Lit & Lounge Writing Salon 4/15/23
CHRONICLES OF YAA
It is a must that I see Adwoa; she has the most delightful waist beads.
It was a fine and warm Saturday evening when ten fervent and melanated women gathered in Montrose to practice their craft of writing. My friend in literature and mysticism, Fallon Vaughn led us in writing prompts that were inspired by Claudia Tate’s, Black Women Writers at Work. We were given the option of 4 prompts to write to:
For the Given and the Taken; What has been taken from you and what is yours to give?
Describe a New Beginning
Write a Spiritual Prescription.
What Love Language Do You Give Yourself?
If you have been in conversation with me in the past two years, you have been privy to sacred conversations about my desire to travel to and ultimately relocate to Africa. My spiritual connection to the continent has been a passionate driving force for my artistic expression. During grade school I was a student of S.H.A.P.E Community Center’s Youth Summer Enrichment Program. While in the enrichment program I was surrounded by Pan-Africanist. All of the lessons and activities centered teachings about Africa, Africans, and Black American history. Pan-Africanism is the idea that people of African descent, no matter where they live on the globe, have common interests that should be unified. At the center of Pan-Africanism is the brave idea of uprooting yourself wherever you are in the diaspora and relocating to Africa. In growing numbers, African Americans have been moving to Ghana since 2019. This is due to a campaign that was launched by Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2018. Dubbed the Year of Return, many descendants of Africans in the diaspora embarked on a spiritual journey to Ghana. One key objective of the Year of Return is to make Ghana a desired travel destination for African Americans and the rest of the African diaspora. This is evident in the years since 2019 when Africans from across the diaspora travel to Ghana for Detty December. Detty December is a festive period at the end of each year when Accra comes to life with music, arts, culture, and entertainment. Celebrities and influencers from all over the globe travel to Ghana in December to attend festivals such as; Afro Nation, AfroFuture (formerly Afrochella), and Chicago born Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper’s, Black Star Line Festival. Now more than ever my yearning to plant my feet on African soil has consumed my thoughts and creative practice.
Given all that preludes the prose, I am sure you would guess that I chose to Describe a New Beginning; a new beginning that lands me in Ghana, West Africa.
I know that I have arrived at the genesis of Yaa because my feet are planted in the sand that birthed my ancestors. Shoulder-length locs adorned with cowrie shells blow in the wind of the land that was once called the Gold Coast. I am looking out at the Atlantic Ocean remembering a time before this soul existed. My love and I share a banana leaf filled with Waakye. We exchange affirmations of love in Twi; “me do wo,” “wo ho ye fe.” He looks at me with his deeply inserted bright eyes. I tell him for the 100th time how jealous I am of his eyelashes. He blushes and reminds me that he is grateful for my adoration. Later that evening we have dinner and go dancing at Front/Back. We do not stop dancing until the sun begins to rise. When I wake up the next afternoon I make my weekly trip to the Makola Market. It is a must that I see Adwoa; she has the most delightful waist beads. I need to replace the two that broke from this morning’s lovemaking.
Have you ever had sex in the African sun?