“A man without knowledge of his history and heritage is a like a tree without roots as ignorance sits on our shoulders and dulls our intelligence, sucks up our initiative and stifles creativity”.
This is a quote I took from Arthur Hall book titled Why are Black People Ashamed of Their Own Culture.
Our culture must stay dynamic; there are things that need to change in order to remove the barriers of underdevelopment and colonial dependencies - while others need to be maintained for socio-economic integration. I can’t say with conviction which of the cultural activities is to be changed or maintained, but you know which of them deserve to be unfollowed as some holds questions of high hermeneutic importance. The problem might be of colonial subjugation as it has been taught, but we are independent now to take our own decision as they have constraints on national development.
Initially, it was easy to identify one by language. Today, all homes speak foreign languages in the name of educational development rather than their indigenous language. As Ngugi writes “language carries culture and culture carries (particularly through orature and literature) the entire body of values by which we perceive ourselves and our place in the world”. Our youth only reads the English Bible in church. They find it difficult to read their mother tongue bible - what a shame.
Even though the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT), with the help of foreign people, has translated the English Bible into the most popular local languages, the native people - especially the youth - still find it difficult to use. My elder brother returned from a foreign land with a white lady who asked me to teach her the local language. Starting with the alphabets was difficult…how much more the words. I felt embarrassed then. Imagine if our native language was the medium of teaching. I can bet pupils will be able to able to express themselves boldly and clearly. We need a local dictionary.
From Uber Facts, a new English word is created every 98 minutes and that is about 14 words per day. As the West creates new vocabularies, we create jargons like “kpakpakpa” and “tweaa.” A friend received a laptop from Germany, which the keyboard was in the German language and thus the innovation, but nevertheless kasahrow has developed some native virtual keyboards and I love it.
There are cultural centers in nearly every region in Ghana, but to know what events happen at them? That is a problem. I just searched to find out their websites and if I could see what will be happening this year within those centers. Their websites could not be found or better they have none but tried Alliance Française d'Accra and Goethe-Institut Ghana - German Cultural Center in Accra and could view their upcoming events and activities. On the other hand, these Ghanaian Cultural Centers have lost its intellectual significance in relation to socioeconomic and political activities.
My dad never took me to any festival; probably your mum never took you to one too. They say it is sinful to watch, because of the ritual sacrifices performed, but I say is an occasion to learn about our culture either good or bad. Nevertheless, that’s why we have invented chale wote festival - we wait for your criticisms.
How many parents dance the traditional dance to their kids? And you want to take a whip at your child for dancing alkayida?
Visit homes and all I see is fried rice, pizza, and sausage pasta dishes, such as the famous Indomie. I want emutuo on my birthday and apreprensa on Christmas whiles visiting terrific Tuesday of Kelewele. No wonder we are attracting foreign diseases while eating fufu with spoons.
When your child decides not to come back to the motherland, do you plan to see the pastor for prayers? Comb Wood Frank, as you name him, won’t come back. How often do you take the children to your hometown? It amuses me when they say I come from Manhyia, though I have never been there. I remember when I was taken to my hometown. I asked my mum if the people living there speak Twi; she replied with a laugh.
You buy all kinds of TV games where the blue man or jack has to kill and shoot for a lady, whereas you could teach him/her ‘dame’ or ‘oware’ to increase his/her level of thinking?
What is Friday wear? What about Monday wear, Tuesday and the rest of the days of the week to appreciate what we have. Our so called African wear is the simplest ever dress to be worn. Wearing it shows pride in your culture. Put on the half coloured fugu with kufi matched with lightly coloured kente trousers with a fancy regalia like a king. I’ll bet you can get the busummuru boaman (state umbrella of the Ashanti) flying above our head one day.
Teach me the music of your time, which you always say has a moral meaning. The youth says it is boring - for which I think is because of it is static, but if these meaningful, intellectual lyrics of traditional music are mixed with the seventies disco highlife beat, am pretty sure your guest will be entertained and fulfilled.
‘By the Fireside’, a popular TV program which portrayed how the older generation enjoyed the Kwaku Ananse stories before they went to bed. Those were their bedtime stories. No one can now go set a fire and wait for an old lady to tell a bedtime story. The confused ones will even mistake the fire for witchcraft instead, but think before you kiss your grandson on the silent night bed good night, tell him a kwaku ananse story as you implant cultural and moral value.
The African riddles, proverbs, folk tales and adinkra symbols with its meanings which were once on the lips of the 40’s babies are either forgotten or can’t come out, but I will still pray for remembrance to keep this course of study on going.
The more indigenous people participate and enjoy in their traditions, the richer it becomes as it will serve as an irresistible magnet of recipe for generations to come. Otherwise, It will cost us after generations when we decide to go back to search for our roots. The world awaits our culture. Loosing track of our identity will depreciate our human value far more than corruption which we are currently struggling with it.
The problem is, with wrongdoing, most people are pretty apathetic – they’ll wait until the situation becomes entirely intolerable to do anything, and by then, it’s often too late. So we have to fan the flames. Let’s do this as a mark of respect for what our ancestors did, for they did it for a purpose. Grandmas, don’t sit home and watch those Mexican soaps with your grandchildren since they are copying a culture they think you endured in your days but probably not so.
I have no doubt that with the intuition of African cultural values we will get to understand ourselves better as we will live our life with less difficulty.
Twitter: @stonerhym
