Transcription
[Music] You know, as African people, I just, I just wish that, and this goes for us all in the diaspora, we need to love each other more, and we need to be happy for each other more. Send good vibrations to each other because if we do that, imagine, just imagine what we could look like globally, right? You know, we, you know, working together is very important to me, and that's the spirit I, I move in. Is, you know, I don't understand, and it just still hurts me to this day, I don't understand why we want to hurt each other on any kind of level, on any kind of level. I, I don't wish bad even on my enemy to have something them fail or something happen to them. I just move on. I just move out of that space. And so, I just want us to move more towards that, yeah. Wow.
[Music] My name is Queen Mother Nana Akosua Seia the First. Yes. I'm, um, a queen mother in a town on the other side of Abrew. And, uh, I was enstooled as a queen mother back in 2005. 2005? Yes. Wow. Yes. So you've been Ghana for a very long time? Well, I was traveling back and forth, and, uh, I decided to settle here in 2012. 2012? Wow. So tell me, why Ghana? Why did you choose to visit Ghana or maybe come to Ghana? Well, I'm a Pan-Africanist. I will start off by saying I was raised by a mother who always, always told us to make sure we knew where we came from. And she would always tell us that we're Africans, never forget that. And so that cultivated my ideas about Africa in a very positive way. I remember my mother saying, I don't remember the dream. She said, I was a little girl and I had a dream that I was living in Africa and I had a big house with a red door and a leopard as a, as a cat. Wow. As a pet. I don't remember the dream, but that's what my mother tells me. So it's just been in me. And I think it's, I just think it's our DNA. It's in our DNA, right? Um, you know, now they're saying that, well, they've been saying it for a while now, about the past 20 years or so, that water has memory. And, you know, our bodies are made up of so much percentage of water, right? And so DNA has memory. DNA has memory because when you have a child, why does the child come out looking like you, right? You know, because it has memory. Yes. And so, um, whether it was good or bad, we, we remember things in our subconscious, in a, in a state, in a plane that a lot of us probably can't tap into all the time. And so, I just, I've always had this fascination with Africa. I mean, I watched The Wiz, The Wizard of Oz. I would click my heels three times and home was Africa for me. I wish I was home. Wow. So I've always been drawn. My ancestors, I feel like, had a big part in bringing me back home. Yes. And so that's what, that's, that's a lot of us here. Well, you know, I, I basically tell people, or maybe the diasporas, that, uh, Africa is really a safe continent for you to come because, you know what, I always keep telling you, if you like watching my videos, you'll see that I keep telling you, pack your box and come to Ghana. Don't worry if you don't have a place to sleep. How would you get a place to sleep? So just pack your bag and come to Ghana. But let's, let's, let's talk about the experience in Ghana so far, you being in Ghana from 2005 and now 2024? Now, how does it? 2005. 2005. 2005 to current now. Um, when I first, when I first came here, it was with the invitation of a coworker who had retired and moved back home to Ghana. He was Ghanaian, and he kept saying, come, come, come see me. And so I came to see him. And, uh, I just, I said, this is it. You know, I had already traveled to Egypt and I loved Egypt, and I saw my people there, but not like here. So when you get on the plane, it's like, oh my God. You know, you don't, you understand how it's like for us in America where we, where we are the minority, right? And then you get on a plane and everybody is like, looking like you. And then you land, and it's just the same thing. It was just an amazing experience. Wow. And, um, it, you know, you asked me what it's been like, right? Is that was the question? So, uh, so yeah, it was just a wonderful experience. The changes I've seen. Ghana is so developed. It's developing. When I first got here, and I was thinking about relocating here in 2004, is when I first arrived, I cried because I couldn't find a bag of potato chips. I was addicted to potato chips, you know? So I was like, oh my God. So I have to really, I have to, it's just so many things you didn't have here. And so, and I know that's minute and like, like really minor, but it's just things, you know, if that was, if I was going to cry over potato chips, what else was it going to be? You know, what else can I get used to? And so, but on the other hand, the people, being home, the greenery, the freshness of the food, you know, back when I first came, I was a vegan. So that was another thing. I was like, you know, my, my, my king would say, oh, she only eats leaves. There was no, for vegan or vegetarianism. Yeah. So, um, but I loved it. And I just, when I first came, my only thought was, how was I going to financially, um, be ready to come back? And that's important because over the years, I've seen people come and go because they're not ready. And you have to be ready. You have to have a plan. So I strategically planned, um, how I was going to relocate and be successful. I didn't want to just relocate, just to relocate. Some people just want to be here and just enjoy. I just wanted to be successful, and I wanted to be successful so I can bring my family back, right? You know, I have my mom wants to come, my children want to come. So I just want to make this a pleasant place for them where they don't have to worry about finances. Yeah. More than 10 years now, at least you've been in Ghana. You friend Ghana, you friend Africa and so forth. You had an ambition of bringing some of your family members to, um, Ghana as well. So have you, per chance, brought any of them to Ghana? Yeah, my children have been here. My mother has been here. My daughter lived with me here for six months, uh, last year. Yeah. And she liked it. No, it wasn't last year. It was during COVID. And, um, she went back because she wanted to finish school, cuz she couldn't finish school while COVID was going on. But she plans on moving here, you know, settling down. She's into fashion and design. Oh, wow. So definitely, I think your boutique now, your daughter and at least we sell certain things and then we can sell it over. Yes, exactly. She, she has a, she has a line right now called Biscuits and Monsters, and it does pretty well. Wow. Uh-huh. Hers is unusually unique. She didn't take after her mother's African trend. Yeah. I raised them up wearing African clothes and all this. So, uh, she didn't, she, she's doing her own thing, and I appreciate that. You know, you know, sometimes it's obvious because, uh, Nana was also doing what I was also doing, just like we're having this conversation. At first, there was no podcast. She was doing a radio show and so forth. So now I am hosting this program, and she is my guest. So I'm interviewing her. So tell me about your, your radio show that you were doing way back. Yeah, it was called Finding Spirit, and it was on in Light Radio and Living in Black Radio on the internet. Yeah. I don't even keep up with them anymore. I don't know how they're doing because I'm just so busy just doing so many other things, right? Um, but my show concentrated on the African diaspora. It was started in 2005 after I was enstooled as a queen mother. And so we focused on the African diaspora. We talked about culture, uh, businesses, uh, people starting businesses in Africa. I didn't just focus on Ghana, I focused on the continent, right? The diaspora, the Caribbean, South and Central America. I had guests on from, I connected our culture, the culture here in Ghana to our culture in the Americas. A lot of people say we don't have culture there, but it's not true. We held on to a lot of things. And, uh, a matter of fact, our culture, African culture, is the fabric, is woven into the fabric of American culture, but it's just been deemed as American culture now. Like, uh, I found out a couple of things in, in researching, uh, my grandmother and her generation and her generation before, they all carried rabbit's feet for good luck on a keychain or whatever. And I said, you know what? I want to do that. I want to bring that. That was part of our tradition in America. I want to bring it back. And so, in doing the research, I found out that it came from African enslaved Africans. Yeah, because when they were planning on, um, running from the plantation or escaping, they would get the foot of a fast animal and hold on to it to make them run fast. And I'm like, wow. So that made me want to get it even more. And so, and then there's another tradition. We do mostly in the South, cuz I said I wanted to do that in a tree here, but you'll see a tree with these beautiful glass bottles hanging from it, and it'll be different colors. We do that a lot in the South. And I said, when I get my house here, I'm going to have a tree and I'm going to put the bottles. But I didn't know what it was about. But do you have any idea why this folk art tradition can be traced back to the 9th century and the Congo people, but it migrated to the United States in the 17th century with the African slave trade? Legends say that blue bottles have healing powers, and others say that evil spirits that are surrounding your home will find their way into the bottles and become trapped. And so when I looked it up, found out it came from the Congo, and it's to, you put it by your house to catch bad negative spirits in the bottle so it won't enter your house. And I'm like, wow. So, you know, a lot of things we kept, we kept going, but we didn't know where it came from. And it's just been, it's part of American culture now because all races do it now in certain areas, but we just didn't know it was African. Even Mama, you know, everybody in America says Mama. They don't, they don't say mother. Mama's African. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I, I can see your program or maybe your show that you've been doing on radio, it's kind of, um, linking up with mine that I'm doing. So I just want to, um, ask you this very question on your journey doing this kind of video programming, so forth, at least you might have had these difficulties and so forth. People might have been saying negative things about you. How did it have impacts on you, and how were you able to control those kind of things? Ah, now see, I wasn't ready. I see, you, you got me. I wasn't. I talked about that before we went on air, but we can talk about that. You know, for me, I'm a very sensitive soul, but I've learned how to toughen up. Um, you know, um, it's hurtful. It was very hurtful for me. It was devastating because at one point, I, you know, I started a nonprofit also in 2005 after I was enstooled as a queen mother. And so we were doing things in Ghana, we were doing humanitarian work in Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in Haiti after the earthquake, 2010 earthquake. So somebody accused me of taking money or something like that. And, uh, so I had to go to our Council of Elders in Los Angeles, and I was ruled in my favor, but it was very hurtful because at the time, it could have taken my job that I was working on, I was working as, and just, it hurts your reputation. And, you know, as African people, I just, I just wish that, and this goes for us all in the diaspora, we need to love each other more, and we need to be happy for each other more. Send good vibrations to each other because if we do that, imagine, just imagine what we could look like globally, right? Right. You know, we, you know, working together is very important to me, and that's the spirit I, I move in. Is, you know, I don't understand, and it just still hurts me to this day, I don't understand why we want to hurt each other on any kind of level, on any kind of level. I, I don't wish bad even on my enemy to have something them fail or something happen to them. I just move on. I just move out of that space. And so, I just want us to move more towards that, yeah. Wow. So how were you, per chance, able to bridge the gap between the African culture and also the Western culture as well, since you said you were, um, into this Pan-Africanism stuff and so forth, just like me? How were you able to bridge those gaps to, to deal with the other side? I just became very African, and they just had to accept, accept that, you know, I was a police officer, Los Angeles Police Department. A lot of people don't like us. Just, just like my dad. I, um, really, yeah, my dad was in police service, just retired. Yes. This year? Yes. So I decided at one point that I just wanted to be me. So I was the first person to get locks on the job, do my hair natural. I didn't want to put any more chemicals. I never did the chemicals, but I would do the press and curl, right? I didn't want to do that anymore. I changed my name legally in 2002 to Nia Inzinga Elteaset Sankofa Ra, which is on my, on my all my documents here. Yeah. Um, and I wanted to bring more of the African culture to people that just knew me, you know, from other cultures and other backgrounds. Because in America, you know, uh, they took our names away from us. And then when our African brothers and sisters come, they don't want to use their names because they feel like it's too difficult for people to pronounce. So they're George, Patrick, you know, whatever, you know? Yes. And so, and I said, it's a shame because, uh, especially in California, America is a melting pot of all these different cultures. And we know how to say Rodriguez and all these other names, but our names just kind of get faded away in the background. And I believe that names are power, and we infuse and energize our ancestors when we call ourselves by our names. And so I wanted to do that. And, um, at one point, I had a, I worked with the City Attorney's office closely as an investigator. And in one of the, uh, City Attorney supervisors, he would make fun of my name when I changed it. He would always go, and I'm like, so one day we were in a meeting, and he was talking about how, how he has this photographic memory and he never forgets a thing. And so I said, well, I find that very amusing because you can't even remember my name. It's Nianda, not Niaha. And he turned red. He's a white gentleman, and he turned red. And everybody was looking at me like, I dare you say that to him. And my supervisor, he's a, he was a Russian guy, he started laughing. He thought it was the funniest thing. And he, you know, at when we left, he was like, good job, Nia. So, you know, our names are not funny. Our culture is not funny, right? You know, and so we, we have to be proud of it, and we have to make our ancestors proud. Everything we do, we need to think about that. What would our ancestors think? That's what I do, and that's how I walk on this planet. Well, let's talk about your citizenship thing. Um, how is the experience, and how were you able to, um, apply for citizenship to become a Ghanaian? Okay, so I applied. We have, we have different community leaders in, uh, throughout Ghana that you, you can go to to put your name on the list. And so I went to our community leader here, uh, I call him my community leader, I don't know if he calls himself that, but, uh, uh, Brother Nana Rabbi Cohane. And so he put me on a list. And it just so happens, uh, four days before they were talking about during the interviews, I was departing to go to America. I was going there to assist my mother to return to come to move to Ghana, okay? And, um, so my name popped up four times for an interview. I had already did the police background check, and I didn't think I was going to get it. And I literally started crying. I didn't know it was that important to me. And my husband says to me, why are you crying? I said, because I'm not going to get my citizenship because I'm here in this place that I don't want to be in, you know? So, um, so it turns out, I talked to a rabbi, and I said, listen, I come back on the 8th of November, and it was past the point of interviews and whatnot. He said, I'll work it out for you. So, um, he got me an appointment for when we got off the airplane. At that, we got, we landed around 7 a.m. I went over to the, uh, Ministry of Interior, and, um, they had a strike. And I was panicking again. I'm like, what, a strike? So the security guard says, let me go inside and see if there's anyone here that can help you. And sure enough, two of the people I needed were there. They were cleaning up their office or something. So I got my interview and my biometrics done, and I'm like, the happiest woman in the world right now. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. You made me of your husband. Um, is your husband a Ghanaian or maybe an American? Oh, my husband is Ghanaian. Wow. Uh-huh. So kind of America? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So tell me about the story, how did you meet him? How did I meet him? So, uh, you know, I do tours. We, um, have licensed it, but back then, you know, we were just coming, but it's called Manam Musa Tours. Manam? Yeah. Manam Musa Tours. Okay. Um, but at the time, I was just doing a group of friends, you know, people from the states. And I was on the tour over at, uh, Elmina Castle. No longer with us anymore. I'm sad about that. And he was doing a tour, cuz he was a tour guide as well, okay? And, um, he was staring at me. No, no, no. That before he was staring at me. I was, I just, I stayed inside of the house with, uh, in One Africa, and I was leaving at my door, and he was standing there. And I was like, may I help you? And he was looking for somebody that was on his tour. And I'm like, no, they're not here. So I went out, took my shower, came back, and he was there again. And I thought he was stalking me. I was like, getting scared. And he said, oh, I just wanted to know, he had one of the people on his group with him. She was a sister from Jamaica, and she was smiling. And he said, I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to a party. I'm like, a party? No, I don't want to go to a party. So, um, I saw him the next day at the hotel, uh, in his group. And I asked them, were they doing anything cultural? Yeah. And because we were having something in my village, in my community, as my chief likes to call it, our community. And, uh, thought I should say King. My king, he also likes to be called King, and he's rightfully so. I can tell you that in a little bit. But, so I invited them. I gave them my number and invited them to come out. And we just kind of kept in touch with each other. And, um, I don't know if I should say this, you know, I'm saying. So I just enjoyed his conversation. You know, I've been traveling throughout Africa for many years, Caribbean, everything. And I, I'm not, it's just men kind of gravitate to me sometimes, you know, and it's all good. Um, but, um, so, but most of the time, I just dismissed them, you know, because I, I wasn't ready. Yeah. I said, when I move to Ghana, that's when I want to be ready to get into a relationship again. And so, um, we talked every day. We talked about Pan-Africanism, um, African spirituality, history, and so, uh, African history. And so it was an enjoyable conversation, you know? And so one day, he sent me this picture of him with no shirt on, and he's got a nice little shape going on. And I'm like, ah. I called him and I said, uh, why did you send me this picture? Cuz, you know, I'm thinking we're just friends. You know, I didn't know he was liking me. And he said, oh, because I like you. I, you know. And I'm like, oh. And I got off the phone and I blocked him. I blocked it. And I was just like, ah, I, you know. And so after a week goes by, I'm like, I really miss these conversations. And so I called him back. And he was like, I'm so happy you called me back. And that was it. And so, um, it just so happened, someone knew him. He was doing, uh, at the time, he was making videos for different entertainers and whatnot, yeah. So someone knew him and said, I know this guy, he's pretty nice, he's a good guy. And it was an African-American guy. He said, yeah, he said, I've never seen him chase women or anything like that. I think you're okay. And I was like, I don't know. But, um, so I gave him a chance. And, you know, it's kind of scary for us as Americans, I, um, because you hear so many horror stories, right? Oh, he just wants your money. Oh, if you marry him and take him to America, he's going to leave you at the airport. No. I have a girlfriend that had a story like that. She said that her, her friend in Ghana married a Ghanaian man, and the moment, he kept asking her about citizenship, and she said, the moment that she brought him to America, he disappeared at the airport, and she never saw him again. I mean, could you imagine receiving those kind of stories all the time? Yeah. So it's got a negative impact in your. Yes. And then that 90 Day Fiancé visa, whatever show came out, and people were calling me, did you see? Did you see, girl? Did you see? And so I love my, my sisters, I do. But I tell anyone, if they're going to get into a relationship with not just a Ghanaian, but anyone that's foreign, for me, you know, I told you earlier, I'm in the African spirituality. I don't know if I messed up my life. Yeah. So I did, I did a reading. I did a reading on him, and I just wanted to see, and it just came out with an amazing, an amazing future for us. And I was like, okay, I'm going to go with that. Yeah. And I'm not going to listen or hear anything else because if you want to give a relationship a chance, that's what you have to do. Yeah. Wow. And so I literally cut off some of my friends. I love them. I love you, sisters, but I had to cut you off because the negativity, yeah, really impacts your soul, right? And you'll start finding yourself in arguments about things because of something that you think is happening. It's just like, the mind is an incredible thing. So I had to totally, um, get rid of that negative energy because that's what it is. I had to get rid of it, and I had to live in the moment. And I said to myself, if, if he comes to America with me and runs, oh well, you know, I hope I prayed for him, and I hope he does well. Yeah. I hope he does well. Well, that's true. But eight years later, we're still together. Wow. Eight years? Yeah. We're still together, and I love him. And he loves you too? I think he loves you too. I've never, uh, that chance. But I think he also loves you, and he's been very instrumental at everything in my goals and dreams in Ghana here. He's helped me so much. Wow. Uh-huh. Well, so at least you being in Ghana and also America, you know, no country is perfect. Let me put it that way. There might be negatives or maybe ups and downs in every country. You being in Ghana, what are the challenges have you faced? How did you also overcome all those challenges? Well, you know, um, I have an over 2,000 book library where I thought I had really on the African diaspora and culture and everything, and I thought I really prepared myself, but nothing prepares yourself like traveling to that place. So that was one of the things I did. And even though I, I read everything I can read, I read everything on the internet, books, talk to people, interview, even all my interviews were preparing me for this moment, you know, and it still doesn't prepare you because I still kind of made some errors in some things. One being land. Well, there's no perfection. So I, I am now the proud owner of five acres of land. Wow. Um, an acre in Abrew, oh, in my village, um, and, uh, an acre, four acres in Dutch Kenda, wow, on right on the beach. Yeah. But it was challenging. It was challenging. And then I have a plot my chief gave me. He gave me a couple of plots, so that wasn't a problem. But I didn't want to live exactly in my village, so I picked a village behind it, which is still in the mountains, you can still have a view of Accra. Um, but I had problems with that land. And then, uh, I had problems with the land on the beach. I bought that land in 2021, and I'm just now building my house. I started building my house in April because I was having problems with it. And there are horror stories out there, and I want to tell my people that, you know, sometimes, well, I'll tell you my story. Um, the land on the beach, I belong to an organization in the US called African Focus. And what we do is we, uh, we, it's kind of like an instrument or an adoption of descendants of the slave trade into African families. And so every year, we have a chief that presides over it in a different African country. So one year, um, we had a chief out of Florida that was Ghanaian, and he kept telling me, Nana, you want some beachfront land? Come get it. And so I was responsible for him. Anytime royals came in, I was responsible for them, making sure they ate, taking them, took them around the restaurants, things like that, the hotel was set. So I trusted him, and I kind of went into it blindly. I did. And I knew better. That was the bad part about me that just hit myself over there. I knew better. Um, and so I purchased the land, and I don't know if this is, it's a lot that goes on with this. I don't know if it's, uh, yeah, I don't want to talk bad about him, um, because I don't think he knew, but, uh, we, we just had a little problems with acquiring the land, and it even got to the point where we had to go to the police, but we eventually got our land. Yeah, it worked out for the best. Uh, but what, what it was, they had given us land, and then it turns out it was somebody else's land. And it happened to us twice. Yeah. Ooh. Yeah. So we finally, they worked it out with someone else, uh, who had a lot of beachfront land, yeah. And so we just did a transfer of name, yeah, and I was able to get everything. Yeah. So, but it was scary, cuz I spent a lot of money on that land, and I was heartbroken. And so I understand what people go through. But, you know, like I said, I, you know, I did my readings and whatnot, and said, this is what you're going to have, this is what's going to happen to you. But I will never, ever do things like that again. So I tell people, you know, do everything right. I would get an attorney from the area. I would, you know, I did a search. Yeah, I did do a search. I did a search of the land, and it came back in that person's name, and some, some signatures were missing from my indentures that I didn't know about. So it took a couple of months to get those signatures. By the time I got those signatures, somebody else had registered the land in their name. Wow. I can laugh about it now, but it was really, I was so stressed out. This, this land thing in Ghana is kind of a little bit of, um, skeptical sometimes when you are dealing with land issues. Myself, I deal with land issues. I've been buying land for diasporas and so forth. So basically, I do my search. It took me so many months, days before I come into conclusion, okay, this land is good for me to buy for this diaspora or maybe these people. So basically, I always advise you when you want to do business, you can even contact me with your land and everything. We can do business with you. You can even send us to go check your land for you. We do that freely sometimes. At least you pay a little bit of consultation fee for us, for our transport, and so forth. Then we do that for you. But, you know, it is what it is. If you don't know the system, somebody might just take your money and run away with it. Absolutely. And I had, I have a Ghanaian husband, yeah. So now, and I know, you know, it's happened to Ghanaians that I know too, who lived in the States for a long time and come back home. I have a Ghanaian friend, he bought 100 acres of land and he ended up with 10 acres after it was all over. Wow. Yeah. So it happens, but you have to do your due diligence, and, um, and it'll work out for you. You can, you can, you can have your dream here in Ghana. Yeah. And, um, and if I can give my diasporans a little bit of advice, I noticed there's some type of itis when we finally come to Ghana or Africa. Um, we're very trusting of our African brothers and sisters. And for the most part, 99.9% of our brothers and sisters are honest. But when you're a foreigner, kind of, you attract a certain kind of energy of people that just wants to get money and things like that. So you have to be careful. I've seen people lose a lot of money, $58,000 US, $20,000 US, and you just have to be careful. Just follow all the steps. And I, I give advice to people now too, because I don't want to see that happen to anyone. You know, I just put on a seminar where we had the Lands Commissioner, the head of the Lands Commission, come out, and immigration, and community police commander, so we could just sit down with a bunch of ladies and just talk to them about how to properly do things. Because I, I love my people, right? I'm in love with being an African. I'm in love with being black. So I don't, I just don't want to see that happen to anybody. Cuz, you know, people coming here, especially retirees, that's all their money, and it's just gone, and it leaves them devastated, and it leaves them with a bad taste in their mouth. And that is where they say negative things about Africa. Yes. And then Diasporans here, and they're like, what you, you know? So we don't want that kind of energy. We, um, but for the most part, um, I've had a wonderful experience in Africa, in Ghana. I love my brothers and sisters, starting with my, my king who enstooled me as a queen mother. I remember he's been so beneficial and helpful to me. I've heard people say, why do you want to be a queen mother? People trying to take your money. It hasn't been that way for me. For me, I can't talk for anyone else, but my king, when he enstooled me, he, when he first called me, I met him in 2004, and we became friends. And, you know, back then, you had to use the little cards to call, so you couldn't call that much. So we were emailing each other a lot. And one day, he emailed me and he says, you know more about Africa than I do, cuz I would send him articles and things like, cuz I did research, you know, for my show. And, and then one day he called me and he said, we want to enstool you as a queen mother. And I'm like, what does that even mean? You know, what is, what does that mean? So I've always made it a point to have friends from the diaspora. So I picked up the phone, called some of my Ghanaian friends, and asked, honor, I said, it's an honor. I said, really? Cuz I was like, they must want something from me, cuz that's a police offer, you know, you deal with negativity all the time. And so you have to get some filters. You got to learn how to be a normal person again, especially since I've left there. And so I was so, I said, okay, again, I did a reading, and so it came back that it would be a good thing, and it's been very beneficial for me. So, um, for years, I didn't know what exactly he had did for me. And I'm going to tell you something that I don't tell everybody. MH. So he told me that they have a legend in their area that a queen mother named Suchia was taken away, MH, to the Americas. And that the legend says that one day her descendant will come back, yeah, and be a queen and take, take, yeah. So he told me the story, and, you know, and he says, but not only are you her descendant, I am a reincarnation of her, right? Whoa. That's heavy, right? Someone tells you that, what do you think? Maybe you guys look similar, you know, what do you think? You know? So I said, oh, okay. So I was just like, okay, okay, you know. And that's what launched my radio show, because I was on a radio show, and they asked me if I wanted to come back and do a show. I was like, sure. So, um, things started really, my life changed 360 in a good way. And, and so, you know, I would run into other, uh, kings and queens, uh, from the diaspora, and they would say, I'm, I'm a king, queen too. Are they called into the radio station when I would be on? And my chief would call in and said, no, you're not the same. That's what he would say. And I couldn't understand what he was talking about. So it took, uh, a brother by the name of Shabazz at One Africa and Rabbi Cohane. One day they were asking me, they said, Nana, what kind of queen mother are you? I didn't know. I was like, I can't remember the time, you know? So I, um, so I called my chief. He said, Anob, you're an Anob Hima. So Shabazz says, look at, look at, let's see your pictures. So, you know, I'm being carried, right? And the Palo Queen and whatnot. He's like, Nana, he said, you know, not everybody has a title like that. I'm like, really? I'm like, really? And not even any queen is being carried in the Palo Queen, right? So I said to myself, wow, you, my chief, my king is really special. So he told me, he says, he kept telling me, you have a black stool. What does that mean? I have a black stool. What does that mean? I probably shouldn't be saying that on the air, right? But he says, you have a black stool. And so I had to ask, you know, his, I think sometimes I don't really understand him. So there's a little bit of a language barrier. His English has gotten much better over the years. He's been to America and everything. Said, you have a black stool. And so a black, you know, what a black stool, do you understand what a black stool is? So I'll just leave it at that, or should I go into it a little bit? Well, maybe you can give us a hint. Yeah. So, a black stool is a stool that's been recycled. My stool has been recycled for hundreds of years. And, um, it's only given to a certain, certain royals in a family. Like we have, we have maybe we have a lot of kings and queens in our village, and so I think there's only seven of us with a black stool. Yeah. And basically, um, uh, it became black because of sacrifices. I'll just leave it at that, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, you, you had a whole lot to say, but I still have to ask you a few more questions, um, about Africa and also America as well. You being a police officer in America, we know, or maybe we've been hearing things, rewatching things in America, or maybe in the news concerning violence and so forth in in America. And also Ghana being a police officer in America, and when you compare these two sides, America and Ghana, where do you think the violence is going on? And how many people have you also arrested so far as you being a police officer in America? So policing in America is very different. Violence in America is very different to me. It's more violent in America. That's my opinion. That's actually a fact if you look at statistics, you know, unless you delve into South Africa. But in Ghana, um, you have fraudulent activities going on, but you don't have a lot of murders. It's a lot of murder, a lot of rapes, um, home invasion robberies, things like that that go on in America. Um, we don't really have that too much here. Um, I think there's an uptick in it, which kind of scares me. But, um, I think, uh, things are handled pretty well here. And I think it has a lot to do with the moral fabric of the country. Yeah. In America, America, just the name, it was founded in violence. So it's got this karmic thing that's going on with it. And I think until, in my humble opinion, I think until they make peace with what, what really happened in that country, I mean, our ancestors, the Native American, uh, people, our blood is drenched in the soil there. And, uh, if something has to be, they have to make peace with that. And until they do, it's just going to continue to get worse. Being a queen mother, you know, I have a whole lot of questions for you. Being a queen, I know you are an American. The fact that you have the same skin color with us, let me, let me put it this way, some Ghanaians think you're an American. For me, I know you're an African, okay? Or maybe you are, you are, you are, you are one of me. So I don't have any problem with that. But in terms of you being a queen mother, you might be living in a Fante community or maybe a Kente community or Ga community. How do you communicate with your people? You said your chief can speak English, but how about the other people? How do you communicate with the community or maybe the other, um, chiefs that are also, um, what do you call it, the sub-chiefs that are also with you? You know, with a smile. You know, um, I, yeah, there's been some communication issues, um, but it's not major. I haven't found it as major. I always get around it. I blame myself a lot too, because after all these years, I still haven't learned the language well. And so, or one of the languages well. And so I told myself in January, especially after being enstooled, I'm going to take that very seriously, very seriously, because I don't like being in the palace and things are going on and I don't know what's going on around me. My husband has been a big help for that. But I remember when I first, uh, sat in on a town hall kind of meeting, you know, how they do once a month, yeah. And, um, when I first came back to live permanently, and I had never been to one. In all these years, I've never been to one. So I'm sitting there, and it got to a point where it looked like people were about to fight, and it was over land. And for me, I didn't know what was going on. It was a little nerve-wracking. So I just wanted to know what was going on. So I, I miss out on a lot, and it's my fault. It's totally my fault. Uh, sometimes I say I'm too busy, but I have to really sit down and take the time to, to really engulf myself in the language, yeah. But I haven't had any problems up until now. I usually get around it, some kind of where there's someone there that can help me, and most people speak English. So, yeah. Yeah, most people. I found, you know, sometimes you think people understand what you're saying, and they don't. They'll be just like, uh-huh. Yeah. Uh-huh. Well, my final three questions that I want to ask you, then maybe we can close this interview. Uh, I know we are in this very boutique. Let's talk about this, because I know there's a nice place. Is this your business? Yeah, my husband and I decided to open up. You know, we have plans for something else, but we haven't been able to do it because we're using the land to do it. And so, um, we decided just to do something in the medium, and this is it. We just opened up. My husband and I like fashion. On a college campus, you have a lot of children, a young youth that wear the Western eye clothes. So we, um, that's what we do here. But we do have like bags made in Africa, African sandals, African clothes that we design and make, um, and we want to get more of those into, and we want to do, uh, African Western fusion, like African cloth and make some kind of Western designs for the youth so we can keep our culture alive as far as, you know, kind of like this, this is like a, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, yeah, and then that way, you know, you know, Africans are some of the most innovative people on the planet, and we're always, when you're looking back, thinking you got something, we've moved on. And so I just want to be a part of that, uh, creative side and, uh, create some things. Yeah. And our, we have our own line. So our store is called Money Tree, and we have Money Tree online, and we also have Manam Musa Tours, which is www.manammusatours.com. Wow. And we specialize, we don't only do, but we specialize in VIP tours for like VIP. Oh, okay. Okay. So basically, you are married to a Ghanaian man now. So at least you might have heard him saying so many Ghanaian languages and so forth, so many Ghanaian, what languages? Oh, yeah. He speaks like five. Good. You've also taught there so many Ghanaian food. Mhm. So I know definitely you might be a chief chef or cook, which is which. Well, let's go on. I want you to speak five, three languages and explain it in English for us to hear. Oh, I told you I can't do that. No, you. Five languages? Yes. Okay. Okay. Five words.
No languages. Oh, let me, let me break it down. Okay, okay. I want to say, mhm. So, what's the meaning? How are you? Mhm, mhm. Let's go one. Okay. Um, me, a me. Wow. Well, I think I passed the test. You passed? You passed. Now, you have tasted Ghanaian dishes, right? So, which one is your favorite? Oh, hands down, red red. All right. I love me some red red and killer willy. You love red red and and uh, uh, uh, groundnut soup. Good. Three, three. Those are my three faves. All right. My husband makes them for me all the time and I dabble. I make some too. Okay. But we both can cook. We're like, you were talking about good cooking. We, we can cook good. We have good cooks. Yes. Now, red red, killer, and groundnut soup. You narrate how all those things are being prepared. Oh, you want me to do that? Yes. Start with the red red. So, the red red, we started with a little bit of palm oil and this in the pot and we cut up some really nice onions and garlic and put in there. And uh, then we, um, we, uh, use the, uh, food processor or blender and we put in our tomatoes, uh, onions, garlic, um, peppers, and we like our stuff spicy, just like our life. And so we put all that in the blender, blend it up, mix it in with the red with the palm oil, let it simmer some. We put in our seasonings, uh, special herbs and seasoning. I can't devote that over the air. And then, um, and then, you know, we cook our, we call them in America, the peas. We call them black-eyed peas. Black-eyed peas? Yeah. It was one of my favorites in America too. And so that's another thing we brought from Africa with us. You know, mostly only black people eat black-eyed peas. We eat it with okra. And so, um, you know, we cook it and then we, you know, you can put a, add a little salted meat to give it some more seasoning, enhance the seasoning or not. And, uh, I, I, um, I don't like it when I'm not a big fan of the salted fish, which I know is a really big GH thing. And then, uh, you know, let it simmer and cook around, let the juices mix with each other and you got your red red. M. Okay. Did I do good? Yeah, that's, that's it. That's it. That's going over with the killer. Oh, the killer willy. So you want to start with a softer plantain. Mhm. Or plantain. Yeah. And, uh, you cut it. You have to cut it a certain way. My mother-in-law showed me this. It's a certain way you cut it and slice it. And then, um, you, um, you grind up some ginger and garlic and, uh, kind of sauté it in your oil and then you add your peanuts. No, no, you got it wrong. I got it wrong. Got it. Did I miss? Am I missing a step? Start again. Ah, no. Okay, okay, okay. I'll go a little deeper. When you cut your plant, your plantain, you put it in water first and then you put a little salt on top of it and let it just sit there for a while before you fry it. Okay. No, you still got it wrong. Where's your husband? What did I do wrong? I want to know what I did wrong. You have to tell me. I think you're pulling my leg. I got it wrong. Yes, you got it wrong. Okay, tell me what I. Okay, you know where the killer is? M. Okay. When, when, when you cut plantains, okay? You grind the ginger and also the peppers and everything. I for the pepper. So you got it wrong. So you mix it up. How can I forget the pepper? So you, you, you mix it up with the plantain before you fry. Yeah. I would have been in trouble if I did that at home. So now let's go with the groundnut soup. Uh, okay. The groundnut soup. My husband's going to be listening to this one. So, um, um, you start off with the same, we call it a root in America, but it's like, uh, the garlic, pepper, ginger, you know, onions in the blender. And, uh, you sauté at the same, you know, and then you add peanut butter. Mhm. Yeah, yeah. You, your peanut butter and your meats to season it, your seasoning. And you cook it. You add water to it to get it a little, you know, soupy. I like mine thick. My husband likes it. Stand a dilemma. Okay. So, um, he usually, when he makes it, he makes it thick for me the first day and then next day we add water to it. Yeah. And then we, um, I, I had a real hard fast about the hard chicken here. We, I never heard of hard chicken. Have hard chicken. And so, yeah, so you have to boil the chicken and you have to boil it in seasoning, you know, put your seasoning and your spices in there. And then we fry it without any, um, in America, when we say fried chicken, we usually put like a flour base on it. Yeah. So we fry it without any flour. M. In the skillet and our oil. And, um, and then we add it to the soup. Okay. Well, your final words. My final words, um, it's a blessing to be here in Ghana. If you're going to come to Ghana, please, please do your due diligence. It's a wonderful place to live. Many opportunities. There's other people here from, uh, other cultures that are here making a life for themselves. You can do it too. And, um, it's a, it'll be a big reward for you. And, um, for me, it's, um, a full circle. You know, first, it was something that I envisioned in my head, my brain, and then I spoke it into existence. And, um, getting my citizenship, you know, I always knew I was an African. I didn't need anybody to clarify or justify that for me. Nobody could tell me I'm not an African, whether I was living in the States or here. But for me, um, our wonderful president, um, and our government here in Ghana, by putting it in writing, that was the 360. That was the 360. So you had the thought, the spoken word, and the validation of writing it into paper. And I'm officially an African. But like I said, I didn't need that, but it helps. And, uh, it was a very memorable moment for me. And for years, you know, I've read about my ancestors trying to get back to Africa. That was one thing they wanted to do and they didn't have the means to do it. So I feel like, um, we've left all the Civil Rights movements and all the struggles that we had to do in America, and we've finally been able to come back home and bring our ancestors with us. Well, in need, she said it all. You know, things happen in Africa, both negative and positive, but always, I keep telling you that you need to come see it yourself. Don't let anybody tell you bad things about Africa. Don't let anybody tell you good things about Africa. That's good and bad. So that is why we are doing this video to show you. We are bringing the experience and everything at your doorstep. So don't worry. Like I said, pack your boxes, come to Ghana. If you don't have a place to sleep, just call me. I'll get you a place to sleep. Ghana is a free country. That is why we are here in Ghana and we are laughing, smiling like a wounded tiger and a chicken. So as you are watching, keep subscribing to CL TV, keep watching, share CL, and make sure you come to Money Tree Boutique and purchase us too as well. We are just located at UCC, the University of Cape Coast, Ayi Road. So come do business with us. We can do delivery too for you. So as you are watching, my brother, my sister, pack your boxes and come back to Ghana. Bye-bye.