TEDx Accra 2021 – Day 1
Today, 6th March 2021 marks the first day of TEDx Accra 2021. The virtual event had speakers from both Africa and the Diaspora who believe that the African narrative is consistently misrepresented.
‘…The time has come for Africans to tell their own stories.’
TEDx Accra’s theme of “Forces That Unite” inspired by the famous 1963 “Africa Must Unite” speech, delivered by the first president of Ghana, and the father of modern-day Pan-Africanism, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
The basis of TEDx Accra originates from the three pillars derived from Dr. Kwame’s speech, namely: Rewind, Reflect, and Redefine.
Rewind represents reminiscing our past and acknowledging lessons derived and knowledge gained from the past, while Reflect is all about overlooking our past errors and getting to know what is needed to define our narrative.
On the other hand, Redefine is about telling our stories through our collective voices and in our own way.
The event was kicked off with a powerful and awakening poem from Lamer Kofi James, a writer, poet and activist. Lamer’s poem addressed the existing bad governance in Africa, the continued oppression of Africans by their governments, the lack of cooperation among African countries, and the lack of pride among Africans in who they are with their distinctive features.
Safo Akonnor was the first , he is “The Conversations in the Dark” podcast host. In his podcast, Safo leverages the power of conversation by providing a platform that gives all Africans a chance to open up about their harrowing experiences with matters such as mental illness and ethnic privilege in African societies.
Similar to his podcasts, on day one of the TEDx Accra, Safo addressed the issue of mental illness among Africans and how African societies expect men to deal with mental issues by themselves “like a man,” as most put it.
Other speakers include
Sally Osafo, a lover of deep and thoughtful conversations about existential crises and more with anybody interested also shared very insightful message.
Trying to compare what being an African girl sometimes feel like, Osafo compared the life of an African girl living in Africa to a piece of charcoal (bidie), where once the charcoal burns out to ashes after cooking, it is thrown away.
She addressed how it feels like in Africa where like charcoal, you wait to be used by someone else (politicians and businesses) and get nothing out of it except “drained energy and insignificance.”
The event also featured other Africans from far and wide, such as June Gachui, a phenomenal woman who is a lawyer, actress and musician, an entrepreneur, and the most recent radio host at Capital FM in Kenya.
The event wouldn’t be complete without something about love. And that is what June Gachui graced the occasion with, love. Gachui addressed the topic of love for one another using all the best words ever.
Roc Nation artist Vic Mensa, whose father is Ghanaian spoke about Reuniting the African Diaspora.
Joshua Andrews-Egyir the Founding Director, Dominion Capital shed light on’ Of Citizens, Country, and Re-imagining Ghana’s Tomorrow, Today.
Bernard Sokpe spoke about How can we Influence the Change
Like what most of the speakers in the event emphasized, the time has come for Africa to wake up. The TEDx Accra is a wake-up call to all Africans.
It’s time for all Africans to safeguard their future and the future of the coming African generations. And the best way to way to safeguard the future is through coming together and rewriting the stories about Africa and claiming our spot in this world.
Credit: TEDxAccra | CEEK
