ULFC Int’l Leadership Experience

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Our walk led us to the chief’s palace, where the king and queen mother greeted us. The tance of community support and collective responsibility. With this, the tribe leaders installed Ross as Chief of Development for a brighter future. considered a crucial rite of passage in Ghanaian culture, was like a scene from the movie Ali, where village members chant as Will Smith (who portrays Ali) walks and is received by the people. king poured libations, prayed over us and the community, and prayed for good and just to overcome evil and wrongdoing. Although we couldn’t understand every word because he prayed in the native languages of Twi and GA, we felt every word through his passion, commitment, and intention. It was like we knew every word when he translated after he finished.

By forging international alliances, ULFC enhances its capacity to drive sustainable change and leverages collective resources to address systemic challenges. These partnerships also offer fellows invaluable networking opportunities, connecting them to explore and connect with the roots of our heritage.

Our bus took us about an hour outside of Accra to Korleman, the village of the GA tribe. As the bus turned, we heard thunderous yelling and drums. When we pulled up, men, women, and children were everywhere! We unloaded the bus and were embraced, cheered for, and welcomed. We walked behind drummers, dozens of people, and the chief village warrior, who donned a ceremonial helmet. Everyone was dancing, recording, taking selfies, and shouting welcoming expressions.

The naming ceremony began with us receiving and subsequently being changed into our ceremonial clothing; beautiful head wraps, stunning handmade sandals, traditional skirts, and robes. We were then brought into the main room of the village palace, where we were once again met by the king and queen mother and asked to sit on beautiful stools with prominent Adinkra symbols carved into them. It was time to begin, the emcee yelled in Twi, “It’s time to receive the chief.” Everyone immediately got quiet and then entered Chief Nii Beetei with a chief of a neighboring tribe. While this wasn’t the entrance that many of us have grown accustomed to from watching “Coming to America,” it was full of pride, respect, admiration and love.

“To be clear, I knew we would be receiving African names, but I had no idea the celebration would include student presentations through song, reciting history, and attendance of members of the royal court and village elders. Nothing about my previous conversations informed me that the event would be a standing room only on the inside and practically a block party on the outside,” exclaimed Ross.

“I speak for every fellow when I say we were humbled, believed we were in the middle of a miracle-filled moment, and were utterly speechless. We walked in as Dr. Ryan Ross, Wafa Saeed, Ahmad Lowe, Danielle Johnson, Betty Hart, Brandon Bruce, Hanifah Chiku, Jeffrey Kass, Towanna Henderson, Antoinette Kyle, Ikra Mohammed, Nicole Jones, and Brittany Winkfield of the United States by way of Colorado. We left with Ghanaian names and official status as members of the GA tribe in Ghana who live in Colorado. I am so thrilled about this relationship and excited to see all that comes because of it.” about slavery, sometimes learning about it in schools, and fighting for equity, our group would be ready to come face-toface with the atrocities of our ancestors – we were not.

Silent tears rolled down our faces, and shared glances spoke volumes. The dungeons were indeed dungeons; perhaps worse than you can imagine. The floors were not smooth floors that felt good beneath your feet. They were fossilized layers of blood, sweat, tears, bones and vomit from our ancestors. The air was thick with death, psychosis, crime and hypocrisy.

We walked the rooms where coercive power was used to rape women, kidnap humans and brainwash children against their own people. We sat in the dark and cold dungeons where the light was not welcome, and food was a suggestion; in other words, we sat in a room designed for murder. We walked through chapels where the gospels were preached, and prayers were sent to God; but underneath the pulpit, our ancestors were tortured, starved, stripped of identity and held against their will.

“I have never felt so loved, welcomed, wanted, or seen in my life!” expressed Dr. Ryan Ross, ULFC President and CEO.

Within the Korleman community is a sense of collaboration. This communal gathering signified the group’s integration into the larger social fabric, emphasizing the impor-

The heavenly experience of community, joy and connection quickly became a state of complexity, anxiety, deep sadness, and honestly, anger the next day as our delegation toured the Elmina and Cape Coast enslavement castles. One would think after years of hearing

Captured Africans were terrorized for at least 90 days until they were barely alive. Then, they marched through the Door of No Return to the slave ships, where they were laid side by side like animals in horrific conditions and shipped to the new world, never to see Africa again.

It was a tough day, but we took strength in realizing that we are the descendants of resilient people who refused to die. Their refusal to die meant we all could come home through the Door of Return (renamed for those returning home).

The next leg of our journey took us East to the cradle of civilization, better known as Egypt.

Famous for its ancient civilization, Egypt is home to one of the wonders of the world, and the monuments of the majestic pharaohs; most famous are the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx, the Egyptian Museum and the newly constructed Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM).

Riding camels, tipping for any service, and enjoying a dinner cruise down the Nile were amazing experiences, but seeing what is considered to be the origin story for so many was astonishing. The text, images and hieroglyphs on papyrus paper looked as if they were written yesterday. The engineering and ingenuity it took to build the pyramids and create these giant structures is unbelievable. The attention to detail, the excellent condition of artifacts, and the enormous amount of gold used truly showed the abundance of resources available in this area at one point in our existence.

Academicians and researchers have argued about the authentic ethnicity of Egyptians for years, however, it was as clear as a sky without clouds for us: Blacks, Africans, African Americans, and people of color were present in the beginning. We saw ourselves in every exhibit, statue, mummified remains, picture and display case. Whether it was facial features, hips, and thighs, or simply the swag, no one can tell the 13 leader-adventurers from Colorado that Black folks aren’t critical to the cradle of civilization.

There’s no argument for us. We, too, are a part of this his- tory, and we can’t let colonizers or those seeking to control the narrative discount or erase our existence or claim that we weren’t there. After all, isn’t it Africa?

From the Perspective of Our Fellows

There was so much to see, feel, and experience. One account doesn’t give this experience the justice it deserves. The following are some highlights and key takeaways from ILE Fellows:

“For me, this was a manifestation of a longtime goal of placing my footprint on the soil of my ancestors. It affirmed how necessary it is for those of us, the descendants of ‘the stolen ones,’ to make this journey. The emotions felt from being in Ghana and seeing the slave dungeons where our ancestral journeys began were powerful. I’m thankful to have shared with this group.”

- Hanifah Chiku

“I will always remember the warm welcome that we received in Ghana! Starting from our arrival at the airport with Chief Nii Mantse Beetei and the elders of the Korleman community. We were immediately immersed in the Ghanaian culture with drumming, dancing, and prayer and it continued with the community ritual for our naming ceremony. Seeing all of the people greeting us with so much joy made me feel like a valued member of the community and that I was home. This experience motivates me to learn about my roots, and I am honored to be able to support the Korleman community by building a library for the children.”

-Towanna Henderson

A phenomenal experience that mere words can’t honestly describe. We encourage you to see for yourself; it is time to return home..

Editor’s note: For information on the next ILE experience, reach out to ryan.ross@ulfcolorado.org or wafa.saeed@ulfcolorado.org.

There are moments that mark chapters in our lives, like a climber halfway to the summit, who stops at a lookout to see where we’ve come, and where we still have to go, who we have been and who we still aspire to be. The last time a new mayor took this oath 12 years ago, we could never have imagined the path that waited ahead.

Some of us watched our mothers take their final breaths from the other side of a glass window, unable to hold their hands because the pandemic that was taking them, might take all of us.

Some of us saw a cousin stumble slowly into addiction, and now has lost his home, his job, his family, and we shudder to wonder where he’s sleeping or what he’s doing to survive.

Some of us have waited, heart racing too fast to breathe, for a text back from your son who is inside a school with an active shooter; just please God, text me that you’re ok.

We have given the last hug to a neighbor, with her entire life packed into the back seat, as she drives out of Denver for the last time because no matter how many hours she worked, she couldn’t afford to live in the neighborhood where she grew up.

And even as we faced these struggles one day at a time, the very ground beneath us shifted as we climbed, a country founded on the belief that good people can come together to solve hard problems saw our public discussion go from productive to combative, from optimistic to antagonistic, from hopeful to heartbroken. And those trials were tinder for the fires of division, where every unsolved problem fueled a story that these problems are unsolvable, or that we had to wait for someone else to solve them. Instead of turning to each other, we turned on each other instead of reaching out a hand, we pointed a finger.

But today’s question is not how we found ourselves here, but how we find our way out of here.

At our worst we get caught in the cycle of American hurt we face a hard challenge, we blame others, we sow division rather than building coalitions, we don’t take strong action, we fail, the problem gets worse, the hurt gets harder, the blame gets louder, the bonds of democracy get weaker, the dreams get smaller.

At our best we build a cycle of American hope: we set ambitious dreams, we bring together broad coalitions, we take courageous action, we deliver steady small successes, that each day build our trust in our neighbors, and build our faith in our ability to achieve big dreams. If we can integrate one bus line in Birmingham, then maybe we can integrate buses and schools and businesses for an entire country. If we can open up the franchise for women in one state, then maybe we can do it in all 50. If we can send a rocket into space, then maybe, just maybe we can send a man to the moon. With each small success our bonds grow tighter, our progress grows steadier, our belief grows stronger, and our dreams grow larger.