4 research outputs found
âThere is a New African in the World!â â Kwame Nkrumah and the Making of a âNew African (Wo)Manâ in Ghana 1957â1966
An der Schwelle zu Ghanas UnabhĂ€ngigkeit am 6. MĂ€rz 1957 wandte sich Kwame Nkrumah, AnfĂŒhrer der afrikanischen Regierung des Landes, mit seiner historischen Rede âGhana is free foreverâ an die Welt. Diese herausragende Figur der pan-afrikanischen Bewegung erklĂ€rte unter anderem: â[W]e shall no more go back to sleep [âŠ] [F]rom now on, there is a new African in the world[!]â Wie unterschied er zwischen einem âneuenâ und einem âaltenâ Afrikaner? Dieser Beitrag untersucht den Charakter dieser Vision eines âNew Africanâ. Nkrumah glaubte nicht an dessen Existenz per se. Vielmehr musste eine gezielte Homonisierung dieses neuen Wesens erfolgen. Daher fĂŒgte Nkrumah Folgendes hinzu: â[F]rom [âŠ] today, we [Ghanaians] must change our attitudes, our minds [and] realise that [âŠ] we are no more a colonial but a free and independent people!â VerĂ€nderung bedeutete fĂŒr ihn eine Anthropogenese, um der Welt zu zeigen, âthat [âŠ] the African [âŠ] is somebody!â und âcapable of managing his [or her] own affairs.â Nkrumahs Ansicht nach musste sich Ghana, das er bis 1966 regierte, fĂŒr die vollstĂ€ndige Dekolonialisierung Afrikas, die Einheit des Kontinents, die Entwicklung des Geistes einer afrikanischen Persönlichkeit sowie fĂŒr die Wiedererlangung der afrikanischen Selbstkontrolle und KreativitĂ€t einsetzen. Dies erforderte, dass die Hominisierung des âNew Africanâ von Ghana ausging. Welche Initiativen und Prozesse wurden angestoĂen, um diese Transformation der Einstellungen und eine intellektuelle Wiedergeburt in Ghana zu erreichen? Dieser Artikel bietet eine historische Untersuchung der Bildungs- und Kulturinitiativen sowie der politischideologischen Trainings und Kaderschulen, insbesondere des Ghana Young Pioneers Movement und des Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute, die Nkrumah, Afrikas âMan of the Millenniumâ, mit dem Ziel ins Leben rief, die Herausbildung der Einstellungen und des Geistes eines âNew Africanâ in Ghana im Zeitraum von 1957 bis 1966 voranzutreiben.On the eve of Ghanaâs independence on 6 March 1957, Kwame Nkrumah, leader of the African government of that country, made his âGhana is free foreverâ historic speech to the world. This Pan-Africanist extraordinaire declared, inter alia, that: â[W]e shall no more go back to sleep [âŠ] [F]rom now on, there is a new African in the world[!]â How did he differentiate between a new and old African? This study, interested in the character of this envisioned ânew African,â perceives that Nkrumah did not think that this African already existed. Rather, a purposeful hominisation of this ânewâ being needed to occur. Hence, Nkrumah added that: â[F]rom [âŠ] today, we [Ghanaians] must change our attitudes, our minds [and] realise that [âŠ] we are no more a colonial but a free and independent people!â Change, as he emphasised, meant an anthropogenesis for the ânewâ being to âprove,â as Nkrumah added, âto the world that [âŠ] the African [âŠ] is somebody!â and âcapable of managing his [or her] own affairs.â In Nkrumahâs view, Ghana, which he ruled until 1966, had to champion the total decolonization of Africa, continental unity, development of the spirit of African Personality and renaissance of African self-possession and creativity.This, therefore, required that the hominisation of the âNew Africanâ had to start from Ghana. What initiatives and processes were offered to engender this transformative attitudinal and intellectual rebirth in Ghana? This article offers a historical examination of the educational and cultural initiatives and political-ideological training movements and cadre schools, especially the Ghana Young Pioneers Movement and Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute, which Nkrumah, Africaâs âMan of the Millennium,â provided intentionally to help bring about the necessary attitudinal and intellectual moulding of a âNew Africanâ in Ghana from 1957â1966
A RHETORIC OF CHINAâS EXPLOITATION OF RELIGION IN WEST AFRICA
This paper attempts to deconstruct Chinese business agentsâ exploitation of religion as an economic resource in West Africa. Focusing on three cases from Ghana sampled on YouTube, the paper argues that Chinaâs religion project in Africa involves three rhetorical strategies. These are reverse proselytization, repackaging of African/Ghanaian Christian gospel songs, and enstoolment of Chinese as African chiefs. The analysis reveals that Chinese foreign workers employ this capitalist model based on the working hypothesis that the average African of the postcolonial/neocolonial epoch is economically vulnerable and yet passionately religious, and, thus, would look to religion for solutions. Implications of the findings are reported in the paper