. TKAFoundation was created to support the global arts community by fundraising & contributing to charities that encourage arts education. TKAFoundation’s 2011 charity of choice is AKOSIA, a non-profit organization that develops and facilitates creative projects for underprivileged children and women all over the world. For the past two summers, (2009/2010), the AKOSIA team has been in Accra, Ghana working with the students from the Street Academy – a school that provides free education to children aged 8-18, as well as uniforms, books, and a decent meal each day for abandoned and homeless youth in Accra. The aim of the month long filmmaking program is to provide underprivileged youth with tools and technical skills where necessary, in order to produce their own films as independently as possible. The TKAFoundation for the 2011 summer project will join the cause to provide an engaging and safe environment where underprivileged children’s natural abilities can be expressed and nurtured, while providing a way out of poverty with useful skills in an ever growing African Film Industry that has rebuilt itself from the ground up with local skills & funding to create an internationally recognized multi-million to billion dollar industry within the last decade.

Come & Join TKAFoundation, tastemakers, innovators, artists & art connoisseurs from 6-9PM at MoCADA as they set the direction for the future of art in its collaborations & dedication to giving back to future generations. Be part of the Spring of the Artful Renaissance as you indulge in a special cocktail fundraiser that will entertain, inform and inspire everyone who attends to see the future promise of global art collaborations. There will be an opening reception cocktail, an auction, a fashion showcase featuring clothes and accessories from several designers including Onyz Noiz, PGF (Product of Global Fusion), Wow Wow by Wunmi, Kira Sherrine, Farai Simoyi along with performances by two amazing African Diasporan artists M3NSA (London/Ghana) and Iyadede (Brooklyn/Rwanda). This free fun-filled fundraiser’s goal is to raise  $10,000, which will go towards our 2011 summer program in Accra, Ghana with AKOSIA.

Support the TKAFoundation and AKOSIA as we make a difference by helping young children discover themselves artfully. In our commitment to AKOSIA, we aim to impact the less fortunate and less encouraged in some way through something as magical as art and in turn, help work toward eradicating poverty through arts education.

If you can’t attend the event but still want to support TKAFoundation and AKOSIA on their summer program you can still give support through our website: http://www.indiegogo.com/AKOSIA

For more information about our cause please visit one of our sites
www.tkafoundation.org
www.akosia.org
Press Contact:
Aretha A. Sarfo
VISIONS Entertainment & Publicity/Global Fusion Productions Inc.
P: 212-280-0699 /E: aretha@visionspublicity.com or info@globalfusionproductions.com

Before the image of African global chic came in the form of Arise Magazine, there was DRUM Magazine -the most widely read fashion & culture magazine in Africa during the 60’s & what would become the catalyst to global notoriety for Ghanaian born Photographer James Barnor.  African fashion/entertainment photographers  & photojournalist from the 50’s & 60’s are getting more recognition these days as Africa regains a new era caché in its artistry, exotic mysticism & evolution in revolution. No longer are the ingrained images of National Geographic the global picture of Africa’s past eras, now the world is getting an opportunity to see a bigger  & broader picture of Africa’s past & future with exhibits like Africa: See You, See Me , which is currently traveling all over the world from Portugal, to Italy, to China & all points in between.

Tastemaker/Image Maker publications like The New York Times’ feature & art galleries around the world showcasing the work of Malian photographer Malick Sidibé, the global rediscovery of Senegal’s Oumar Ly who still resides in Podar, Senegal where he opened his first studio, and the new found love for everything Fela Kuti related sprouting new life into the work of the man known affectionately as Femi Foto, the insider who captured the life & times of Fela Anikulapo Kuti & his inner circle known as the Kalakuta Republic , are collectively bringing back Africa’s nostalgia, history & resurgence of the creativity & talent of Africans & what our nations had & have to offer the global paradigm of art.

Just when I thought last week couldn’t get any better in my Black Star pride for Ghana/Ghanaians continously creating historical firsts, I was amazed & excited  to find out about James Barnor at NYU’s ”Beauty and Fashion: The Black Portrait Symposium”. I was already on a high as Asamoah Gyan led the Ghana Black Stars to a 1/1 draw against England to become the first African team to score against England & Ghanaian/English filmmaker- Sam Kessie debuting the documentary film Zum Zum: The Career of Azumah Nelson for the first time in the US, as the the first Ghanaian filmmaker along with the first sports film to be featured at National Geographic, then I discovered the James Barnor story, which was totally off my radar of Ghanaian history in its historical firsts & the Briton connection between them all. I was saddened that I had never heard of such a great man whose images popped off the screen at the symposium & made me fall in love instantly before I even knew he was from Ghana. I was filled with the comfort of joy to know that we can & should never stop learning because once you cease to learn new things & stimulate your life & mind then you might as well be dead or live through the sorrow & uneventfulness of life in rigamortis.  It was an honor  to know that Ghana had our own man of the time who captured our history & represented our nation in fashion & global hauteness from his point of view of telling our unique African story.

“in 1950, aged 21, I rented a small shop in Jamestown in Accra and opened a studio and dark room. I painted the signboard myself––I named it Ever Young, after a story I’d heard when I was younger about a goddess who lived in a pretty grove of the same name. The goddess knew she was really old, but a hero came to give her an apple that, as soon as she had eaten it, made her feel fresh and young again. That brings back the magic of retouching in photography––filling all the lines and ridges to make the person look young. There was no electricity there when I started so I used the daylight for shoots. There was no running water either, so I had to walk to a communal tap at the end of the road to collect water for developing. I went on to work as a photojournalist at the two main publications in Ghana––the newspaper The Daily Graphic, and Drum, the leading magazine in Africa, which covered news, politics and entertainment. Covering politics was where Drum had trouble, because when African countries were becoming independent, and you bring out stories some people don’t like, they would do anything.Drum was banned in Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana at one time. What I did in London, fashion photography, was totally different. I met a girl––Erlin Ibreck––in a bus queue in Victoria. You wouldn’t think you’d find a girl [in this way] and manage to convince her to become a friend and change her profession from being a secretary to a model, but I did.” Read More

The 81 years young, James Barnor is one of the first photojournalist from Ghana who lived his passion for photography by embarking on his entrepreneurial venture of taking portraiture style pictures of his subjects in his makeshift tiny studio in Jamestown, Accra, which he dubbed “Ever Young“, where he would later return to after gaining international notoriety, to establish the first color lab that would bring color photographs to the Black Star Nation of Ghana.

“Barnor moved to London to work as a fashion photographer, and began to capture unique images of Africans living in Britain. His covers and fashion shoots for Drum, the most widely read magazine in Africa at the time (established by British poet Jim Bailey), were taken while Barnor was based in the UK, and placed black models dressed in western, 60s fashions in typical London settings: in front of a red telephone box, exiting a tube station, or surrounded by pigeons in Trafalgar Square. He shot famous faces, too––Mohammed Ali preparing to fight Brian London in 1966, and Roy “Black Flash” Ankrah, after he became the first black person to win the British Empire featherweight boxing title in 1951. The pictures have become slices of history, documenting race and modernity in the post-colonial world. But according to the 81-year-old, the message he conveyed through his work was an accidental one; he always worked from commissions. “Through my entire career I never chose many subjects, they just came. I live happy-go-lucky,” he says, “I call myself Lucky Jim.” Read More

“Although Barnor says he wasn’t consciously attempting to chronicle ‘black culture’ in England, and was simply taking photographs of things that interested him and the readers of Drum , the effect was, none the less, an optimistic suggestion that these cosmopolitan young African women were part of the exciting new, multicultural society in London that people were talking about. Barnor’s memories of the time seem to be largely positive, and he says he doesn’t remember experiencing any overt racism. ‘I moved in enlightened circles so I did not have to put up with most of what other black people had to go through, though I did notice when I sat on a bus many people didn’t want to sit next to me.’ I ask Barnor if he ever had curious looks from passers-by – a black photographer taking pictures of a black model. He shrugs and says, ‘I didn’t think of what people thought of me. I just thought about what shot I could get.’The studio was named after a piece of English comprehension Barnor had studied as a boy, which described a princess who stayed young by eating magic apples. It was also something, Barnor says, that alluded to his retouching techniques. ‘I learnt to retouch by hand. Long before Photoshop existed you would use a pencil. I would retouch the pictures to make people look younger.’ The studio had no running water so Barnor filled buckets from a communal tap for developing his pictures, and, as electricity was expensive, took most of the photographs in the daytime. In the late 1950s Barnor decided to further his qualifications in England. ‘My first impression of London was of all the posters advertising things and the colour and variety. As someone with a visual mind I found it very exciting. ‘But it wasn’t easy for a black person to do photography. If at all, it would be in the darkroom – backstage, where you don’t face the customer or the client. We were excited when we heard of people like David Bailey who were becoming famous. But there wasn’t much chance to meet them.’ After 10 years in England Barnor returned to Ghana, where he helped open the first colour-processing laboratory in the country. Twenty-four years later he moved back to London.” READ MORE

View James Barnor Image Bank Here

View James Barnor’s personal photo gallery HERE

As I watched the documentary film” Pushing The Elephant”, the story of  Rose Mapendo, a Congolese woman who survived the war with her family & dedicated her life to making sure that her story & the stories of others are told; I realized just how important the role of filmmakers, writers, activists & everyday people who choose to love, care & be in the front lines fighting for justice, peace, freedom & humanity toward their fellow human are to our society. I also realized the power of women & the much needed roles we play in this world through our undeniable strength & endurance. As we close out Women’s History Month, I am glad to discover the stories of everyday women who stood up as giants for what is right, by helping themselves & others survive unimaginable horrors.

Rose & many others have answered the call to be the voice of the voiceless & through her pain we can all learn about how to heal & live our lives as better human beings. Without these people in our world many will be left with untold stories. Without these people in our world we will continue to be desensitized without knowing the real & true stories of wars, rape, family, love, nation, universal kinship & survival.

Where would these stories be without outlets like PBS? We must stand up for what is important in our world because as we all turn a blind eye saying it isn’t me or it doesn’t effect me , one never knows when one’s story will need to be told through the safety & compassion of people who care & people who have been there & survived. As we wage war in yet another African nation keeping the continent from ever being whole, while pretending & indulging in hypocrisy as we trade bombs for peace & call it a solely humanitarian effort, we must watch these stories & see the real faces, places, stories & casualties of war in order to understand that war is never the answer or solution because life after war is often a life long process to healing & finding freedom.

I cried throughout watching this story because I could not fathom how human beings can behave so cruelly toward one another nor could I fathom the strength it takes to survive such cruelty. I couldn’t fathom the feeling of a mother or a sister having to sacrifice their body in rape to save a son or brother nor the soullessness of the men who found nothing wrong with such requests & horrific actions. Seeing this story made me understand that I can never be for war or stand for lies to justify war because if humans are not complicit in fighting war then there will be no wars. I also realized the power of freedom that forgiveness brings & the purpose life holds when you dedicate it to truly serving your fellow human in the most altruistic manner. We must stop allowing our leaders from leading us into wars that have our children, men, women, boys & girls as constants pawns, casualties & ultimate bearers of lifelong suffering, when those that call for war never make the ultimate sacrifice to fight or put their families in harms way. Why would anyone choose to suffer for the desires of the powerful & wealthy to attain more power & wealth on our backs as we continue the cycle over & over again of pushing coffins & baring the lifelong scars of rape. We as everyday human beings know survival & how to share the wealth in order to live in peace; therefore we must stop doing the bidding of others  who do not have our collective interests at heart. As Rose says “one person alone can not push an elephant, but many people together  can push an elephant..”

“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“! Dr. Nkrumah

To the Brave women who have endured the horrors of the ultimate sacrifice of  war & rape …We Honor & Salute You!

“We are powerful because we have survived…”–Audre Lorde

‎”When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

Jimi Hendrix

PUSHING THE ELEPHANT ON PBS: CHECK FOR LOCAL LISTINGS HERE

From fashion to sports, to film, to the people of Ghana , it seems the world just can’t get enough of the Black Star Shine. Ghana keeps it hot as the fire burns within the hearts, smiles & ambitions of its people, affectionately known as Black Queens & Black Stars. Every time an entrepreneur or  an every day tourist goes to Ghana these days, they come back with a collaborative business involving the tremendous talents of Ghanaian people. From Sports, to fashion, to film, to hospitality & the heart of the people, as Charlie Sheen says …WINNING!!!.

“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

Ghana is on a winning streak in the eyes of the world with a tremendous amount of untapped resources in the talents of her people. In one week I came up on articles about an award winning documentary based on Ghana’s globally recognized stellar football talents, an LA based fashion designer who sparked up a business venture with Ghana’s diamonds in the ruff fashion magicians who are on every corner & roundabout waiting to get their talents noticed, new press demand for an inspirational female Ghanaian filmmaker who is getting ready to set the world on fire as she shines the spotlight on her nation’s treasures, & Forbes ranking Ghana as the 11th most friendly nation in the world.  I mean what more can I say- I am proud to be a Black Star everyday all day & am delighted that the rest of the world is getting to know the greatness that I have always known & carried with me in my travels throughout the world for decades. Ask anyone who knows a Ghanaian & they will tell you how much they love us-LOL- Come on am I lying?

As we celebrate the accolades that are being bestowed upon us, we must make sure that this winning streak is reflected in the opportunities created for everyday Ghanaians at home  because without her people Ghana is nothing. There has been much debate & even presidential platforms that have been based on reviving the arts & culture of Ghana into a viable economically fruitful business by & for the people, yet as the private sector continues to grow, invest & export  Ghanaian talents in arts & culture in Ghana & throughout the world , there has been very little to no investment by the government to see just how profitable it can be with the right structure, infrastructure, leadership & investment. Legends like Geydu Blay Ambolley & the late great Mac Tontoh of Osibisa, who brought Ghana’s musical talent global recognition & accolades have been at the forefront to convince government to look beyond oil, diamonds etc. & to invest in the talents of its people. Ghana’s government must  invest in the Arts & Travel & Tourism sector by putting Ghanaians to work in the much needed infrastructural improvements that will build up Ghana to its full Black Star Shinning & Rising Greatness!

In their Summer 2011 collection, Los Angeles-based handbag and accessory line Della is releasing a series of clutches in limited-edition fabrics that serve a two-fold purpose: amping your summer wardrobe and creating economic opportunity for those in need. On a temporary visit to Ghana, designer Tina Tangalakis formed an unexpected bond with local seamstress Beatrice Agabe to create Della, a line of vegan bags that not only support the Ghanian economy but also offer education and jobs for local women….READ MORE

If good enough, how do young Africans come to the attention of Real Madrid or Manchester United? “Football Fables”, winner of Golden Knight Awards for best feature screenplay and best foreign feature, lifts the lid on the inner workings of Ghanaian football migration. The documentary unfolds through the eyes of Francis, a talented teenager on the brink of a dream transfer. His talent is undoubted, his desire immeasurable, but will that be enough to secure his future? Francis’ journey sheds light on the middle men who earn a living making sure their cream rises to the top. A system which (although far from perfect and in spite of itself) produces some of the best players in the world. From 28 March 2011 the “Football Fables” DVD is exclusively available from www.footballfables.co.uk. To coincide with the release, on Sunday 27 March a screening of the film will be held at Brixton’s Ritzy cinema in South London followed by a Q&A session with director Baff Akoto hosted by Little White Lies…READ MORE

Azumah Nelson put African boxing on the map KO after KO & became an international superstar with an entire continent behind him, as he became the only African to be inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame. In yet another black star move to be the first in setting their own standards & paving their own path Sam Kessie has been chosen to be part of National Geographic’s “2011 Women Hold Up The Sky Series” featuring films by trailblazing female filmmakers, making her the first Ghanaian filmmaker along with the first sports film to be featured at National Geographic. Zum Zum: The Career of Azumah Nelson, the educational title to the documentary will be screened on April 2, 2011 at the National Geographic Headquarters in Washington, DC, to educate the world about the life of Azumah Nelson beyond boxing…READ MORE

Ghana has been adjudged the eleventh friendliest country in the world, making it one of the most preferred tourism destinations around the globe. Ghana was the only African country that was ranked high in a survey undertaken by Forbes, a reputable international magazine. The survey which was done in consultation with a cross-section of world travelers in 2010, found that Ghana is one of the “most welcome nations.” READ  MORE

“No One knows when the hour of Africa’s redemption cometh. It is in the wind, it is coming. One day a storm will be here. When that day comes, all Africa will stand together.” Marcus Garvey

Cheers to the Black Star Nation for keeping the fire burning worldwide as the originators of true Black Star Power! We call her an African Women because she gave birth to so much greatness…Akwaaba 2 all native sons & daughters…Chale Mek U No Try…..

March 15, 2011, – Sam Kessie has courageously put on the boxing gloves to a golden globes championship as the sole woman amongst giant men producing the documentary film “Zoom Zoom -The Professor”, covering the historical career & rise of a young man from the boisterously tough quaint fishing town of Bukom, located in Ghana’s capital of Accra. Azumah Nelson put African boxing on the map KO after KO & became an international superstar with an entire continent behind him, as he became the only African to be inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

In yet another black star move to be the first in setting their own standards & paving their own paths, Sam Kessie has been chosen to be part of National Geographic’s “2011 Women Hold Up The Sky Series” featuring films by trailblazing female filmmakers, making her the first Ghanaian filmmaker along with the first sports film to be featured at National Geographic. The “Women Hold Up The Sky” series is part of National Geographic’s  All Roads Film Project, which is dedicated to providing a platform for indigenous and underrepresented minority-culture storytellers around the world to showcase their works to promote knowledge , dialogue and understanding with a broader global audience. Zum Zum: The Career of Azumah Nelson, the educational title to the documentary will be screened on April 2, 2011 at the National Geographic Headquarters in Washington, DC, to educate the world about the life of Azumah Nelson beyond boxing.

Azumah Nelson holds his title of “The Professor” to heart, as he has made it his life’s mission to educate the children of the black star nation of Ghana, West Africa. The documentary project started as a piece to help bring awareness to the Azumah Nelson Foundation in conjunction with his children’s book to raise 23 million dollars(USD) to build an educational sports complex for underprivileged children in Akuse, Ghana.

According Sam Kessie:

“I hope this leads to distribution for him in the future, but this being for such an honorable non-profit cause, I hope it gets a chance to circulate around, hopefully in the festival circuit. I hope people who normally wouldn’t consider watching a boxing story of a young man from a little coastal African nation who believed his destiny was to become a King amongst Kings fulfilling his destiny beyond anyone’s expectations as he rose amongst the greatest, would get the opportunity to do so.”

Press Contact:

Aretha A. Sarfo
VISIONS Entertainment & Publicity/Global Fusion Productions Inc.
P: 212-280-0699 /E: aretha@visionspublicity.com or info@globalfusionproductions.com