Akan Studies in Africa and the Diaspora

Akan Studies in Africa and the Diaspora

Author: Kwasi Konadu

Publisher:

Published: 2015-03-02

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9781558765863

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This is a collection of key essays about the Akan people, their history, and their culture. The Akans are an ethnic group from West Africa, predominately Ghana and Togo, of roughly 25 million people. From the twelfth century on, Akans created numerous states based largely on gold mining and the trading of cash crops. This brought wealth to many states such as Akwamu, which stretched all the way to modern Benin, and ultimately led to the rise of the best known Akan empire, the Empire of Ashanti. Throughout history, Akans were a highly educated group; notable Akan people in modern times include Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. This volume features a new array of primary sources that provide fresh and nuanced perspectives. This collection is the first of its kind.


The Akan People

The Akan People

Author: Kwasi Konadu

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 9781558765795

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The Akans are an ethnic group in West Africa, predominantly Ghana and Togo, of roughly 25 million people. From the twelfth century on, Akans created numerous states based largely on gold mining and trading of cash crops. This brought wealth to numerous Akan states, such as Akwamu, which stretched all the way to modern Benin, and ultimately led to the rise of the best known Akan empire, the Empire of Ashanti. Throughout history, Akans were a highly educated group; notable Akan people in modern times include Kwame Nkrumah and Kofi Annan. This volume features a new array of primary sources that provide fresh and nuanced perspectives. This collection is the first of its kind.


The Akan Diaspora in the Americas

The Akan Diaspora in the Americas

Author: Kwasi Konadu

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2010-05-12

Total Pages: 521

ISBN-13: 0199889279

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In his groundbreaking study of the Akan diaspora, Kwasi Konadu demonstrates how this cultural group originating in West Africa both engaged in and went beyond the familiar diasporic themes of maroonage, resistance, and freedom. Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Akan never formed a majority among other Africans in the Americas. But their leadership skills in war and political organization, efficacy in medicinal plant use and spiritual practice, and culture archived in the musical traditions, language, and patterns of African diasporic life far outweighed their sheer numbers. Konadu argues that a composite Akan culture calibrated between the Gold Coast and forest fringe made the contributions of the Akan diaspora possible. The book examines the Akan experience in Guyana, Jamaica, Antigua, Barbados, former Danish and Dutch colonies, and North America, and how those early experiences foreground the modern engagement and movement of diasporic Africans and Akan people between Ghana and North America. Locating the Akan variable in the African diasporic equation allows scholars and students of the Americas to better understand how the diasporic quilt came to be and is still evolving.


Revelation

Revelation

Author: Akanba

Publisher: Author House

Published: 2010-02-25

Total Pages: 534

ISBN-13: 1468578251

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The book is an attempt to explain the true origin of the AkAn race, their language and symbols in a format where many readers can learn about one of the richest treasures of the AfRiKan continent. The purpose of this book is to lay the basic framework of understanding and analysis the subject. It is hoped that because of this research a larger study of this culture, uniquely created by the AkAn race, will be initiated. Again, the book is intended to inform and educate; to provoke and to create a new reality in this cloudy world.


The Akan, Other Africans and the Sirius Star System

The Akan, Other Africans and the Sirius Star System

Author: Kwame Adapa

Publisher:

Published: 2020-01-27

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 9781952228018

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The Akan are an African indigenous group found primarily in the southern parts of Ghana, as well as in Cote d'Ivoire and in Togo. This book explores certain aspects of Akan language, culture and tradition that point to association with star beings from the Sirius star system. Akan language and culture offers clues and revelations that point to links with the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and of the Nile valley. Among these revelations, Kwame Adapa shows that names of Akan deities can be traced back to Egyptian and Mesopotamian deities who have links with the Sirius star system. Having grown up in Akan culture, it was a starting point for Kwame Adapa to do more research on the Akan and other African people. Among the revelations in this book are language and cultural connections between the Akan and other African groups as well as with human groups beyond Africa. Kwame Adapa tells an engaging story that implies that the Akan, the Bakwama, the Bambara, the Dogon and just about every African ethnic group is connected to the Sirius star system in one way or another. These connections can be found in their legends, their language and their culture.


The Akan Diaspora in the Americas

The Akan Diaspora in the Americas

Author: City University of New Kwasi Konadu Assistant Professor of History Center for Ethnic Studies

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2010-04-14

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 0199745382

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In his groundbreaking study of the Akan diaspora, Konadu demonstrates how this cultural group originating in West Africa both engaged in and went beyond the familiar diasporic themes of maroonage, resistance, and freedom. Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Akan never formed a majority among other Africans in the Americas. But their leadership skills in war and political organization, efficacy in medicinal plant use and spiritual practice, and culture archived in the musical traditions, language, and patterns of African diasporic life far outweighed their sheer numbers. Konadu argues that a composite Akan culture calibrated between the Gold Coast and forest fringe made the contributions of the Akan diaspora possible. The book examines the Akan experience in Guyana, Jamaica, Antigua, Barbados, former Danish and Dutch colonies, and North America, and how those early experiences foreground the modern engagement and movement of diasporic Africans and Akan people between Ghana and North America. Locating the Akan variable in the African diasporic equation allows scholars and students of the Americas to better understand how the diasporic quilt came to be and is still evolving.