By Benjamin A. Commey
Amanokrom (E/R), Oct 23, GNA – Mr. David Goins, the Mayor of Alton, Illinois in the United States of America, has expressed his readiness to collaborate with the Chief and people of Amanokrom in the Akwapim North District of the Eastern Region to advance the mutual growth of the two communities.
Even though he did not give specifics as to the areas the potential partnership would focus, Mr. Goins stressed on the need for the two communities to strike a robust friendship first, which, he said, was critical in building a strong partnership.
“…most of all, I think the experience starts with friendship and as we go further into the relationship that’s how we can begin to talk about specifics of what we can possibly partner in and so that I don’t know.
“But, I am optimistic that this will come to a fruition and really begin to help us cultivate a great friendship, partnership and relationship,” he said.
Mr. Goins said this when he and his wife, Mrs Sheila Goins, together with their friends, paid a courtesy call on Nana Osim Kwatia II, the Chief of Amanokrom, at his palace in the Akwapim North District, in the Eastern Region on Tuesday.
The call formed part of the Mayor and his entourage’s 12 days visit to Ghana, as part of efforts to reconnect with their past.
It also formed part of the Black History Month, which is commemorated annually in February in the US, to enable African-Americans to reconnect with their past.
Mr. Goins described the visit as one of the “most rewarding experiences” of his life, which had enabled him to reconnect with his history, adding that it had also reaffirmed his connection to the African continent.
“It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life to go to the river, and stand in the river where our ancestors were canned before they were shipped out to the new world,” he said.
“I’m thankful that my ancestors survived the beatings, the ordeal, so that I can come back here and to experience what home is, not that I was born in Africa, but now I realise that Africa was born in me.”
Mr. Goins added that being the first African-American Mayor had “given me so much more appreciation for what my ancestors went through because I just go through a little of what they went through.”
He urged Africans in the diaspora to make it a priority to visit the continent, reconnect with their history to enable them to understand and appreciate their culture.
Nana Kwatia II welcomed the proposal, stressing that as a Chief, development of his community and the well-being of his subjects remained a top priority.
He emphasised his willingness and readiness to establish partnerships that would inure to the benefits of his subjects.
“Our doors are always opened for such partnerships,” Nana Kwatia II said.
Sharing her experiences with the Ghana News Agency, Mrs. Goins said the visit had been a “life-changing” one, describing it as an honour to reconnect with her past.
“It’s definitely been a very life-changing experience to be here, number one, to set foot on the same soil that our ancestors walked on and to become one with them,” she stressed.
She said as the first lady of the city of Alton, Illinois, one of the things she had been able to do was to establish a black history exhibit for the city of Alton, to enable them the Africans American know about their heritage.
“That means I set up a mini, like a little mini museum for the citizens of Alton as they come and go about and do their business at City Hall, that they will be surrounded by the beauty of Black history, national Black history, local Black history,” she said.
She encouraged African Americans in the diaspora to return to represent the ancestors that were unable to return.
Mr. Gregory Samuel Jefferson, one of the tourist, described it as a “very touching and emotional tour” due to the history of the places they, visited.
“From day one, this has been one of the most fantastic tours I’ve ever been in my life,” he said.
GNA
Edited by Christian Akorlie