COMING TOMMOROW: “The Return” A three-part feature series on Black Americans going to Ghana
“The Return” series will feature what modern day Ghana is like for Black American tourists and for those who now call it home. While boats once transported victims of Trans-Atlantic Slavery from these beaches, it is now used by fishermen. Photo courtesy of Charese Smiley.
Black Americans have romanticized about Ghana for years, studying about the Ashanti empire in school, watching movies like “Children of the Mountain” or reading books such as “The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah.” Now air travel to the west African nation is more available than ever before to those seeking to connect with their ancestral roots. The country is inviting those throughout the Black diaspora to come not just for a visit, but to stay and make Ghana their new home. In this three-part series, I explore the pros and cons of living in Ghana, starting in Part I, when I meet Tony and Ayo, a Black American couple who made the bold decision to start a business just outside of Accra and leave America behind. They now have a weekly podcast on YouTube that has tens of thousands of subscribers as they discuss their daily live in Ghana and where they offer tips to others considering making the journey. We will see how they overcame the challenges they faced and the cost they endured for a life of happiness in their ancestral home.
In Part II, we will feature the groundbreaking Black Star Water Polo program and how one Ghanian-American is trying to make history for Ghana, while giving lifelong lessons to Ghanaian youth. We follow the team on their first international competition to Brazil, while reporting on the arduous journey it took to get there and the audacity to dream of the possibilities that Ghana can one day have a water polo team in the Olympics.
In Part III, a brutally honest personal take on the pros and cons of visiting and living in modern-day Ghana. I will take an in-depth look at the challenges still facing Ghana, from unemployment to decaying or nonexistent infrastructure and how these obstacles are holding Ghana back from being the best destination in Africa for Black Americans. I will also examine modern culture, including the art scene, Ghanaian cuisine and its active night life. Part III will conclude with some important and tangible suggestions for Ghanaian leaders to improve the country’s image, quality of life for its citizens and how it can attract more foreign investors and tourists.
“The Return” will begin on December 22.