Lavish Dinner Commemorated Ghana@50 In Chicago
Chicago, March 10 2007: Chicagoans who thronged to the Crystal Ball Room of the Hyatt Regency, 151 E Wacker Dr., on March 10 2007 to commemorate the Ghana@ 50 celebrations were not the least disappointed as the Ghana@50 Planning Committee led by Stephen Somuah and the Ghana National Council of Metropolitan Chicago laid a red carpet of activities for their enjoyment. For the first time in years, not even paying hundred dollars per head would restrain the attendees from congratulating the organizers for a job well done!
Congressman Danny K. Davis, the keynote speaker remarked that the function was highly beyond his expectation. A chief who lives in the Chicago area commented, “I have never seen such a wonderful celebrations for the 36 years I have lived in Chicago!”
The 500 capacity hall was packed with joyful celebrants; some came from Michigan, Minnesota, Detroit etc. The audience were equally mixed, it includes, African Americans, White Americans, Hispanics and Ghanaians. The performers were also diverse. There were the Adowa and Bobobor groups, the 17 member choir called Journey from Michigan , made up of whites, Blacks and Hispanics .
The program started with a prayer by Reverend Noonoo and Father Mensah, Christian, Alhajie Gariba Issakka Garadema and Alhajie Bawa offered the Moslem prayer, and Seth Nkansa invoked the spirit of our ancestors with a libation.
Ms Tammy Strickland, Ms. Louisa Noonoo Odei and the Journey marvelously rendition the American, Ghanaian and the African American Anthems respectively.
In an address to the gathering, the keyote speaker, Danny K. Davis, who was a member of the black congressional caucus in Ghana this year for the celebrations, noted to the audience that the struggle of African Americans here in the United States for equality reached a ferocity unseen since reconstruction only a few months after Ghana become Independent. “During the decade of the 1960’s, the struggle for Independence in Africa and the struggle for equality FOR African Americans in the U.S played out side by side. Each side reinforcing the other, learning from each other reinvigorating the other” Danny Davis continued, “as we celebrate here tonight, African Americans are once again exploring our ties to Africa. This latest wave of self examination has been triggered by the candidacy of Barck Obama”
Danny Davis observed that Ghana is rich with natural resources and today Ghana has twice the per capita output of West Africa. But like most of Africa, the infinite potential of modern Ghana is far from being fully realized. Subsistence agriculture is 40 percent of GDP and remains at the center of the economy. It employs 60 to 70 percent of the work force, mostly small land owners. It is more clear than ever that Nkrumah was right in his view that the individual nations of Africa could never fully throw off the bonds of colonialism and that the struggle would require African Unity and support from the diaspora. In a cool but stern voice, he restated what is wildly known and accepted by most Africans that, though individual Africans are no longer chained for exploitation, chains forged by the IMF, by the World Bank, by world trading treaties, by multinational corporations continue to enslave African Economies.
“ Follow the links of those chains and they lead inexorably to the United States, where as Fredericks Douglas predicted, they also bind Americans” Danny Davis reminded the audience.
He concluded by wishing Ghana and the Ghanaians in Chicago memorable celebrations.
The president of the Ghana National Council of Metropolitan Chicago in a rhetorically asked his audience what their vision for the communities they live or for their country was.
“When Osagyefo Dr. Nkrumah set his eyes on the bigger picture to free Ghana, there were many Ghanaians who set their eyes on personal visions such as training to be a mechanic, a lawyer, an engineer, a medical doctor, a teacher, a fisherman, a farmer ,a nurse, politician or sell at Makola! No vision was too big or too small. Many of the women at Makola, you and I know, balance their book better than some of the accountants the country has spent money to train! Some of our country men and women even volunteered in community outreach programs to serve the poor without any personal benefit or gain. Those were all good visions that eventually moved our country forward. In short, the quest for national or community building was and is a collective enterprise that needs many talents and each talent is vital to the overall progress of a community or a Nation.” Reuben Hadzide noted to the audience with rapt attention.
Reuben continued “Ladies and gentlemen, as a people, we need to define clearly what we are about and put in structures that would evaluate our mission and work towards the achievement of our vision for the development of our community and country. Each member of our community has something to contribute, no matter how big or small. What matters is that collective strength and our personal vision should and must lead to a greater good. Constructive criticism is welcome for progress but, opposition to any meaningful progress in our community or country for its own sake is detrimental to our growth.”
On the future of the Ghanaian community, Reuben said “May I ask you to pause for a moment with me and ponder over what will happen to the next generations of our children here in Chicago, if we do not put in place structures that will bring them together when we are no more? I shudder to think of what our children will say and how our community will be like!The generations whose faces we cannot yet see, whose names we may never know, say or hear, depend on us. Our identity as a people will be lost and our community as we know it today will be wiped off if we do not lay that solid foundation! That is the stark reality! Ask yourself if your actions or inactions prepare the future for that generation? Are your talents and skills directed towards addressing our community’s problems or are they used to creating more problems?” Reuben concluded by saying “ I leave you with that final thought.”
The audience was treated to a astonishing dramatization of the freedom emancipation proclamation by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the rest of the big six. Abdul Braimah played the role of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah with excellence!
Five members of the community were awarded for their services to the community in here in Chicago and Ghana. The recipient of the awards includes, Mrs. Patience Adigbli, Dr. Margaret Burroughs, Dr Andy Davis, Abena Joan Brown and Pastor Jeremiah Wright. Dr. Andy Davis in his acceptance remarks, gave another meaning to I.C.T-Individual Critical Thinking and asked the audience to exercise it for their benefit..
The enthusiasm of the audience manifested in generous donations of over 6000.00 during a hurriedly arranged auction. Dr. Andy Davis and Kwame Siaw were the highest donors. Delta Airlines ticket raffled fetched $3000.00 from Elizabeth Mills.
Earlier on Friday, panelist led a large crowd at the McCormick Seminary in enthusiastic discussions on the Economic, Health and Educational Histories of Ghana.
The Youth night at the Orliy’s Café at Hyde Park was attended by a large crowd of Ghanaian youth living in Chicago and Indiana.
The Governor of the State of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich and the Secretary of State of Illinois, declared March 4 to March 10 Ghana Week in the State of Illinois.
The City of Chicago presented an Award to the Ghana National Council for the active role the Council plays in Organizing and promoting Ghanaian Culture in Chicago. The City also declared the week of March 4 to March 10 Ghana week in Chicago.
John Stroger Jr. has declared March 4 to March 10 Ghana week every year in the Cook County of Chicago. The Council can therefore liase with the county every year to celebrate the week yearly.
The State treasurer, Maria Papas, declared the week of March 4 through March 10 Ghana week.
MoneyGran International, Delta Airlines and Ghanaweb are the main sponsors of the Ghana@50 celebrations in Chicago.
