Goodkids MadCity Travels to Accra, Ghana for Chance the Rapper's & Vic Mensa's Black Star Festival

Teens from GoodKids MadCity, a prominent Chicago anti-violence group, returned January 10 from Ghana, where they attended Chance the Rapper's and Vic Mensa’s Black Star Line Festival. They were among the 50,000 attendees at the festival, founded in the spirit of diasporic Pan-Africanism, reinforcing the links between the global Black community and artists from Africa.

The weeklong festival included panel discussions with artists and intellectuals from around the world, fine art exhibitions and nightlife events. It concluded with a large-scale, finale concert featuring Erykah Badu, Dave Chappelle, T-Pain, Jeremih, M.anifest, and more, at Black Star Square in Accra, Ghana, on January 6.

While in Ghana, the 20 teens toured historical sites, including the home of W.E.B DuBois, and heard stories about African Freedom Fighters. They also retraced the steps of Africans forced into baths and then sent to Elmina Castle, which served as a depot for slavery. The teens also participated in the Kakum Hike, traversing 33 meters above sea level, and took part in a Ghanaian naming ceremony. Each teen received names based on their birthday and personality.

“Ghana was a life-changing experience for me,” said Jeremiah Trask, 16, of Bloom Township High School. “I heard about what our ancestors went through during slavery, but to actually see it made me feel hurt because no one should have had to be beaten and kept tied up in a dungeon and forced to work or do things that they did not want to do. What I enjoyed most about Ghana was receiving my Ghanaian name, which is Yaw Ababio.”

“Coming to Ghana has been an amazing experience for me,” said Tapha Sylla, 16, of Little Black Pearl. “Coming from Chicago, it was a shock to see the difference between my city and Accra, since this was my first time out of the country. The people of Accra have been very welcoming to everyone I came with and have let us know that we are home. I loved hearing about the culture and history while I got to tour the city. In addition to its beautiful culture, people, and history, the natural beauty of the country was breathtaking. All around, it was eye-opening, and I had a great time.”

“Visiting Ghana was very impactful and educational,” said Arseny Acosta, 17 of DeVry University Advantage Academy. “I feel like everybody shouldn’t have to come here to learn most of the stuff I learned, but at the same time, I am grateful I was able to experience this to pass it on to others.”

“My experience in Ghana was overall transformative,” said Damayanti Wallace, co-founder of GKMC. “It reinforces the community responses that we are working toward in Chicago. When we were able to connect with other people from home in Ghana, it made the experience that much more impactful due to the fight for justice in both places.”

The Black Star Line Festival was a “reunification of bonds broken by the transatlantic slave trade,” Chance and Mensa wrote in a letter on the festival website.

Its namesake was Marcus Garvey’s Black Star Line Shipping Company of a century ago, a Black-founded and operated business that sought to bring goods and people together between the U.S., the Caribbean and Africa; the Festival aimed to accomplish that goal by art and expression.

St. George's Castle in Elmina is a UNESCO Heritage Site. Built as a trading post by the Portugese in 1482, it was captured by the Dutch in 1637 and expanded when slaves replaced gold as the major object of commerce, according to the Ghana tourism website. The British imprisoned the Ashanti King Prempeh I there in the late 19th century. The stark beauty of the whitewashed castle contrasts with the dark, iron "Door of No Return" through which Africans passed on their way to slavery.

Photo by Camiella Williams

Jeremiah Trask, 16, a member of Good Kids Mad City, with Chicago rapper Vic Mensa, who organized the Black Star Festival with Chance the Rapper.

Photo by Camiella Williams

Jeremiah Trask meets a little girl in the seaside Accra suburb of Iture-Elmina, where the students had their Ghana naming ceremony.

Photo by Camiella Williams

Damayanti Wallace, co-founder of Good Kids Mad City, at the Black Star Festival with Chicago's Chance the Rapper, who organized the event with Vic Mensa. The GKMC Twitter feed notes that they appreciate the two rappers "for treating us like family."

Photo by Camiella Williams

-compiled by Suzanne Hanney, from email and online sources