Well. I officially have a village, a town to which I belong. The name
is Dzozde (pronounced Jo - jay). It
is located about three hours east of Accra, in the Volta Region of Ghana. I was
welcomed and recognized by the chief as an African – American whose ancestors
were taken away. Now I have returned and I have been given a village in my
ancestral homeland. I am here where I belong. My first intent for writing this
blog was to document and share my ethnomusicological research. However,
considering the events that transpired today, it is impossible for this to be
anything but an introspective reflection, an exploration of my cultural
identity and a documentation of a profound experience. First I will recount the
facts.
As an African – American, my identity is in the name. The beginning of
my family blood lines span back about five generations to those who were
captured here on the Continent, perhaps even from Ghana. With that in mind, I
live a long way from my homeland. The flight from New York to Accra, Ghana’s
capitol city, took 9 hours and 45 minutes. And this is with 2016 jet engine
technology helped along by a 21 mile per hour headwind. The journey is long, not
to mention the intermediary flights that travelers take to get to the primary one
going to Accra. It took hours to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It took hours to fly
southward from the top of West Africa to Ghana.
I cannot help but reflect on the tortuous journey that those first
mothers and fathers in my family had to endure when they were captured and
brought to the New World. I know of two by name, and only their English names.
Nancy Ann and Molly Motley. Nancy Ann was brought from West Africa, I assume,
to the Bahamas: maybe to the Bahamas via Jamaica. She married my great
grandfather’s father, William Wake. It is said that she had the facial markings that
identified her with a certain tribal nation or clan. These marks are sometimes
called scarification. While my knowledge of Nancy Ann is limited, I know a little more about Molly Motley.
Molly Motley was captured and taken by ship to the US. She came in on
the Potomac River. (She pronounced it Pa
– ta – mak). Somehow, she ended up enslaved on a Georgia Plantation, near
Fitzgerald or Tifton, close to where Jackie Robinson was originally from. She
worked for a slave owner name Jacob Motley.
She was forced to have six children by Jacob, one of whom was my great
grandmother’s grandmother. She died an early death. My Auntie told me that she
was an African princess. It might have taken her weeks or months to cross the Atlantic to get to the
Potomac. It took me hours, many hours, to get back.
I am here to study Ewe music. The course is called Orff Afrique, led by
Dr. Kofi Gbolonyo. Dr. Kofi is an ethnomusicologist and musician. We are in his
home village, to which we have been welcomed. Dzodze is in Ewe land in Ghana,
about half a mile from the Atlantic Ocean and fifteen minutes from Togo. It was
considered to be a village, but is now deemed as a town. In Ghana, a town must have
a police station, a high school and a few other institutions.
Everywhere I go, from the division chief
to people selling wares on the street, I see familiar faces. The chief looks a little like Pastor G. Craige Lewis. Dr. Kofi’s uncle like my uncle Kenny. Dr.
Kofi himself a little like Danny Glover. He will teach Ghanaian children’s
songs, xylophone, flute and dance to our group of 31, people from nations all
over the world. He explained that it is proper for him to present the visitors
that he brought to the division chief. We arrived to a sort of pre-ceremony to some
of the most powerful music I have ever heard. It was an ensemble of women, many
who were playing shekeres, clappers and
singing in a call and response pattern. They were singing what I think is a
minor pentatonic melody. The lead singers let their voices go full throttle in
one booming melodious line after the other.
There is a dance that the women and several men did to accompany the
song. I am traveling with Allyson Chamberlain, a friend, fellow music educator
and a powerful gospel vocalist. We received a full fellowship from Fund for
Teachers to come to Orff Afrique this summer. Dr. Kofi tried to teach us the
dance, and we tried to keep up.
After a few minutes with the music, we were led to the chief, who was
waiting for us. His formal title is Togbe (It is pronounced To-by). He was sitting on a covered
platform, with rows of chairs in front of him and on the side. He was draped
with Kente cloth and was wearing a black velvet crown that was affixed with
golden pendants. Three long strands of coral beads were draped around his neck
and he wore three beaded bracelets on his right hand. He wore royal sandals that were centered with
a circular golden ornament. He was also the most handsome man in the room. He
had very lustrous, smooth and dark brown skin. His dress was similar to the
Asentahene’s, the king of the Ashanti nation. The kings and chiefs in Ghana, and
surrounding areas, have similar royal accouterments. Dr. Kofi explained that
the chief has to be born into a royal family. Another family, Dr. Kofi’s in this case,
chooses the succession of chiefs. The eldest woman of Dr. Kofi’s family chooses
one of the men in the royal family to be the chief: once a proceeding chief passes away. This has been going on for generations. The choice is based on his
character, morality and other factors.
The elders were sitting
behind him. His interpreter was sitting beside him, holding a wooden staff
topped with a silver carving. On the wall behind him were paintings in blue of
low curved wooden stools, a symbol of authority. There were several men on the
side of the platform playing very tall drums. Each of us in the group, as a guest of Togbe, was given one of the
many chairs in rows in front of Togbe, all bearing an adinkra symbol. Dr. Kofi spoke only in Ewe, and his brother Prosper interpreted in
English. There is strict protocol when interacting with the chief. This is true
of most chiefs and kings in Ghana, and throughout much of West Africa. (Or any king for that matter) One does
not speak directly to the chief. Nor does he speak directly to anyone. You must
speak to his interpreter, who speaks to the chief on your behalf. This was the
young man holding the staff. When Togbe desires to speak, he speaks through the
interpreter. It is inappropriate for
anyone, especially visitors, to speak to the chief or approach him. We were
told to wear shoes, not flip – flops, which are considered to be “bathroom
shoes” in Ghana. Allyson and I changed into more formal dresses, with sandals for
her and short wedge heels for me.
The formal ceremony involved Dr. Kofi sharing with Togbe our
purpose in Dzodze and Togbe then giving his approval for us to be here. Each visitor was then invited to
receive a gift from the chief. A beautiful beaded bracelet. In Ghana, beads are
highly valued and expensive. They are worn on special occasions, like weddings,
funerals, installations of chiefs and other ceremonial events like the one
today. Many women in Ghana collect beads, as many women in the west collect other
kinds of jewelry. If they need to raise funds quickly they are able to sell
their beads for much cash. Togbe and the elders honored us by giving us these
beads. We were instructed to shake hands with Togbe with our right and allow him to put on our beads on the left.
After this portion of the ceremony, came the biggest surprise and
blessing for the four African – Americans in the group. Dr. Kofi asked Togbe
for permission to speak English, which was granted. He began to reference a
lecture on African history that he gave in the morning. Africans were taken
captive and enslaved by several European nations: the Portuguese, Spanish, French,
Dutch and English. This is a part of Ghana’s history and our own. He told us
that since our ancestors were taken away, we have now come home to Dzodze and
could consider Dzodze our home village. Each of us went before the chief. Togbe
kissed the top of a necklace of beads, put them around my neck and another
bracelet on my left wrist. After I received my beads, I began to laugh with
exhilaration and joy. Do you know what it feels like to be ceremonially welcomed
back to your homeland after being away in a hostile country for generations? It
feels wonderful. It was delicious. All four of us were crying. Dr. Kofi was
crying. The others in our group were crying.
The chief, Dr. Kofi’s eldest sister, random men on the street, and
other elders all really embraced a Black man from the Bronx via DC named Tom.
He indeed looks like many men from Dzodze. I have no doubt that one or many of
his ancestors are from this town. Togbe told him that he looks just like their
grandfather. They might be blood relatives.
Dr. Kofi told Allyson and me that the women were coming up to him,
remarking about us "doesn’t she look like, so and so…my mother’s
sister….my father’s cousin.” ... No one inherits so and so’s nose and so and so’s
hairline. We get a whole face. It was in our faces that they recognized us and
us them. The faces that our ancestors passed on to us because they chose to
stay alive in the most brutal conditions, perhaps knowing that we would come
back someday and be welcomed home. Through us, they have been able to return
home as well. Considering our short stature, we very likely could have Ghanaian
ancestry. Kathleen, a black music teacher from the LA area, did her DNA test
and found out that she has twenty – percent Ghanaian ancestry.
Dr. Kofi interpreted the ceremony for us later in the evening. Togbe
kissing the necklaces was a symbolic gesture from our ancestors. He said it was
them saying "we regret what happened."(Referencing the alleged part that some Ghanaians and other West Africans in selling their countrymen into the
Trans – Atlantic slave trade.) It was beautiful. He also said that there is an
ongoing national conversation amongst Ghanaians about what they can do to make
African - Americans and other Diasporans
to feel more welcome. I have been having the same kind of conversation with
forward thinking Diasporans on the other side of the ocean. How can African –
Americans come back to our homeland and build? How can we stand upon the
economic gains and opportunities that were won for us by those who propelled
the Civil Rights Movement and move our people forward using our land here in
Ghana, and other areas of Africa? When he said that I knew we are on the right
track with our thinking. I think it is our destiny as Diasporians to connect
with each other in the Western Hemisphere and with our countrymen here on the
Continent, particularly in Ghana. In Ghana, an African – American has the right
to buy land, to run for office and a law is in the process of being passed to
allow us to become citizens. This precedent was set by Kwame Nkrumah, the first
president in the era of independence. What if we use these welcome home privileges to
help the thirty percent of us who are still living in poverty in the US to get
out of it? What if we raise this generation of children to unite the Blacks in
the Diaspora with those in Ghana. The Bible says the Kingdom of God is like a
mustard seed. This verse instructs us to start small, within our circle of
influence, and the Homeland Movement will grow. Consider the four of us here
now. We have a village, a homeland and a home here in Dzodze. We are talking of
building houses here. Inviting others to join us. The Homeland Movement will
grow and so will we.
