Back in the Day: On the Organization of African Unity

 [embed]https://soundcloud.com/crossatlantic/oau-welcome-to-liberia[/embed]  The Creator has given us this share of the earth that goes by the name of the African continent; it belongs to us and we are its only masters. - Patrice Lumumba, African Unity and National Independence, 1959By 1963, there were thirty-two liberated African nations. For any newly freed nation, the question of, "what now?" always arises, as forming policies and a flourishing nation post-colonialism is a hard task. One must understand how to unbind the country from the damaging grasps of white-colonial policies. The question of "what now?" was proposed in two ways; The Cassablanca Bloc of 1961, which comprised of  the so-called progressive states Ghana, Libya, Mali, Algeria, Guinea and Egypt, who believed in a federation of African states. Nkrumah, perhaps the most radical of them, also believed that a united African army would protect itself from colonialism.  The second asking of "what now?" came in the form of The Monrovia Bloc, consisting of Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon and other nations who believed in Pan-Africanism, however did not believe in a federated continent.These two groups merged and on May 25, 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, these thirty-two African nations established the Organization of African Unity. The purpose of the OAU, was to, above all, create a better life for Africans. Member nations thought this possible through the objectives of the OAU Charter. By ridding the continent of white-colonial rule and apartheid, maintaining the sovereignty of the Member States and creating a coordinated political, economic, civic and social policies, the OAU felt true African liberation could exist.The Founding Fathers of the OAU Are:Kwame Nkrumah, GhanaWilliam Tubman, LiberiaHIM Emperor Haile Selassie I, EthiopiaAhmed Ben Bella, AlgeriaCoutoucou Hubert Maga, Dahomey (now Benin)Maurice Yaméogo, Burkina FasoKing Mwami Mwambutsa IV, BurundiAhmadou Ahidjo, CameroonDavid Dacko, Central African RepublicFrançois Tombalbaye, ChadJoseph Kasa-Vubu, DR CongoFulbert Youlou, Republic of CongoFélix Houphouët-Boigny, Ivory CoastGamal Abdel Nasser, EgyptLéon M'ba, GabonAhmed Sékou Touré, GuineaIdris I, King of Libya, LibyaHamani Diori, NigerNnamdi Azikiwe, NigeriaGrégoire Kayibanda, RwandaLéopold Sédar Senghor, SenegalMilton Margai, Sierra Leone (Margai was a Prime Minister, Sierra Leone was a commonwealth until 1971Aden Abdullah Osman Daar, SomaliaIbrahim Abboud, SudanSylvanus Epiphanio Olympio, TogoHabib Bourguiba, TunisiaEdward Frederick William David Walugembe Mutebi Luwangula Muteesa II, UgandaPhilibert Tsiranana, MadagascarModibo Keïta, MaliMoktar Ould Daddah, MauritaniaJulius Nyerere, Tanganyika, now TanzaniaWe Must Unite or Perish. - Kwame Nkrumah, Speech to the OAU, May 24, 1963Fifty three years after the creation of the OAU, the state of Africa as a continent is both disheartening and inspiring. Most of the leaders who founded the OAU are long gone, most by deception, exile or death. White-colonial rule has reinvented itself in various forms and still plagues us in the form of debt, foreign investors, foreign aid and missionaries, to name a few. Outside of the foreign detriment to the continent, many African leaders have sold their countries to the highest bidder in exchange for wealth; leaving a vulnerable and weakened continent.We must ask ourselves, what was the struggle for and how will that struggle not be in vain? As the child of immigrants, my African identity has always been important and a large factor in knowing myself. I am an African because it was born in me - to paraphrase Nkrumah. The pride that comes with being an African must not just be in name, but also in action. It is important that we use ourselves to the fullest capacity to ensure the longevity and prosperity of that great Continent.  What does Africa Day mean to you?  Song: OAU Welcome to Liberia (The Theme Song for 1979 OAU Conference, held in Monrovia, Liberia)Artist: The Liberian DreamAlbum:Writer(s): C. Alake Williams, Zack Roberts, Joseph Toomey, Geebah Swaray, Evan Dukuly and E. Tonieh WilliamsReleased: 1979

It's Highlife Time: On the History of Ghanaian Brass Music

 [audio mp3="https://blackloveproject.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/05-abele.mp3"][/audio] My father and maternal grandfather are from Keta, Ghana, West Africa. There was never a time that I did not have a deep sense of pride in being Ghanaian. One of the greatest cultural traditions my father gave me is Ghanaian music, particularly highlife.  At any given time in our household, highlife played and was as common as the air we breathed. It accompanies some of the strongest memories I have of my father, so in turn I hold it very dearly.  It reminds me of the warmth of Ghana, distinctly African and proud, the fufu and okra stew my father fed me with his right hand, the feeling of embarrassment for being too American when being taught to dance traditional Ewe dances, wishing I spoke the language but feeling like home when I heard it; this is everything highlife evokes within me.  For me, there is a a deeply cultural and historical connection to the music of my father's land.Ghana became an independent nation on March 6, 1957, under the leadership of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. It is with Ghana's independence that we see a deep sense of black pride spread across the Continent in a quest for liberation. As history shows, Africans and the Diaspora continuously create even while under oppressive circumstances.  Ghana was no different.  The long arms of colonization reached into the musical sector of its former colony. Through European military music, Ghanaian musicians were introduced to brass instruments and European tempo and time-signature.  By the late 19th century,  the more expensive brass instruments were replaced with traditional African drums and singing and it is here we have the birth of Adaha, the earliest form of highlife.  As the new genre moved inward towards places like the Volta Region, it became more African, using local languages and traditional circular African dancing rather than military procession. The Ewe people of Ghana call this borborbor music, the particular form of highlife played in my youth.  We also see an exchange of the Diaspora's interpretation of brass music. West Indian soldiers stationed in Ghana brought with them calypso, while Ghanaian musicians like trumpeter E.T. Mensah and percussionist Kofi Ghanaba travelled to America to study the jazz coming out of New Orleans and other cities. There is a distinct parallel and connection in the creation of highlife, calypso and New Orleans brass band music. Adaha was officially coined as highlife in the 1920s, as its increasing popularity found its way into high society events. Reimagined street music had found its way uptown.Music cannot escape politics and politically, highlife gained greater importance during the infancy years of Ghana.  President Nkrumah urged musicians to create and artists in turn spoke candidly about their support of Ghanaian independence, as heard in ET Mensah's Ghana Freedom, in which he sings, "Ghana, we now have freedom. Ghana, land of freedom. Toils of the brave and the sweat of their labor. Toils of the brave which have brought results." In the 60s and 70s, highlife's influence travelled across Africa, most notably to Nigerian artist Fela Kuti, who began his musical career as a highlife artist. Artists like Sweet Talks, TO Jazz Band and K. Frimpong and His Cuban Fiestas dominated the scene, experimenting with guitars, Afrobeat and the funk coming from the Diaspora in America. Modern artists like Daddy Lumba use more synth based sounds and artists like Kontihene helped create hiplife, which is highlife tuned into the sounds of American hip hop; all variations founded in the early methods of highlife.Highlife is essentially Ghanaian independence in musical form. The one thing colonialism couldn't steal from Ghanaian people was our ability to create. And as years of colonialism drew to an end, we see the steady erasure of European elements that infiltrated the music. Abele is a song that demonstrates the peak moment of artists shunning  European ideals with a greater embrace for all things black African.  Artists like E.T. Mensah stand as political figures in Ghanaian history, as he and many others freely created fully in their blackness and against oppression.  It is in highlife that we find the soul of Ghanaian music, but also the retelling of our rise to freedom.Happy Independence Day, Ghana. God bless our homeland Ghana. Check out the list of some of my favorite highlife songs:

1. Adjoa, Sweet Talks
2. Hwehwe Mu Na Yi Wo Mpena, K. Frimpong & His Cuban Fiestas
3. Owuo Adaadaa Me, T.O. Jazz Band
4. Nye Asem Hwe, City Boys Band
5. Madamfo Pa Beko, Kontihene

 Song: AbeleArtist: E.T. Mensah and His Tempo's Dance BandAlbum: Decca Presents: E.T. Mensah and His Tempo's Dance BandReleased: 1963, Decca (West Africa), United KingdomWriter: Mensah, E.T.Mensah, E.T. 1957. “Ghana Freedom” Africa, 50 Years of Music: 50 Years of Independence. West Africa CD1: Track 1 . Discograph LC 14868-3218462.

Akwaaba Means Welcome

[audio http://blackloveproject.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/01-i-love-music.mp3]Welcome to Black Love Project!I am very happy and thankful that you've taken the time to visit.My name is Monique and I am a music lover. A deeply passionate music lover who finds a relative story in every song I hear. Music, for me, is a personal experience, seeping into almost every aspect of my life. This means that music finds itself woven into my love life. For every serious love affair or fleeting crush, there is a song, a chorus or sixteen bars to remind me of every memory. From every kiss to every heartbreak, there is a song or songs that serve as my personal soundtrack.The idea of Black Love Project came to me when I experienced what it is to love a musician. Our time together always felt like a love scene out of a blaxploitation film: brown flesh upon brown flesh, coarse hair and thick lips, a hazy room filled with music, there was always music. We created our own soundtrack of songs that mirrored how sweet and intensely passionate we were. And when the sweetness turned sour and sadness and anger settled in, the songs showed the same. It is no secret that art imitates life. It is the reflection of the people, an artistic immortalization of life's ups and downs. The songs that reminded me of him, I was sure reminded someone else of an old lover. As I tend to view and relate most things through a historical and musical perspective, I understand there is a great relationship between song and life, love most especially. The quest to study the link amongst relationships, socio-political circumstances and the art created during respective eras, blossomed into Black Love Project.Black history has often been written and told by others. However, the music, derived on that Great Continent, has been an important historical archive of black people. It is the tradition of our bloodline, to preserve our story through word and song. It is the continuation of tradition through the people of the Diaspora. It is the black story told by the black story teller. Black Love Project aims to explore and expose such stories. To create a soundtrack of our harrowing and rich history.I hope you'll join me on my quest and perhaps, along the way, share your own story of love, your own history.Thank you again for visiting.love,MoniqueSong: I Love MusicArtist: The O'JaysAlbum: Family ReunionWriter: Kenny Gamble and Leon A. HuffReleased: 1975