Picture it: a civil rights leader wearing a striped linen shirt and a poet with a medium-size Afro, her dark shades protecting her eyes from the sun. The year is 1964, and the two people are Malcolm X and Maya Angelou; they’re in Accra, Ghana, meeting with local students and activists, as well as the African Americans who were living in Accra.
The goal of the visit was to discuss the persecution of black people living in America, and to figure out how to convince the heads of African nation-states to use the United Nations International Court of Justice to make a criminal charge against the United States concerning the racial violence that black Americans experienced under Jim Crow segregation. Referring to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, Malcolm X argued that “if South African racism is not a domestic issue, then American racism also is not a domestic issue.” His call to action was prompted by an internationalism that could bring newly independent countries to raise concerns about the structural racism perpetuated by the United States.
At the time, Angelou was an editor for the African Review and an instructor at the University of Ghana. Malcolm was on a voyage in the Middle East and Africa after having left the Nation of Islam, and he’d asked Angelou to join his new group, the Organization of African American Unity. They were joined there by other black Americans such as W.E.B. Du Bois and social worker Alice Windom. Their growing community of black Americans in Ghana was formative in sharpening a pan-Africanism among leftists and writers who wanted to witness what a newly independent black state looked like. Ultimately, very little happened, but Ghana—and other African nations—became a site for what historian Kevin Gaines calls “transnational citizenship,” the possibility for black Americans to realize their progressive politics outside of the United States.
For people who were the children and grandchildren of former slaves, imagining international solidarity was a way to reclaim a new type of freedom and to move through a wider world that offered escape from the terror that they witnessed in the United States. In practice, this meant that only a small section of the black elite were able to access this freedom. Under the invitation of President Kwame Nkrumah, Du Bois became a citizen of Ghana in 1961, mostly thanks to his stature as a formidable black intellectual, editor, and writer.
Since its independence from the British government in 1957, Ghana has built on this tradition. The Parliament voted for the 2001 “Right to Abode” law granting the descendants of enslaved Africans the right to settle in the country. It has also sought to encourage black Americans to deepen their political allegiance to the postcolonial state, as many of these black activists were drawn to Kwame Nkrumah’s aspiration to help black liberation on the African continent and beyond.
During a period of decolonization when African Americans were carving out their own liberation struggle, Ghana served as a laboratory for anti-colonial minds. As a self-identified socialist, Nkrumah called for global social restructuring, yet in practice he relied on a stalwart political system grounded on his absolute rule, often hardening economic divisions he wished to see disappear. When Nkrumah was overthrown by the military in 1966, the Pan-African socialist reverie that he had promoted was all but lost—leading to a series of militaristic and neoliberal regimes.
The modern manifestation of this idea is somewhat different: African diasporic “return” has been more concerned with producing festivals for the black global elite than with building solidarity and improving life for all black people. While travel can provide the space for people to connect, it forces one to think about the politics of movement during an age of massive inequality.
In 2019, Ghana declared “The Year of Return” and invited African diasporic people to travel to the country “welcoming them home.” Nana Akufo-Addo, the current president of Ghana, was a major architect of the campaign and envisioned it as an opportunity to make amends for the Africans that were enslaved and forced to migrate during the transatlantic slave trade. In theory, the “return” is meant to attract descendants of Africans who left the western coast for the New World. But it has evolved to extend to black people more broadly.
The campaign has also generated attention from Afro-Europeans who seek to connect more deeply with the continent. Kemi Fatoba, a Nigerian Austrian journalist, told me she decided to travel to Africa and specifically Ghana because “the Year of Return gave me an extra push.” She continued, “It was emotional in another way. I felt very connected to the other people I went on the tour with. I spent a lot of time with black Americans and lots of people from the diaspora.”
While the politics of “return” are complex, and have had a political history tied to people’s emotional journeys and cultural connections, there is a commercial incentive that shapes who can travel. For many descendants of African slaves who were forced to migrate to the Americas, there is little evidence that can point to the direct location or ethnic group that they originated from. As sociologist Alondra Nelson has noted in The Social Life of DNA, some African Americans have sought to foster links to their ancestral land through genetic testing. Although there are various ways to use this contemporary technology for grappling with historical trauma, some critics are dubious of these tests because of the ongoing mobility and heterogeneity of African ethnic groups and the reconfiguration of some of those groups long after the slave trade.
Nevertheless, “return” is being invoked by one country and for African Americans seeking reconciliation and wanting to establish deeper connections with the African continent, and Ghana has provided the political avenue for historical reckoning. At the same time, Ghana has generated $1.9 billion in tourism since announcing its Year of Return in 2019.
Some of the most well-known people who have traveled to Ghana during the Year of Return include model Naomi Campbell, hip hop entertainer Cardi B, and actress Rosario Dawson. This has been made possible through the global media strategy of the businesswoman and former Uber executive Bozoma Saint John, who was partially raised in Ghana, and a social media campaign that enlisted major publications such as Ebony magazine. The goal is to attract a black elite that will generate revenue for the country.
This is further facilitated by Ghana’s waiving visa requirements for select countries such as Jamaica, which waives a visa fee for Jamaicans—a predominantly black country that is mostly populated by the descendants of African slaves—to visit Ghana. Yet, with gross domestic product being $9,200 in Jamaica, it seems unlikely that most citizens can afford to travel to Ghana, because tickets range from $2,500 to $3,000, or approximately a third of a household’s salary. In this way, the gesture to waive the visa is symbolic for the affluent Jamaican citizens who can afford to travel to Ghana.
Prior to the current marketing campaign, according to the Ghana Tourism Authority, the number of tourists grew from 580,000 in 2007 to 980,000 in 2017. Tourism revenue increased accordingly, from $879 million to $1,800 million. The Year of Return honors the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Jamestown in British colonial America. In a stunning poem, Clint Smith evokes the historical injustice of displacement: “I drag my thumb from Ghana, to Jamaica & feel the weight of dysentery, make an anvil of my touch.” This sense of being caught between the Americans and the African continent is precisely the tension the “right of return” relies upon. The marketing campaign focused on attracting those who are descendants of the transatlantic slave trade has recently morphed into an economic opportunity for Ghana.
Ghanaian tourism is also part of the country’s international development strategy: The industry contributes nearly 6 percent of Ghana’s gross domestic product. At the same time, the initiative to spend more on tourism is encouraged under the guidance of the World Bank in areas of high leisure, ecotourism, and sites that are directly tied to the transatlantic slave trade, such as the Elmina slave lodging.
Neighboring countries are following suit. In January 2020, the Nigerian government launched a campaign entitled “Door of Return.” Some Ghanaians on Twitter responded by mocking their West African neighbor. One Twitter meme shows a medieval scribe at work with “Ghana” written across his chest, while another man, looking over his shoulder appears to be copying from the studious scribe.
While these marketing campaigns might provide a space to increase interest in traveling to the African continent, many of the venues and events aren’t even accessible to local residents. The strategy to attract the African diaspora to the continent include events ranging from Afrochella in Ghana to Afropunk in South Africa. But daily tickets cost $30 and $35, respectively—orders of magnitude more than what many black Africans can afford.
The current campaign for the year of return, then, can’t be confused with real solidarity within the African diaspora, as expansive, multilingual, and multiethnic as it is. What one gathers from this rich history of internationalism is a politics of solidarity, a politics of discovery, and a politics of memory.
In Ghana, the year 2020 is unofficially tagged “Beyond the Return.” But to truly get past the tourism industry’s marketing bromides, our definition of “return” must have deeper connections to the past: from slavery to Maya Angelou and Malcolm X’s endeavors to sowing the seeds of freedom for all black people—not just privileged ones.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
