Fellow Ghanaians, CONFIDENCE, and INTELLIGENCE are NOT RESERVED FOR CAUCASIANS!
Some Ghanaian folk lack social consciousness and awareness. Also, it is a shame that we continue to denigrate ourselves and do not appear to have the capability to value what we bring to the table. As mentioned in my previous posts regarding the DREADLOCK HAIR debates and discussions, we witness a revelation of social ills that need to be discussed and addressed. One of the social ills revealed is a dangerous condition that ails some Ghanaians, a LOW STANDARD SYNDROME condition (“LSS”). LSS, cleverly coined by my dear friend and classmate, Samuel Tawiah, VP of IT and Guest Services at the Baltimore Aquarium, whose name I mentioned in my previous blog! The LSS is the idea that a Ghanaian or an African living in the western world cannot think for themselves. We have such low standards that the perception is that those of us with diverging views have adopted western ideas and values. Fiddlesticks! Let us dispense with the LSS mentality because it is a sign of an inferiority complex. Are we saying an African is not capable of critical thinking? An African does not possess analytical skills? Is an African not able to dissect and disseminate information logically and intelligently? I had a friend tell me that western values influence my thoughts, perspectives, and views! Huh? Really? So ME, As3mp3, I do not possess the ability to think and analyze issues critically? This LSS is a bloody low blow on our intellectual capabilities! Wow! Wow! Wow!
Now, the proponents and supporters of Motown’s denial of access to education keep throwing this baseless argument about rules and traditions. Folk, in my view, when a child is denied access to education because of their hairstyle, based on archaic, worthless, and irrational rules, we need to wake up and fight these rules! Rules that allow mixed-race children to sport their hairstyles but, prohibit dark-skinned African children from cutting their hair short. However, rules that afford preferential treatment to mixed-race and Caucasian children treat dark-skinned children as second-class citizens. This prejudicial conduct is happening in Ghana, Africa, no less? I do not care how you slice and dice this, but I see these rules as rules influenced and shaped by our former colonial masters!
I have had discussions with several people on these discriminatory practices; some were encouraging and others disappointing, and some shocking. One of the encouraging discussions came with my dear friend and sister, Bishop Dr. Suzanne Quartey-Nti, a solicitor/author/educator, former divisional head for the Association International School’s secondary division. Suzanne sheds light on the duteous attitude that hinders our progress as a nation: “A friend of mine stood against the government and lost his business and livelihood. Some of us have houses in Ghana and outside, so our bread and butter are not affected by locals. When we meet our lower level Maslow’s hierarchy needs for survival and livelihood, it is called self-actualization. We are called to different things, and yes, there are basic human needs of acceptance, education, etc. I have seen blacks’ lack of love for blacks and always the White/Asian/‘mixed race’ privilege and black underdogs saga situation. Sadly black ‘Elites’ miss the point because of ‘small elevation.’ Instead of fixing our system, we migrate and leave the mess. That’s a no-no for me. I have sat in meetings with foreigners demeaning black civil servants (our top country reps) as if they were half-wits, and because we were begging for money, we kept our mouths shut. We must deal with this issue as we are all the same in God’s eyes. No one has more privilege or supremacy than others. This subservient behavior occurs in many board rooms in Ghana and results in what we see in the environment: noise, waste, illiteracy, wrong curriculum. Decolonization must happen across the board. We will continue banging the drum.”
THANK YOU, BISHOP SUZANNE NTI, for your profound contribution!
Reverend Dr. Suzanne Quartey Nti,
Educator, Author
BA Law (Hons), MA Business Law, Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), Doctorate, Masters, Bachelors in Theology
Oops! I do apologize insincerely for the long pause! So, I prepared this wickedly delicious light-soup with smoked goat-meat, and dry fish (Akwebi). Now, while cruising all over Facebook, pondering on whether to add a vegetable to make the soup more sexy and exciting (I do not eat fufu), a friend on Facebook mentioned okro. Dear Lord! Lookey here, okro to this Somanya/Kyebi girl is like kryptonite to Superman. I quickly added steamed but crunchy okro to the light soup and slurped away. Hehehehee, I love my Ghanaian food! Speaking about Ghanaian Food, can we learn to appreciate our own? I mean, love our blackness? I mean, be proud of ourselves? Can we please change our narrative? NEXT BLOG!
So the Constitution of Ghana which guarantees the right to practice your religious beliefs freely is not part of our tradition?. Isn’t that the key issue really? So because we don’t want to address it, we just pretend the Supreme Law of the Land is not part of who we are ??
The issue seems to change by the second. One minute it’s about rules, traditions and discipline, the next it’s about religion. Either way, in my opinion, they are all baseless arguments.
There has to be a paradigm shift. New leaders, new ideas. Africa for Africans first. We ought to manage our lives and economies, in a scientific way, prioritising our current circumstances and how to better our lot going forward, using our customs and culture as a guide, evolving where we need to and taking advantage and recognition of our relatively young populations. There should be no limit as to what we can do or achieve, we can legislate our way to success, after all, we have sovereign parliaments and a large pool of intellectual resource, both at home and in the diaspora. Wealth creation should be home based, and should involve our teeming youthful populations. Our economies should be directed towards our self improvement, with value addition at every step. We ought to look at ourselves and ask the question, how do we improve ourselves going forward? Think tanks ought be set up across the board, with the object, to evolve our societies, using what we have available to us first and foremost. Ghanaians, Africans and all peoples of African descent, have been yearning for the right opportunity to make good of themselves, and with the right impetus, there can be no limit as to what we can achieve going forward.