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Being ourselves
At any particular moment we've heard these words in one way or the other. Although the world had right from the beginning never thought us to being ourselves fully, we're pretty sure we've learnt to closely try to get to that original self. Long ago when we first got the chance to add life to this planet, we never spoke fluently or wore that big cloth which keeps us from being ourselves. Imagine baby Kojo/ Kwaku or Adjoa never having these oration qualities or being that beauty queen or Mr handsome in those present big cloths. Yet we use this same voice to preach about being original. What takes me into a deep thougts are the times when we are required to concur to the idea of being ourselves and living happily with what we have. We are known to be very much interested in foreign goods/music etc. What we need to ask ourselves are do we also advance with what we have. i don't think any American wear ancient red Indian cloths or feathers in the name of being his/herself or preserving culture. yetthey still can be identified with their present lifestyles.what I'm putting across it's about time we also advance in our way of doing things in line with our culture. If it's about Kente clths, are they designed to fit modern stlyles of dressing? We need to love our culture as Ghanaians but as much as possible we should also think about making our own culture fascinating. Foreigners are always luring our people with their way of life because they keep advancing in how they used to live. It's good to speak in your accent but that can be a communication hinderance in a workplace. So strictly deciding to go by your ways can also pose numerous challenges to yourself. It's good to live as you did before but at the same time we should do that in line with reality.[/quote] I live in two worlds, one that identifies me as an African and the other that makes me a cultural deviant. But one thing I know is I'm the only person who understands how to perfectly live in these worlds.
shaker for real
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Yeah shaker, good points you
Yeah shaker, good points you raise. I think what makes our situation different from the American is that we're raised to dislike ourselves, whereas they are not. For example, while it is now obvious from hindsight that local language radio is really more effective than English language radio, because of the way we were raised the first thing that occurred to most people when the opportunity arose was to create an English language station (Radio Eye, Joy FM, etc). And then much later when we learn to like ourselves, we also drift towards the end of the spectrum where we want everything we do to be "original". But of course, you're right, in reality we have to mix and match as we go along. PeaceFM is my favorite example. As of last year on their morning show for example, they conducted interviews in English if necessary, (say the interviewee doesn't speak an Akan language) and the discussion goes on in a mixture of languages. If you tuned in to JoyFM's morning show, the range of expression was much more limited because there they didn't allow mixing and matching.
The challenge is reproducing this balance in all aspects of our lives...
Fascinating!
[quote=shaker255]If it's about Kente cloths, are they designed to fit modern stlyles of dressing? We need to love our culture as Ghanaians but as much as possible we should also think about making our own culture fascinating. Foreigners are always luring our people with their way of life because they keep advancing in how they used to live.[/quote]
Shaker, for real, that's some deep talk. :-)
I agree with the stance that we have to package and make our own culture fascinating. I think there is some activity on that front but the problem is who is pursuing the fascination and what those who are primed to pursue the fascination are actually doing.
For example, I always like to refer to real life events. I was at an African cultural show recently and a dance troupe performed a number of Ghanaian dances. I only knew of the existence of one of these dances and even though I really appreciated the performances, I was not quite knowledgeable about them. Most of the performers were not even people like us, they were others who had found interest in our culture and found it fascinating. So hats off to the guy who's been teaching those dances, he's Ghanaian, but I believe he and we need our own people to be more excited about our own culture to perpetrate this fascination.
Our culture is fascinating enough the way it is. Maybe we need to do some more work to get it as exciting or interesting like Chinese movies are, but there's not much to be done. We need the marketing channels to promote ourselves. I am afraid, we will have to target marketing ourselves to "ourselves" first. But being "ourselves", we would rather
be lured by things that are not us so we come right back to square one.
Prove me wrong, my people. :-)