Kimberly Reyes hasn't visited Ghana before, but she is about to design her dream home there. The mother of five says she does not feel safe in the United States. "Some of us are tired," asserts the mother. Follow-up: “Some of us just want to be in an environment, where we don’t have to look left and right, where we don’t need to worry about our children.” Now she prefers to focus on future plans, 6,000 miles away.
As the United States faces its history of racism, with an outbreak of anger again, over police killings, Ghanaian officials say they welcome black Americans, who want to stay away from the unrest.
The government has already negotiated with local residents to allocate plots of land close to urban centers for new arrivals, providing enough space for about 1,500 families. Survey fees and registration fees are waived for members of the African Diaspora.
And things started with a campaign called "The Year of Return", which attracted a record number of tourists to the West African country, last year, four centuries after the first slave ship arrived in Virginia. The campaign aims to turn visitors into residents, who have private land, and easier ways to obtain citizenship.
"We want to remind our relatives there (America) that there is a place they can escape to," said Akwasi Ajiman, chief executive of Ghana's Tourism Authority. "This is Africa," he added.
Continuous awareness
Mrs. Reese, who owns a public relations agency in Cincinnati, heard about the deal from her close friend and business partner in Ghana. Reese recalled that her work manager once told her that her natural hair was inappropriate for the workplace. "It is not like that in Ghana," she said. "You don't have to worry about being black."
In 2019, from January to September, the number of visitors increased by 237,000 - an increase of 45%, according to the Tourism Authority, most of whom came from the United States. This improvement came thanks to a program that will last 10 years, launched in June, to persuade people to keep their talents (and money) in Ghana.
Outreach has intensified since George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis police, sparking protests around the world, including the capital of Ghana, Accra. President Nana Akufo Addo sent a traditional fabric to the Floyd family, during his funeral, in Houston. The mourners held a special memorial to the American slain in Accra, and chanted some of his last words: "I cannot breathe."
"We continue to open our arms and invite all our brothers and sisters to return to the homeland," Ghanaian Tourism Minister Barbara Oteng Jayase said at a ceremony broadcast on television channels. "You don't have to stay where you don't want forever, and you can build a life in Ghana," she said.
Complete liberation
These calls continued for decades. After Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957, the country's first prime minister, Kwame Nkrumah, received US civil rights leaders. "He believed that Ghana's independence makes no sense, without the complete liberation of people of African descent, everywhere in the world," said Kevin Gaines, professor of civil rights and justice at the University of Virginia.
Pastor Martin Luther King Jr., one of the guests of the first Ghanaian Prime Minister, told his group that Nkrumah urged them to come and help build the new nation. A few Americans accepted this task then. Among them is Pauli Murray, a prominent activist and lawyer, enrolled in the Law School of Accra. "Ghana lacked career opportunities, and we need help in developing its legal and constitutional infrastructure," said one historian, who wrote a book about that period.
The movement stopped after the Benchroma coup in 1966 overthrew the dictatorship of most of the black continent. Today, about 3,000 Americans live in Ghana. Some say expatriates are wealthy strangers, in a country where 30% of the population lives on less than $ 3.20 a day.
The government of Ghana urged its citizens to stop considering Americans residing in Ghana foreigners, and renewed a previous marketing campaign with the slogan: "Brothers and Sisters." American businessmen and volunteers play other cultural and economic roles, and encourage investment in developing industries. American Maurice Chetham, who runs a tourism company in Accra, said the travel restrictions during the coronary pandemic had not been removed.
People are angry because of the fate of Floyd and others who have faced violent ends at the hands of law enforcement authorities; And the virus that kills disproportionate numbers of black Americans, and President Donald Trump, who republished a video in which a supportive scream appeared: "White Power!"
"In this political climate, people are really looking to get here (Ghana), as soon as possible," said Chatham. One of them, Kendra Parker, 42, spent last week arranging her home in Detroit to travel.
Parker fell in love with Accra, when she visited Ghana in 2018, and planned to return for two months this spring, to meet her fiancé, who grew up there. Then the epidemic hit everywhere around the world, and Ghana suspended international flights. Moreover, Parker did not feel that there was a problem: “I clean and clean my house, and throw everything I do not want far away.” Continuing: “As soon as the borders open, I will leave.”
Regular visits
Kendra Parker plans to marry and stay in Ghana in the long run, and I have long felt that racism is hindering her life. Yet she says, “Everyone says that Ghana has its problems too. Of course it is. However, this country is only 63 years old. How old is America? ” In a similar story, the American Khadija Poli (38 years old) chose to settle in Ghana, as one visit turned into a three-year visa and regular visits. Polly, who owns a popcorn in Houston, says the pineapple, in Ghana, is uniquely delicious, and that relaxing in this country “is rarely found in the United States.”
Return year
August 2019 marks the 400th anniversary of the slave’s arrival in the United States. Concurrently, Ghana launched the “Year of Return”, to re-consider all victims of the slave trade, across the Atlantic, who were scattered in North America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia .
The initiative aims to encourage the African diaspora to visit Ghana. The year of return was associated with the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Africans in Virginia, the United States. The initiative was launched before the events in America, which may have persuaded more Americans to think about their African origins.
Ghana was a major transit point for the transportation of slaves, so this country feels the responsibility of welcoming all those who can trace their origins to Africa. The government said the Year of Return had drawn attention to Ghana and had a positive impact on international media reports.
Ghana received a number of celebrities in 2019, including supermodel Naomi Campbell, actress Idris Alba, comedian Steve Harvey, and American rapper Cardy B.
Officials said the initiative was very impressive, as public relations and publicity for the country, and it was successful by all accounts.
Promising future
"At first, when I got there, I had no expectation," says Khadija Poli, continuing: "Then I felt something familiar, like my house, when there was a call to the place." Now, she is sure that this African country has a promising future, “Do I want to feel freedom, enthusiasm, and curiosity?” Adding, “I do not want to continue to feel frustrated, sad, and disrespected?”
Kimberly Reyes has made a similar decision to leave Ohio and looks forward to a new life, near Kumasi, the capital of the southern Ashanti region. "There are some wonderful homes in the area, and they make them attractive and very affordable," she explains. Having never gone to West Africa, the matter does not worry her. Reyes has booked her ticket to Accra, is currently studying a local accent, and is considering dual citizenship. "Ghana is a very peaceful country, and we want to experience that and reconnect with our ancestors, and to teach our children our true history," she says.
 € غانا The government of Ghana urged its citizens not to consider the Americans residing in Ghana as foreigners, and renewed a previous marketing campaign, whose slogan is: “Brothers and Sisters.”