In 2002, I went to Ghana for the first time. I was able to reestablish contact with the rhythms of my ancestors and the lessons that the Spirits had provided me when I visited Ghana in 2019 after a long absence.
We arrived by plane in Accra, then traveled by vehicle to Cape Coast, and then to Kumasi, the vibrant capital of the Ashanti region. In spite of Kumasi’s bustling commercial zones, which include one of West Africa’s largest open-air marketplaces, we could still make out remnants of the forest that formerly encompassed the entire region.
I visited the Kumasi Centre for National Culture, which has a museum, a cafeteria, a concert hall, and stores with artwork and clothing. There, I observed kids chasing chickens and listened to the teacher describe how each drum part in Ashanti ensembles is seen as a voice. Each of these voices’ interlocks with the steady beat of a hand bell, circling one another continuously.
Funerals are joyful community events—celebrations of life—in Ghana. To convey the souls of the deceased into the world of their ancestors, troupes of musicians and dancers are employed.
My previous trips to Nigeria, gave me a connection to the Africa continent, but I also yearned to fit in. Highlife is a musical form that combines traditional Ashanti rhythms with the rhythms of other Ghanaian tribes, as well as Western influences and instrumentation. It is one of the common threads of my ancestry. Early in my twenties, I developed a love for playing jazz music and began learning how to incorporate West African rhythms, to which my spirit and ancestry belong. These sounds are some of jazz’s foundational beats.
I was not expecting how those rhythms would move me when they were presented to me by a percussion and vocal group in their most basic forms. I could feel them in my West African travel destinations. My heartbeat synchronized with the drumming as if the music were both inside of me and all around me.
I first heard West African music through my previous research and study. It showed me that every event has its own rhythm. I have attended many festival ceremonies while in Nigeria and Ghana. Because I frequently felt cut off from my African culture in the United States of America, I have yearned for the music of my heritage.
On my return journey in 2019, with my wife Amanda, after 17 years, I experienced the music’s impact once more. We saw a troupe from the cultural center in Cape Coast, play one evening as the sun was sinking. The dancers once took us by the hand and showed us how to sway our hips and make hand gestures. I felt embarrassed at first, but I eventually relaxed and allowed my body to take control.
Later, we traveled to a nearby village to learn more about the famous Ashanti textile known as Kente cloth. People came dressed in their brightest Kente robes. To applause and ululations from the throng, chiefs from towns and villages around the Ashanti region were carried around the open field on palanquins with their wrists and ankles dripping with gold jewelry. A dancing and drum group would accompany each procession.
I’ve traveled to Ghana three times, and on each trip, I made an effort to learn more about the music and culture of the nation. My wife and I are the most enlightened by music as musicians and performers. We enjoy listening to and dancing to highlife and afrobeat’s at home in California. We are in tuned with the music and rhythms of West Africa.
African Americans have a tendency to return to their native countries, such as Benin, Ghana, and Nigeria. Heritage travelers benefit from careful planning for these cultural adventures.
Ghana’s Elmina Castle, a remnant of the transatlantic slave trade and a significant historical monument on the continent, is must-see in West Africa. For Black Americans who are among the expanding number of descendants of the African diaspora who are returning to Africa to discover their roots and stay permanently, it has an even deeper significance.
I can still feel the same pain and agony I did on my first visit to Elmina Castle in 2002 as I think back on my return visit in 2019. There is a desire to connect and understand our origins among many Black people. Perhaps it explains why so many tourists visit the African continent.
There has been a rise in demand for historical tours to West Africa as a result of several factors. Black Americans can now more easily learn about their genetic heritage thanks to DNA testing advancements driven by organizations with an emphasis on Africa. West Africa now has more airline service, including Delta. The diaspora was drawn in by tourism initiatives like Ghana’s 2019 Year of Return, which was scheduled to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first slaves from Africa in Jamestown, Virginia. And more and more tour companies are stepping forward to take care of the planning of these journeys. Numerous Ghanian chiefs are now giving Africans living abroad land on which to settle and call home.
African Americans have rarely had the opportunity to learn from the past. We feel a cathartic connection when we travel to these West African nations, take in the landscapes, and hear the firsthand accounts of our African ancestors from their living descendants. Black travelers said that the encounter can alter their lives.
When traveling to the western parts of Africa, you will feel more in touch with yourself and your culture than ever before. After visiting Ghana in 2019, during the Year of Return, and once more in 2021, now as a retired college professor and blogger residing in California, make it a point to practice and enjoy historical travel every year, I am able.
These soul-stirring travels provide us, as Black Americans a potent way to discover our family history, but they also demand meticulous planning. Reality is that the diaspora’s romanticized perception of Africa does not necessarily reflect the intricacies and viewpoints of the continent itself. The correct guide can assist in overcoming language obstacles and facilitating fruitful cross-cultural exchanges. Cultural Links Global Education Africa is a fantastic resource, offering opportunities to meet with locals, visit historical places, and earn college credits.
Another issue is that Black Americans’ names and family histories cannot be determined by DNA testing; only their racial backgrounds and geographic origins can be determined. In spite of everything, I found Ghana to be “deeply spiritual.”
You can learn about everything that thousands of Africans went through before being forced aboard boats to cross the Atlantic while standing in the slave dungeons at Elmina. Therefore, returning to Africa voluntarily and cheerfully, in the location where all of that occurred, is like the craziest dream of my ancestors.
Wrap-Up by Doc T Elliott
The Coconut Beach Resort in Elmina is our preferred lodging option in Ghana. It is among the top resorts in the world, in the opinion of my wife and I. The accommodations are outstanding, and it is located on the Atlantic Ocean!
In 2002, I traveled to Ghana, West Africa, with a group of 30 students to take part in a choral musical festival at the National Theater. In addition to performing with my wife Amanda at the Elmina Slave Castle as part of Ghana’s 2019 Year of Return celebrations, I was a featured presenter at the Kumasi Cultural Centre. At the Cultural Links Music Studio in Accra, we recorded original music with my community college students for a video production. I went back to Ghana in 2021 to purchase waterfront real estate in Accra with the African American Male Education Network Development (A2MEND) board. I intend to relocate there soon.