Summer in New York City is synonymous with a whole cadre of street festivals where artists and vendors sell their wares and one can usually buy something cool like the magic wrap skirt. I recently went on an outing with my mother and sisters to the Lexington Avenue Street Fair and came across a display […]
Juletane by Myriam Warner-Vieyra
This novel found it’s way to my bookshelf courtesy of the African Women’s Bookclub. I read this tiny book in one sitting, with no hesitations though with each turn of the page I could feel the weight of the world on my head and share the despair of Juletane. Powerful! Devastating! Heart-wrenching! These are some […]
Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire
I first encountered this novel when I was a college student in the late 1990s. But did I read it then? No! I was too busy trying to get into medical school. I finally got around to reading it over the past few months (it shouldn’t have taken this long) and now I wonder what […]
The plight (and rights) of witches
I have been invited to a screening of “The Witches of Gambaga” on Saturday, March 24th 2012 at 7:00pm at the Grace Hotel (125 W 45th St) in New York City. The event is being promoted by GhanaProNet, a fledgling professional network of dynamic and innovative Ghanaians (and friends of Ghana) whose goal is to […]
Insight into a Ghanaian Function
It’s the 55th anniversary of Ghana’s Independence Day today. What that means is that all around the world where there are Ghanaian communities there will be some kind of “function” to celebrate this event. In fact, these “functions” likely started last weekend and you can expect somewhere in this world the Ghanaian Independence Day “function” […]
Maggi Cube & the Ghanaian Kitchen
Once several years ago, my father made a remark that I never forgot. “Ghanaian women these days do not know how to cook, just Maggi cube here, Maggi cube there, stew and rice, rice and stew, and they call that food”. The statement was made around the time I was beginning to realise that the […]
Ghanaian Dining – “You are invited”
When I was in Ghana in 2007 doing a clinical rotation at Korle-Bu, I worked closely with one physician who when it was time for lunch, would take out whatever she had brought or had one of the janitors go out to buy, look at me somewhat meekly over the top of her meal and […]
Traveling with adult siblings
Before I begin, I must share a little about myself. Since I suffer from “first-born child syndrome” it follows that I am responsible, logical, and a worrier. Like Flo, one of N’ku’s primary school friends in Berlin, said when asked what he remembered of me I had an authoritarian attitude towards everyone else. What can […]
Visiting (African) Family on Vacation
Our trip to Europe started out as a nostalgic trip to Berlin, considered by all as the best time in our lives, and was prompted by a Facebook connection of my sister N’ku by a former classmate (and crush) a year prior. I was curious also of the changes in Berlin since the fall of […]
Nzema Clans and their Akan counterparts
I grew up knowing that I was Nzema, but it wasn’t until I came across a book “The Python Killer: Stories of Nzema Life” (1988) while sightseeing and browsing hole-in-the-wall stores in London in 2003 did I become aware of my clan. In fact, I ordered 3 copies of that book, one for myself, one […]
A lover of mangoes. A woman - smart, without pretense, lefthanded, Afropolitan - navigating this thing called life. An unapologetic believer in social justice and karma. Choosing to radiate positive energy and be true to myself. Here, my musings.