ghana Archives - Mind of Malaka

We Did Not Appropriate Your English. It Was Whipped Into Us.

Posted on September 29, 2022
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

Mr. Tei loved to whip children. At least, that was the reputation he had earned on the primary school block when I arrived in 1986. Only ‘Brah’ Sammy came in at a close second with a love for attaching cane to tender Class 3 flesh.…

Musings

We Have Become Our Aunties

Posted on January 21, 2022
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

My mother was a founding member of AAAG (the African-American Association of Ghana) in the late 80s/early 90s. They were the group responsible for bringing and hosting several African-American celebrities and influencers -before the term was coined- in Accra. Many of the members were entrepreneurs,…

Musings

It Looks Like Ghana Is Finally Ready to Have That Conversation About Online Trolling, Consequences and Accountability

Posted on November 15, 2021
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

I was a Mass Media major at Hampton University. When I graduated in 2000 you had to wait for your roommate to get off the phone so that you could use the internet; Facebook and Twitter did not exist; we were all getting our music…

GH2013

Once Upon a Time, Men Held Hands in Ghana

Posted on July 23, 2021
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

My earliest memories of Ghana are centered the market. "They" must've taken me there often in order for these memories to be so indelibly printed in my mind. Or perhaps a singular visit left such an impression that my imagination has created multiple visits. I…

GH2013

It Benefits No Ghanaian to Take a Hardline Approach to LGBT Issues in Ghana; Especially Not Those Who Call Themselves Christians

Posted on February 25, 2021
by Malaka
with 1 Comment

The mystery of religion is its mercurial nature, its plurality. It is a tool that both harbors and wields incredible power. Religion has inspired the pursuit of scientific knowledge and been used as a mechanism to demonize that same pursuit. Religion has been used to…

Musings

The Uncomfortable History Behind the Idiom ‘We Was Kings’

Posted on May 21, 2020
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

Every so often a Diaspora Wars will erupt on social media. It’s never quite clear what factors incite the digital skirmishes at the time, but one proclamation always rears its head: certain African Americans/Blacks want everyone to know that they are the descendants of royalty.…

GH2013

Why It’s Important For Me to Travel To the North Alone, Afraid and Now

Posted on September 29, 2019
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

Me: Hey, y’all! I’ll be going to the North this month! I’ll be taking a bus and I… Person A: Wouldn’t you rather fly there instead? Me: Of course I would. Person: A.1: So you are going alone? Aren’t you afraid? Me: Well…Of course I…

Madness

‘Like Cotton Twines’ Is A Stitch in Time

Posted on September 17, 2018
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

Imagine someone in your family committed a horrible crime. Perhaps your uncle committed adultery or your father murdered a man and buried his body in a shallow grave. Such crimes cannot go disregarded or unpunished. Society would descend into anarchy and chaos would govern. The…

Musings

#PepperDemMinistries is the Movement We Need For This Hour

Posted on September 15, 2017
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

In the movie Selma, there is a scene during which the members of the SCLC couldn’t agree on which obstacle to voting rights (and all civil rights, by extension) to tackle first. They deliberated hotly among themselves. “It has to be the poll tax,” said…

Motherhood

Beyond Otiko: Thoughts on Rape, Responsibilities and Roles

Posted on April 3, 2017
by Malaka
with 0 Comments

In Matthew 11:15, Jesus spoke to the multitude of all the prophecies concerning John the Baptist and the fulfillment of the law. He exhorted those who had gathered in his presence saying, “He who has ears, let him hear!” I interpret the tone of the…