The IDEA

As my days to Ghana continue to get closer and closer to my departure I thought about what I think Ghana really would be like. I have to get out of this idea of poor, uncivilized, uneducated Ghanaian people. This is a very European way of viewing Africa and to know that their ways have affected my thoughts about the mother continent. Africa is a place full of resources and riches and the Europeans definitely took complete control over it. They dehumanized most African people and made them think there was no way out. I spoke on a panel a week ago about stereotypes of Black people and I concluded that the way we saw ourselves since our freedom in the mid 1800s was fascinating because it was an idea or mentality. Free African people had to realize they were human and not property after freedom was won. This idea of feeling less than continues to spring from institutionalized racism and it is not just whites that created racism, but also Blacks as well. We give ourselves names to describe the inequalities within our own race and fail to realize what we use to have. We use to be family orientated, hard working, and a collective unit, but with this Western idea pushing and encouraging us to pride ourselves in individuality we are forgetting what we can do as a whole. I am not meaning that ALL black people are like this, but in my opinion, most of us are in some way. Thus, I believe Ghana will give me this idea of family, growth, and the idea of uplifting a community. It will be interesting to see how my ideas change over the next two months. I have become more open with the idea of Africa as being a place of peace, joy, self-educated citizens, and this collective unit I have always hoped for my family and I grasp. So, I think I am ready for the adventures and experiences Ghana and Africa has to offer. This will be an experience I will love and cherish the rest of my life.

The Family with the Hook'em sign