Sat, 11 Jul 2009 Feature Article

The Obama Serenades VI

For Michelle and the Spirit of Joy

I have just
been wondering
had you not
been wrested,
callously,
from us,
where in Ghana
you might
have been
born…

and also
what name
you would have been
given by your parents
to proudly wear,
a name whose
virtuous import
you would have had
to live by
day-in
and out…

but I guess
having happily
returned and
laid claim
to every part
of this land,
you are simply
content being
Ghanaian
And
African…

and now,
I know
your soul
is at peace
and restful
with itself,
now that your feet
have trod
and caressed
a land
as warm
and full-figured
and pretty
and black
like you…

no need
to pine
and sulk
and wonder
which god
fated you such
a raw deal;
for it was
no raw deal
at all,
just a routine test
of your mettle
and a fulfillment
of prophecy:
“That which
the builders rejected
has become
the head
of the corner…”

today,
you shall be
restored
to your place
among our ranks;
today,
you shall also
be named Queen
and be shorn
of our
collective
shame –
no slave names
anymore,
no slave past
anymore,
save that which
banana peels
must recall
for the sake
of memory
and our
collective
rinse –

today,
you shall be sat
on a stool
made of oak
and sworn in
as Queen
of our clan,
then you shall
be led into
the stool-house
to embrace
your sacred past…

still,
I wonder
exactly where
in Ghana
you could have
been born,
with such
lambent wit
on so broad
a pair
of shoulders;
I can think
of none other
save my own
Aduana clan,
which makes
quite a bit
of sense,
when you stop
to think about
your first family's
love of dogs
and fiery
resolve
to fight
and win
and win bigger
than the souls
of your foes –

today,
you shall stitch
your own patch
to our collective
quilt, thrust deep
your moorings
to the very beginnings
of our race;
you shall be
delectably
overwhelmed
by what you
see and feel
deep down
your heart
and soul –

7/11/09

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr.

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD, taught Print Journalism at Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City, for more than 20 years. He is also a former Book Review Editor of The New York Amsterdam News.. More He holds Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude) in English, Communications and Africana Studies from The City College of New York of The City University of New York, where he was named a Ford Foundation Undergraduate Fellow and the first recipient of the John J. Reyne Artistic Achievement Award in English Poetry (Creative Writing) in 1988.

The author was part of the "socially revolutionary" team of undergraduate journalists at City College of New York (CCNY) of the City University of New York (CUNY), who won First-Prize certificates for Best Community Reporting from the Columbia University School of Journalism, for three consecutive years, from 1988 to 1990.

Born April 8, 1963, in Ghana; naturalized U.S. citizen; son of Kwame (an educator) and Dorothy (maiden name, Sintim) Okoampa-Ahoofe; children: Abena Aninwaa, Kwame III. Ethnicity: "African." Education: City College of the City University of New York, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1990; Temple University, M.A., 1993, Ph.D., 1998. Politics: Independent. Religion: "Christian—Ecumenist." Hobbies and other interests: Political philosophy.

CAREER: Ghana National Cultural Center, Kumasi, poet, 1979–84; Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, worked as instructor in English; Technical Career Institutes, New York, NY, instructor in English, 1991–94; Indiana State University, Terre Haute, instructor in history, 1994–95; Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY, member of English faculty. Participant in World Bank African "Brain-Gain" pilot project.

MEMBER: Modern Language Association of America, National Council of Teachers of English, African Studies Association, Community College Humanities Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Essay award, Nassau Review, 1999.Column: Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD

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The Obama Serenades VI

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