Ewe culture

 By: Dr Lolo Koffivi 

There is strength in culture.

There is no country in the world that has progressed without their culture so we need to hold unto our culture firmly.

Language is part of culture and we can’t progress with foreign culture alone.

This is what will prevent us from belittling ourselves and removing fear from our children.

Credit: agotimekente.com

           

Angelique Kidjo- ewe empire

SONS & DAUGHTERS OF THE  SOIL  (Vol.3)

“ANGELIQUE  KIDJO”

Real Name : Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo, known as Angélique Kidjo

Career : Beninese-born American Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and activist, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos.

Born: July 14, 1960 (age 56), Cotonou, Benin

Spouse: Jean Hébrail (m. 1987)

Education: Berklee College of Music

Awards: Grammy Award for Best World Music Album, more

Music group: Band Aid 30 (Since 2014)

Kidjo was born in Cotonou, Benin. Her father is from the Fon people of Ouidah and her mother from the Yoruba people. She grew up listening to Beninese traditional music, Fela Kuti, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, James Brown, Manu Dibango, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Osibisa, and Santana. By the time she was six, Kidjo was performing with her mother's theatre troupe,giving her an early appreciation for traditional music and dance. She started singing in her school band, Les Sphinx, and found success as a teenager with her adaptation of Miriam Makeba's "Les Trois Z", which played on national radio. She recorded the album Pretty with the Cameroonian producer Ekambi Brilliant and her brother Oscar. It featured the songs "Ninive", "Gbe Agossi" and a tribute to the singer Bella Bellow, one of her role models. The success of the album allowed her to tour all over West Africa. Continuing political conflicts in Benin prevented her from being an independent artist in her own country and led her to relocate to Paris in 1983.

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While working various day jobs to pay for her tuition, Kidjo studied music at the CIM, a reputable jazz school in Paris where she met musician and producer Jean Hebrail, with whom she has composed most of her music. She started out as a backup singer in local bands. In 1985, she became the front singer of the known Euro-African jazz/rock band Jasper van't Hof's Pili Pili. Three studio albums followed: Jakko (1987), Be In Two Minds (1988, produced by Marlon Klein) and Hotel Babo (1990). By the end of the 1980s, she had become one of the most popular live performers in Paris and recorded a solo album called Parakou for the Open Jazz Label. She was then discovered in Paris by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who signed her in 1991. She recorded four albums for Island until Blackwell's departure from the label. In 2000 she was signed in New York by Columbia Records, for which label she recorded two albums.

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Her first album for Island Records was recorded between Miami and Paris and produced by Miami Sound Machine drummer Joe Galdo and features Branford Marsalis and Manu DiBango on saxophones. It was released worldwide in 1991 and reached number one on the Billboard World Music chart. Music videos for the singles "We We" and "Batonga" were released and Kidjo made her first world tour, appearing at many festivals and headlining the Olympia Hall in Paris on October 31, 1992. Logozo is ranked number 37 in the Greatest Dance Albums of All Time list compiled by the Thump web site.

Kidjo married French musician and producer Jean Hébrail in 1987. They have a daughter, Naima, born in 1993.

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contact : https://www.facebook.com/angeliquekidjo/?fref=ts

Credit: wikipedia.com  &  eweempire.blogspot.com

THE ONLY FEMALE BARBER IN GHANA

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE SOIL (Vol. 2)

NAME: Kafui  Aƒi  Dugbaza

OCCUPATION : Professional  Barber

FROM: Sogakoƒe, Volta Region-Ghana.

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Meet the only Female Professional  Barber  in Greater Accra.

For those who don’t believe  that “what a man can do , a woman can also do”, should repent because this lady has broken  the record and has raised the bar very high.

She was born into a family of 3 of which she is the only female. After the death of her  Mom,  she was catered for by her aunt (Mom’s sister).

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She learnt a trade as a “hair dresser “ at Michelle camp in the tema municipality. One night she dreamt that she owned  a big barbering salon with so many employees.  When she woke up, she told her uncle about the dream and also told him that she wants to be a barber.  Her uncle obviously didn’t like the idea of a lady being a barber and tried to discourage her but she did not fall for it.

She then went on to learn the trade  from a professional barber and within 5 months, she was already in good  shape so  She started with “work and pay” and  her would  testify that she is really  good and skilful  at her  job.

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She has been in business for the past eight  (8) years and today she administrates over  two(2) barbering salons.  

One of her favourite quotes is ; “Nothing or nobody  can discourage me from achieving my target”.

Though  she has not gotten her dream shop yet, she is definitely  not far from it.

This is a big motivation for African Women .Just believe in yourself  and believe in your dreams ..

                                                  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Africa Nyo Ŋtɔ ....Part 1

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This is a picture of Pope John Paul II greeting an African Voodoo Priest at Assisi-Cotonou, Republic of Benin in West Africa on 4 February 1993. Benin is widely known as the home of voodoo .
On his visit , he made a speech for which he was condemned by many charismatic churches saying he was supporting evil. 
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These were his words to the people of Benin ; “You are strongly attached to the traditions which your ancestors transmitted to you. It is legitimate to be grateful to the ancestors who transmitted to you the sense of the sacred, faith in a one and good god, the taste for celebrations, and consideration for moral life and harmony in society”.

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Don’t forget that The catholic church is one of the oldest churches if not the odest and seem to hold a lot of secret to the Christian faith.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS?

Read more :http://www.traditioninaction.org/Prog…/A_077_JPII_Voodoo.htm

A BUTTERFLY THAT THINKS ITS SELF A BIRD ...Part 1

There was this brother from Sokode(Volta region,Ghana) who was always bitter about his family. When his Dad died,he was expecting his Fathers Family to take over and look after him and his Mum but they didn’t. His mum raised him as a single parent. He was about 12yrs old when his Dad died and he grew up hating his tribe(both parents where from the same hometown). Due to anger, he swore never to go back to his hometown or talk to any of his family members.At the age of 29, he travelled to Nigeria for greener pastures and created enough wealth for himself. 
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While in Nigeria he changed his family name to a Nigerian name which means he changed his root completely. Oneday there was a census in Nigeria and the census agents approached him to ask for his details. The surname he mentioned was the same as that of one of the agents. The agent was very happy to have found one of his family members. So he began asking about his family background(his parents, grand parents , hometown) and the guy kept mute throughout . infact he felt ashamed of himself.
That was the point he realized how important his family and root was.
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LESSON: don’t deny your family and root no matter what and no matter where. Because that is what makes you different from others . This things are happening even in Accra and other cities and it sounds like a joke but its serious .it is painful to be ignored but ignoring your root is not the solution. Once there is life then there is hope (Agbe nyé gá)

THE HISTORY OF ASOGLI STATE

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The Asogli people, like most Ewe speaking people, trace their origin from a place called Abyssinia in what is now Ethiopia. They migrated with other Ewes from Abyssinia to Oyo in Yorubaland, Western Nigeria. From Oyo they went to Ketu in Dahomey (now Benin) before settling at Notse in present day Republic of Togo in about the 12th century.
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Oral history has it that in their settlements at Ketu and Notse, the Ewes lived in walled cities called Agbome, literally meaning within the fence wall. At Notse, the Ewes were ruled by a tyrant, King Agorkorli whose sadistic rule is reported in the historical records of all Ewes.
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The Asoglis naturally detested the rule of King Agorkorli and, under the leadership of Togbe Kakla, they broke through a portion of the fortified wall for all Ewes to escape. Togbe Kakla and his people broke the wall after softening it through a planned and persistent splashing of water.
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The conspiracy included a deceptive plan under which the escaping subjects walked backwards out of the walled city. The objective was to create the impression that the footprints they left were those of people who had entered the city. This confused the King's soldiers and by the time they realized what had happened, most of the subjects had escaped to freedom.
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“Gligbayi”, the dagger which Togbe Kakla used in breaking through the wall of Notse, is a sacred relic of the Ewes. It is in the custody of the Agbogbomefia, the traditional overlord of Asogli State.
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Togbe Kakla and his people broke away from the larger Ewe group to settle at Komedzrale, near what is now Ho, the capital of the Volta Region of Ghana in West Africa. At Komedzrale, the Asoglis engaged in subsistence farming and hunting.
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Oral history has it that Togbe Kakla had three sons and a daughter. These were Akoe, Letsu, Asor and Esa. As Komedzrale lands gradually lost their fertility and could no longer support any meaningful economic activity and the growing population, the Asoglis migrated further.
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The descendants of Akoe and Letsu founded Akoefe and Kpenoe, and later, Takla. The descendants of Asor settled at the present day Ho after a brief sojourn at Hofedo. The only daughter of Togbe Kakla, Esa, migrated and settled at present day Saviefe which lies north of Ho.

Credit : asoglistate.com
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MARRIAGE THEN AND NOW

In the past  in Africa ,it was believed that love grows when you get to know more about a person , especially when you live under the same roof,or same neighborhood. what happened was, when a Man is ready for marriage he will have to inform his parents to arrange for a good lady for him or if he finds a lady that he thinks best suites him, he still informs his parents about it before taking any other step. Either way, a thorough background check is made on the lady and her family. 
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When the Man’s Family is satisfied, they approach the lady’s family for permission to Marry the lady. The Lady’s family will then ask for sometime to inform or consult the extended family or th. During this period, the Lady’s family will also conduct a background check on the Man’s family to make sure their royal (the lady) is going to a good home.
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This processes forced families to put their Son’s and Daughters in check to prevent embarrassment. Polygamy was also reasonable in those days because of the background check.
A lot of scholars have argued that this culture should have at least been modified but not thrown away. Other Scholars think it was more or less like slavery.
WHAT DO YOU ALSO THINK ABOUT IT?