CELEBRATING GHANA DAY IN GUYANA

Murphy Browne © March 6-2020

CELEBRATING GHANA DAY IN GUYANA

On March 6-1957, Ghana gained independence from Britain. Ghana became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and was led to independence by Kwame Nkrumah who transformed the country into a republic. The country was the first to gain independence from European colonialism. Before it was colonised, Ghana was made up of a number of independent kingdoms, including Gonja and Dagomba in the north, Ashanti in the interior, and the Fanti states along the coast. The flag of the newly independent state was designed by Theodosia Salome Okoh. The red signified those who had died for independence, the gold is the mineral wealth with the green representing the rich grasslands of the area. The black star is the symbol of the people and of African emancipation. 

The first Prime Minister of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah was a prominent Pan-African organizer whose vision and bold leadership helped lead Ghana to independence in 1957. Nkrumah was born on September 21-1909, in the British colony of Nkroful, on the Gold Coast. Nkrumah received his post-secondary education in the United States. He received both his Bachelor of Arts (1939) and Bachelor of Theology (1942) from Lincoln University and continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a Masters of Philosophy and a Masters of Education (1942, 1943). While in college, Nkrumah became increasingly active in the Pan-African movement, the African Students Association of America, and the West African Students’ Union. In 1945 Nkrumah played a central role in organizing the Fifth Pan-Africanist Congress.

In 1947 Nkrumah’s activism attracted the attention of Ghanaian politician J. B. Danquah, who hired Nkrumah to serve as general secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention, an organization pursuing independence for the British colony. However, ideological differences between the two men led Nkrumah to found his own party, the Convention People’s Party (CPP), in 1949. Nkrumah and the CPP sought self-government through the nonviolent strategy of “positive action.” Much like Martin Luther King’s nonviolent strategies, positive action employed the tactics of protest and strike against colonial administration.

In 1951 Nkrumah and the CPP received a decisive majority of votes in Ghana’s first general elections, and on 22 March 1952, Nkrumah became the first prime minister of the Gold Coast. It would be five more years before full independence was realized, and the Gold Coast became the self-governed nation of Ghana.

Kwame Nkrumah (1909 - 1972), led his country, Ghana, to independence from British colonization and exploitation. Nkrumah was an admirer and a protege of Pan-Africanist leader Marcus Mosiah Garvey. Garvey’s philosophies spurred the modern Pan-African movement which inspired Africans to fight for their independence from European colonizers. Garvey inspired many African leaders including Martin Luther King Jr., El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X), Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Kambarage Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah. On March 6-1957, Ghana’s Independence Day, Nkrumah said; “We are going to see that we create our own African personality and identity. We again rededicate ourselves in the struggle to emancipate other countries in Africa; for our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent.” A jubilant Ghanaian nation named their venerated leader “Osagyefo” (the victorious one.) Ghana’s independence was celebrated in the African Diaspora, from New York in North America to New Amsterdam in South America. Nkrumah set the example and led the struggle for Africans to gain independence from white colonial rule. Ghana’s independence intensified the call for freedom from colonization on the African continent. Whether they were colonized by the French, the Germans, the Portuguese, the Belgians, the Spanish, the British or any other white tribe, Africans were encouraged to fight for their independence because of the success of “Osagyefo.”

Independence Day is an official state holiday celebrated by Ghanaians and the Ghanaian diaspora, which is celebrated on March 6 every year. As a child growing up in Berbice, Guyana, the celebration of Ghana’s Independence Day was an occasion to wear African wraps, eat, drink and be merry. Some of my ancestors (and the ancestors of many African Guyanese) were taken from the area that today is known as Ghana. Much of the remnants of African culture in the form of music, dance, food and dress in Guyana, that survived the enslavement of Africans in Guyana, was adopted from Ghanaian culture. The Anancy stories, (Brer Anansi) from Ghana, were our bedtime stories. The National Hero of Guyana, Kofi, was an Akan man who was taken from Ghana and enslaved in Berbice. Kofi led the Berbice Uprising which began on February 23-1763, defeating the Dutch slaveholders. For many years, African Guyanese celebrated Ghana’s Independence Day. There has been a revival of the celebration over the past decade through the

African Cultural Development Association (ACDA) and the Ghana Day Organisation, led by Sister Penda Geyan.

Murphy Browne © March 6-2020