Fordham University’s Rose Hill campus will be the site of a four centuries old African tradition this weekend when it hosts the Akwasidae Festival this Saturday, Sept. 18.2010

> The popular African ritual is an indigenous festival based on > the Akan 40-day calendar (derived from the Bible), and > celebrated regularly in Ghana by the Asante peoples.

> It is a day dedicated to the living, the dead, and to future > generations, and is known for its focus on community > building, celebration and entertainment. > > Several African-influenced cultural performances are lined > up, including the Agoro Dance Company and the hip hop artist > Akua Naru. Among those representatives from the African > continent who will be attending and speaking are the His Excellency > Leslie Christian, Ghana’s permanent representative to the > United Nations,Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, ,a former minister of > Trade and Industry of Ghana,who is a Special Guest of Honor and Dr Arthur Kobina Kennedy, > , a former presidential candidate in Ghana and a > practicing physician. Kennedy will deliver the keynote > speech on the theme “Africa in Perspective.” > > Also speaking, via one of his princesses, will be Otumfuo > Osei-Tutu 11 – the 16th king of the Ashanti Kingdom in > Ghana. > > If all goes as planned, attendees can expect to take in a > little bit of African pomp and circumstance, some amazing > dance, and some authentic African food. > > The event is being sponsored by Fordham’s African > Cultural Exchange(ACE), the Bronx African-American History > Project, the Department of African and African American > Studies and the Asantehene of New York State, among others. > > “The idea for having the festival at Fordham is to > highlight Africa in the Bronx, as Africans are the fastest > growing group of immigrants here,” In an exclusively interview Wednesday with Mr Kojo Ampah,the > president of ACE and a student at Fordham College of Liberal > Studies. “We want to be community-sensitive.” > > The festival is just one more in a series of > African-focused events at Fordham, which included last > spring's Africa Week 2010 and a course offering in Twi, a > Ghanaian language, over the summer.

>Festivities get underway at 11 a.m. in the McGinley Ballroom, with the keynote being > delivered at 1:30 p.m. > > -- Prince Osei Bonsu , Bronx - New York. > >