It was a night of ecstasy and cultural diversity as the National Association of the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) were welcomed in Accra by high profiled personalities amidst a dinner talk sessions.
The reception night was a delegation including The Church of Latter -Day Saints and the selected students who are recipients of the Amos C. Brown Student Fellowship to Ghana.
Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Ibrahim Mohammed Awal welcomed the NAACP fellows and said “as Ghana continue to bridge the gap between our global diaspora family and our continental Africans, it is with pleasure to welcome all the fellows to Ghana’.
In an address, Mr. Akwasi Agyeman, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority recounted that it is almost four years the “Year of Return” Ghana 2019 was launched at the Washington Press Club, adding that the seed that was sown with the aforementioned event has birthed several collaborations, partnerships, and interactions from global African family on both sides of the Atlantic.
Welcoming the NAACP fellows, Mr. Agyeman said the Ghana Tourism Authority looks forward to deepening its collaborative work with the Adinkra group who coordinated the trip.
Derrick Johnson is President and Chief Executive Officer of NAACP, in an interview said as part of the Beyond the Return initiative, a civil rights association formed as an interracial endeavour to advance for African Americans called the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) has brought over 30 young black Americans to Ghana.
This, he underscored is to help them immerse themselves in the Ghanaian culture, gain deep insights into their ancestral heritage and discover current global social justice movements.
According to him, the visit is also in line with the organization’s activism on black lives and reconnecting to pre-colonial history.
Black American Businesswoman and Special Envoy to the President of Ghana, Bozoma Saint John urged the participants to go all out to be inspired by their surroundings and culture.
The welcome night was interspersed with a captivating cultural display by the Ga cultural dance and music which attracted some of the fellows to dance amidst the dinner session.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
