This woman literally wore her affection for Barak Obama on her sleeve to welcome the president and his family to Ghana.
Well, he didn’t have to persuade me. On a Sunday morning in late May, he came screaming down the stairs, waving the Sunday paper.
“Honey! He’s going! He’s going!! The President and Michelle are going to Ghana July 10 and 11!”
Suffice it to say, before day’s end we had our tickets, using a combination of miles and points to garner two round-trip tickets to Accra, Ghana!!
We arrived on Tuesday morning, July 7. Outside the airport, huge signs greeted us bearing the smiling faces of President Obama and Ghanaian President Atta Mills: “Akwaaba, President Obama,” meaning “welcome.”
From that moment on, the entire six-day trip was the story of fairy tales. The beauty and resourcefulness of the Ghanaian people can hardly be described and their enthusiasm for the first American president of African descent was just overflowing.
We could not have anticipated that we’d land in the very epicenter of the Obama event for people of the Diaspora, or people of African descent dispersed across the world.
Our friend Lurma Rackley, formerly media relations director of CARE International in Atlanta, had mentioned that she had a friend in Accra and connected us with Dr. Erieka Bennett. Little did we know that apart from receiving a Trumpet Award and having her footsteps enshrined in the Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, Dr. Bennett is also the founder and originator of the Diaspora African Forum in Ghana, which has full diplomatic status from the Ghanaian government, and is in the process of opening missions across Africa.
From the moment we arrived at the mission on Wednesday morning – it shares space with the home, library and tomb of the celebrated 19th-century historian and sociologist, Dr. W.E. B. DuBois, and his wife Nina Gomer DuBois, as well as the Marcus Garvey Guest House – we found her consulting with ambassadors and Pan-Africanists who warmly welcomed us into the fold.
Volunteering at the mission on Friday morning, I actually took a call from the American Embassy while Dr. Bennett and other lofty lights from across Africa were holding a press conference on the significance and plans for the Obamas’ visit.
The ensuing round of parties and events defy description – from a very private event at the ambassador’s elegant home for a few of her close friends and representatives of the media, to our last dance Friday night at a going-away party for a career diplomat from the U.S. Embassy, in the company of ambassadors from many nations.
Audrey Peterman is the publisher of Pickup & GO!, a monthly newsletter that encourages African Americans to discover America’s National Parks. For more information, visit www.earthwiseproductionsinc.com.
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