The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

In honour of Africa Liberation Day which is today may 25, I want to post this poem to pay tribute to where my heart calls home - Africa. #tobeAfrican is to love Africa, and love our sweet motherland. Happy #AfricaDay It takes a village to raise a child It takes a male child to start a village It takes a female child to educate them all In Africa One man’s inactive car Is many other men’s community service Because you will need others When your own car breaks down in Africa It doesn’t fall into winter And then spring into summer People may be raining away But life and warmth never run dry in Africa Tangerine tree, football field, sugarcane seller Very different but similar Who needs Mapquest? In directing and navigating All landmarks are on deck, in Africa What if the peanut seller is sick with malaria? There are a hundred and one people Minding and carrying their own business on the streets Of Africa who would give you some help Cock-a-doodle-doo, hold up, kokrokoo… Meat that has been ...

I am posting this through Museke.com. From their Mother's Day post, here are some African Mothers' Day songs for you. Mama was sang by BrendaFassie , which remembers her mother, sang in the early 90's. She asks her to rest in peace and that she will always be in her heart and asks God to bless her soul. Given that Brenda passed away in 2004, I am sure her son, Bongani, will sing this for her too. The following song was suggested. Too late for Mama is by BrendaFassie . The song is very popular and was also sang by Alicia Keys at the opening kickoff concert at the Mzansi Mundial - World Cup held in South Africa in June 2010. Mama is by Nigeria's Bantu ft Ayuba. He thanks his Mama - "For all the efforts, For all the sweat, For all the comfort" and how her love is so unconditional. Asa also joins in the fun with So Beautiful from her debut album. She sings "Queen of my life you are so beautiful mama; You’re beautiful". Check out ...

Of course, there is vim in the subject so it made me VIM too. Culled from Museke.com "I spoke and the whole world felt it" . This is the first line on Blitz the Ambassador's Soul Rebel track. I've known Blitz as far back as the days when he was called Bazaar and was featuring on Deeba's hit "Deeba" rapping in English. When he featured on Obrafour's Who Born You by Mistake, I fell in love with his flow. And then he came to the US, and was reborn as Blitz the Ambassador. I remember when he would come perform in Boston while he was a student at Kent State in Ohio and I would go see him. I would be the only Ghanaian sometimes while he made white people nod their heads to his lyrics. I knew he was going to be special. He had to be. His music and messages were way too important for him not to be relevant. "Freedom is more than a rap song, you got the facts wrong. My rap is too heavy for backpackers to strap on" . We've seen many African art...

Earlier this year, the Ghanaian Ambassador to the US, His Excellency Daniel Ohene Agyekum, was at Stanford to meet members of this community. It was a 90-minute meeting organized by the Akwaaba (Ghanaian Students Association) here, spearheaded by Kwadwo Osei-Opare. I wasn't sure what to make of the meeting. I have never really encountered politicians or statesmen that close (from Ghana). Either way, let's get into what happened. I was given the honour of introducing the ambassador. I knew about him as a one-time Ashanti Regional minister during Rawlings' time. I grew up in Kumasi. After the intro, Mr. Agyekum gave a little speech to the audience. Half of us were Ghanaian students, others were Caucasian and Black American. As a historian, Mr. Agyekum saw it to talk about Ghana's history, the might of the Ashanti kingdom and how Ghana is really democratic. The Ghanaians in the room must have been wondering, "erm, we know this already". But it wasn't just Gha...

BarCamp Kumasi 2011 is a networking event to bring people together for a day of discussion, demos and dialogue about Kumasi, Ghana and beyond. It will consist of user-generated sessions and discussions. BarCamp Kumasi 2011 will take place on April 16, 2011 at Royal Lamerta Hotel in Kumasi, Ghana. The theme is “Developing a hub for regional integration”. BarCamp Kumasi ’11 is a FREE event for anyone who is interested in using their skills, talent, and resources to benefit Kumasi, Ghana and Africa as a whole. The BarCamp Ghana team has successfully organized six BarCamps in Ghana. Barcamp Ghana is a project being run by the GhanaThink Foundation, an NGO based both in Ghana and the USA. A BarCamp is a user-generated conference (or unconference). Barcamp Kumasi 2010 was organized at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on September 18, 2010 with the theme - ‘Collaboration: The key for opportunity and development’. It brought together about 80 residents with major discu...

I love Shirley Frimpong-Manso's movies and I think she made the Ghanaian movie industry better during her entry in 2008. She brought the movie-going experience back with her premieres and she's been awarded for her work. Perfect Picture will always be in the conversation for the best Ghanaian movie ever. She just released the trailer for her 7th movie - Adams Apple. Adams Apple makes you think of Eve, doesn't it? Well yeah, there are 4 Eves on adorned on the website of her new movie - . Is this another girl talk movie? We'll see. I was alerted to this movie when I saw a post about it on Miss T-i-i-i-i's blog - http://myafricanmoviereviews.blogspot.com/ . Apparently, Adams Apple is going to be a ten chapter cinema movie series. Yes, I will give Shirley and Sparrow a pass on the many parts. Because we know there will be 10 parts. You can't say the same for other Nollywood and Ghanaian movies. How Sparrow will keep the story and interest going is to be seen. ”Adams...

My favorite song from Nigeria this year finally has a music video! Oh, you don't know the song? It's simple, artistic and straight to the point. It is no short of vim. It makes you pay attention to the lyrics because you have to. The song sounds as good as the first time I heard it. How can't I fall in love with a song with lyrics like "The future is here, the future is here." You know the song now? It's called ' The Future' by Ty Bello . Nigerian youth, the future is here. Show you know this by voting this month. Invest yourself in the decision-making of Nigeria. Toyin Shokefun Bello made a huge splash on the Nigerian music scene in 2007 with her song Green land . "The land is green". It was patriotic and Nigerian. And then I heard Freedom , which I also loved. She's a celebrated photographer and award winning artiste. Creativity should be her middle name. So when Nigerian musicians started making inspirational songs in the run-up to the...