More partnerships to promote diaspora engagements needed – Prof. Esi Sutherland-Addy

More partnerships to promote diaspora engagement are needed – Prof. Esi Sutherland-Addy

Participants in the lecture on new ideas for engagement with the African diaspora, calling for the institution of truth and reconciliation processes to help overcome and reduce the scourge of slavery and accelerate the integration of African-Americans and Afro-Caribbeans back to the African continent.

The event was organized by the Institute of International Affairs, Ghana (GhIIA.org) with the theme ‘New ideas for engagement and integration: Africa and the forced Diaspora’ at Mmofra Place with renowned Professor Esi Sutherland-Addy, academician and civil servant as the keynote speaker. . The event was led by Dr. Kwabena Opoku Agyemang of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon.

The event was sponsored by an audience that included members of the Institute, retirees and diplomats, members of the diplomatic community and the African-American and Afro-Caribbean Community in Ghana.

Professor Sutherland-Addy in her presentation noted that although Ghana has done well for the integration and ‘return’ of the diaspora, more needs to be done for the African diaspora to return to the country. Predicating his presentation on his personal experience, he noted that Ghana’s draw for African-Americans and Afro-Caribbeans was strong in the pre-war and colonial era.

He noted that his father, Bill Sutherland, moved to the Gold Coast with African American friends like Dr. Lee, as part of his desire to reunify and promote Pan-Africanism, led him to be part of the effort to convince Martin Luther King to attend Ghana’s independence celebrations.

He further pointed out that, Ghana has done well with initiatives like PANAFEST and the YEAR of RETURN, but more needs to be done to achieve a deeper level of engagement with the forced African Diaspora. In response to a question from Dr. Opoku-Agyemang, he agreed with the latter’s statement on the weakness of the current education syllabus in teaching Ghanaian students about slavery.

Professor Sutherland-Addy is concerned that if the battle over the story of the tragedy of slavery is not won, the narrative of slavery will be turned into a memory and will affect the relationship between Afro-American and Caribbean communities.

He drew parallels with the Holocaust, where revisionists tried to destroy the story of the tragedy, but thanks to the combined efforts of the Jewish community, it was reduced and rejected. He called for similar efforts on the question of the transatlantic slave trade. Both Professor Sutherland-Addy and Dr. Opoku-Agyemang agreed that this led to the pernicious rise of sentiments among African Americans that somehow slavery was positive or that Africans returned to the country actively and happily participated in the trade.

He explained that more deliberate and consistent policies and actions should be taken to ensure a smoother ability for people who return to integrate and praised the government for granting citizenship to African Americans, including the new citizenship award in Viola Fletcher and Hughes Van Ellis, two of the oldest survivor of the Tulsa race riots.

Comments from the audience supported the initiative. Nana Akosua Serwah Oyo, the Director of Reception at Academic City noted that in 20 years of living in Ghana, this is the first time he has witnessed an open dialogue event on a conversation that explores the deep issues of ‘bali. ‘. He agreed with the need for public reeducation and re-awakening, noting that Ghanaians and other Africans sometimes use derogatory nicknames for African Americans, mocking slavery on plantations.

A famous Ghanaian, Charles Zwennes who is of Afro – Caribbean and Ghanaian origin in his comments also expressed his admiration for the event. He expressed his views in support of the truth and reconciliation process to save and resolve the sense of abandonment felt by the forced diaspora. He argued vehemently that the appearance and context of fortresses and castles be reconsidered and that these structures be called what they are – warehouses for slavery.

BUGUMS is a fireside chat event at the Institute of International Affairs, Ghana. It is a platform that provides key players in Ghana’s International Affairs landscape the opportunity to share memories and lessons from their careers and experiences. This special BUGUM is in honor of Black History Month.

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