Below is an archive of the Africa ProActive blog posts.

Featured
Music and Activism in Ghana (Wanlov the Kubolor and Kwame Write)
Artivists, Civil Society/Activism, Commentary, Religion
Girish Daswani
Music and Activism in Ghana (Wanlov the Kubolor and Kwame Write)
Artivists, Civil Society/Activism, Commentary, Religion
Girish Daswani

The second instalment of a one-day conference in Accra, Ghana, co-organized by Girish Daswani (UofT) and Joseph Oduro-Frimpong (Ashesi University).

The panelists for this conversation on art and activism in Ghana are musician and film director Wanlov the Kubolor and spoken word artist Kwame Write.

Artivists, Civil Society/Activism, Commentary, Religion
Girish Daswani
On the State of Popular Art (Media) and Research in Ghana
Artivists, Ghana, Panel, Commentary
Girish Daswani
On the State of Popular Art (Media) and Research in Ghana
Artivists, Ghana, Panel, Commentary
Girish Daswani

The first instalment of a one-day conference in Accra, Ghana, co-organized by Girish Daswani (UofT) and Joseph Oduro-Frimpong (Ashesi University). Conference panelists for this conversation on popular art and research in Ghana include Kobina Graham, Elizabeth Johnson (Chair), Joseph Oduro-Frimpong, Kwabena Opoku-Agyeman.

Artivists, Ghana, Panel, Commentary
Girish Daswani
Booing is Caring: Mutombo Da Poet on the Global Citizen Festival and Ghana
Artivists, Civil Society/Activism, Commentary, Ghana
Girish Daswani
Booing is Caring: Mutombo Da Poet on the Global Citizen Festival and Ghana
Artivists, Civil Society/Activism, Commentary, Ghana
Girish Daswani

When does booing the President become about caring (about the country)? Spoken word artist and activist Mutombo Da Poet speaks about politics and activism in Ghana, the Global Citizen Festival, and why he spontaneously decided to boo the President. We are joined by satirical cartoonist and activist Bright Ackwerh who premiers his caricature of the booing event and adds his thoughts on activism, Ghanaian politics, and the government’s lack of commitment to climate change.

Artivists, Civil Society/Activism, Commentary, Ghana
Girish Daswani
Vaginas and Penises: Why Ghana Is Not Having the Right Conversations About Them
Civil Society/Activism, Commentary, Ghana
Golda Naa Adaku Addo
Vaginas and Penises: Why Ghana Is Not Having the Right Conversations About Them
Civil Society/Activism, Commentary, Ghana
Golda Naa Adaku Addo

An opinion piece by Golda Naa Adaku Addo on the LGBTQI+ controversy in Ghana.

Civil Society/Activism, Commentary, Ghana
Golda Naa Adaku Addo
Ghana’s Crackdown on LGBTQ+ has a (Neo)Colonial and Christian Face
Ghana, LGBTQ+, Religion
Girish Daswani
Ghana’s Crackdown on LGBTQ+ has a (Neo)Colonial and Christian Face
Ghana, LGBTQ+, Religion
Girish Daswani

On May 20, 2021, 21 activists and paralegals were arrested while holding a training seminar for human rights advocacy in Ho, southeastern Ghana. This series of events involving journalists, police, judges and government officials, speaks of the ongoing oppression of the LGBTQ+ community in Ghana. What has any of this got to do with colonialism and evangelical Christianity? Well, a lot actually.

Image Source: @LGBTRightsGhana

Ghana, LGBTQ+, Religion
Girish Daswani
“Rules are Rules”: Discrimination and Calls For a More Inclusive Senior High School Education in Ghana
Ghana
Nii Kotei Nikoi
“Rules are Rules”: Discrimination and Calls For a More Inclusive Senior High School Education in Ghana
Ghana
Nii Kotei Nikoi

On March 19, 2021, Ras Aswad Nkrabea, a father of a young Rastafarian boy admitted to the Achimota Senior High School, posted to Facebook that his son, Oheneba Kwaku Nkrabea, and another teenage boy, Tyron Iras Marhguy, had been denied enrollment because of their locks. The issue caught national attention, and heated debates ensued about the school’s right to enforce its rules and the student’s unfettered rights to access education as well as practice their religion and manifest its expression. Nii Kotei Nikoi explores how the broader import of this recent episode of discrimination reveals the systemic problem of inclusive education in Ghana.

Ghana
Nii Kotei Nikoi
Is COVID-19 Exacerbating Inequality in Ghana? An Interrogation of the Evidence
Ghana, Health
Siapha Kamara
Is COVID-19 Exacerbating Inequality in Ghana? An Interrogation of the Evidence
Ghana, Health
Siapha Kamara

In this post, I will show that the Government of Ghana (GOG) has not adequately used the COVID-19 Alleviation Programme (CAP, relief for the urban poor, utility bill payment and economic stimulus) to cushion vulnerable groups (VG) to mitigate declining standards of living[1].

Ghana, Health
Siapha Kamara
Queer Feminist Organizing in Ghana and Beyond: A Special Panel
Ghana, Panel, Religion
Girish Daswani
Queer Feminist Organizing in Ghana and Beyond: A Special Panel
Ghana, Panel, Religion
Girish Daswani

Our special panel on queer feminist organizing in Ghana and beyond took place on April 6th 2021. This event was put together by Dr Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed and Dr Girish Daswani and featured Nana Yaa Agyepong, Fatima B. Derby, El-Farouk Khaki, and Zeeyyah Mudasir. It was made possible through the co-sponsorship of Silent Majority Ghana, Everyday Orientalism and Africa Proactive.

Ghana, Panel, Religion
Girish Daswani
Propagandizing a Pandemic: The narrative of “progress” in Ghana’s COVID19 response
Health, Ghana
Nii Kotei Nikoi
Propagandizing a Pandemic: The narrative of “progress” in Ghana’s COVID19 response
Health, Ghana
Nii Kotei Nikoi

It’s been almost a year since Ghana recorded its first COVID19 cases and the situation seems to have gotten worse. This post by Nii Kotei Nikoi examines the misleading narrative of progress that has become an effective public relations strategy employed by Ghana’s government in its handling of the COVID19 pandemic.

Health, Ghana
Nii Kotei Nikoi
Black, Brown and in Love: Interracial Relationships between Africa and India
Africa-India Relations, Ghana, Panel, Popular Culture, Cross-cultural relations
Girish Daswani
Black, Brown and in Love: Interracial Relationships between Africa and India
Africa-India Relations, Ghana, Panel, Popular Culture, Cross-cultural relations
Girish Daswani

This panel took place on March 12th, (10-11:30am EST / 3-4.30pm GMT). It featured David Amponsah, Tracy Mensah, Shobana Shankar, and Meera Venkatachalam, who spoke about the historical and contemporary, inter-racial and inter-cultural, relationships between Africans and Indians. This event was co-organised with Everyday Orientalism and chaired by Girish Daswani. Image by Bright Ackwerh @brightakwerh

Africa-India Relations, Ghana, Panel, Popular Culture, Cross-cultural relations
Girish Daswani