Sat, 11 Jul 2009 Feature Article

The Obama Serenades V

Folkloric Drum-Script

This is Ghana!
Listen to Ghana!!
This is Ghana!!!
Listen to Ghana!!!!
This is Ghana!!!!!
This is Ghana!!!!!!
This is Ghana!!!!!!!

Ghana
is the land
where men first began
to build in stone,
this is the land
of Adansi-Pipim,
master-builder,
unbested maker
of war
and
peace…

here also
the Akan art
of governance
and justice
was hatched…

this is the land
where the spider
taught us to weave
and clothe
ourselves;
we are the fabled weavers
of Kente and Adinkra bolts…

Ghana,
land of
the regal
Adowa dance,
Kpanlogo,
Agbadza and
Boboobo,
land of rhythmic
dance of
the soul…

we dance
when we are happy
and dance
when we are sad
and dance again
when we are neither
happy
nor
sad…

we are a
vibrant folk,
we are full
of song
and art…

Ghana,
land of
the fertility doll,
disk-headed
Akuaba;
we make love
around the clock
and settle scores
with measured
response;
we are not prone
to the total destruction
of our frenemies,
just deft
in our containment
of their wiles…

hallowed land
of Ansa-Sasraku Brempong,
conqueror-of-conquerors,
supreme coach
of Asante-Kotoko,
land of Osei-Tutu,
lord of the African prairie,
mighty one,
it is only Susubiribi,
the great sylvan cat,
that comfortably rubs shoulders
with the lynx…

we are spawned from
the ancient loins
of Mali and
Songhai,
yet we precede them both,
we are scions
of a self-begotten god…

Ghana,
land of
Obunumankoma,
Dapagyan and
Osono,
beyond the strength
of the pachyderm
is entombed
the very creator
of our world…

land of
Anokye
of Akuapem-Awukugua,
supreme servant
of Odomankoma,
Lord-Protector
of the deprived
and despondent…

we come from
far off yonder,
yet we never left
this land
of our birth;
we are of
Akan stock,
we are of
Dangme stock,
we are Dagomba
and Conja
and Dagarti
and Mamprusi
and Konkomba
and Nanumba
and Ewe
and Guan;
we are all
that any human
can be and
still more beyond
and besides…

Ghana,
primal kingdom
of gold
and
diamond
and
bauxite
and
manganese
and endless
petro-chemical
wrabgling…

we have traveled
from afar
and yet
we always
owned this land…

7/10/09

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr.

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD, taught Print Journalism at Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City, for more than 20 years. He is also a former Book Review Editor of The New York Amsterdam News.. More He holds Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude) in English, Communications and Africana Studies from The City College of New York of The City University of New York, where he was named a Ford Foundation Undergraduate Fellow and the first recipient of the John J. Reyne Artistic Achievement Award in English Poetry (Creative Writing) in 1988.

The author was part of the "socially revolutionary" team of undergraduate journalists at City College of New York (CCNY) of the City University of New York (CUNY), who won First-Prize certificates for Best Community Reporting from the Columbia University School of Journalism, for three consecutive years, from 1988 to 1990.

Born April 8, 1963, in Ghana; naturalized U.S. citizen; son of Kwame (an educator) and Dorothy (maiden name, Sintim) Okoampa-Ahoofe; children: Abena Aninwaa, Kwame III. Ethnicity: "African." Education: City College of the City University of New York, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1990; Temple University, M.A., 1993, Ph.D., 1998. Politics: Independent. Religion: "Christian—Ecumenist." Hobbies and other interests: Political philosophy.

CAREER: Ghana National Cultural Center, Kumasi, poet, 1979–84; Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, worked as instructor in English; Technical Career Institutes, New York, NY, instructor in English, 1991–94; Indiana State University, Terre Haute, instructor in history, 1994–95; Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY, member of English faculty. Participant in World Bank African "Brain-Gain" pilot project.

MEMBER: Modern Language Association of America, National Council of Teachers of English, African Studies Association, Community College Humanities Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Essay award, Nassau Review, 1999.Column: Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD

Disclaimer: "The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect ModernGhana official position. ModernGhana will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements in the contributions or columns here." Follow our WhatsApp channel for meaningful stories picked for your day.

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The Obama Serenades V

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