• “The Real Juneteenth” - Reynauld Smith (Museum Resident Historian)

My dear family and friends,

An invaluable caution passed down from our forefathers is: “No one tests the depth of the river with both feet.” Another favorite African proverb is: "A broomstick can easily be broken, but when broomsticks are tied together to become a broom, the broom will bend but not break." As a people of African descent, I want us to go far together. This requires dedication and patience.

To be ready for meaningful dialogue, one should accept and meet people where they are today. One may not always be welcomed. Although I consider myself “enough” of an African American, many of my African American friends and colleagues see me as an outsider and that "BLM" can hardly be my cause. Unfortunately, at a time when we need to come together, we are still operating at arm's length.

I lived 25 of my formative years in the shadows of the Cape Coast and the Elmina slave dungeons, where more than 75% of our brothers and sisters were sold into slavery. The pledge that our elders left us on the memorial plaque at the Cape Coast Castle still guides my life:

“May those who died rest in peace. May those who return find their roots. May humanity never again perpetrate such injustice against humanity. We, the living, vow to uphold this.”

Some two decades ago, on my wedding day in Cape Coast, I stood before my late father, my dear Mother, my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, the Gyan-Johnson clan and all family and well wishers , and committed myself to being a bridge builder, uniting our fractured community on both sides of the Atlantic. My life experience has given me some perspective on how best to be an agent for transformative change and to help perfect our union - the Union of People of African Descent.

On joining forces with Dr. Winston Anderson, founder of the Sandy Spring Slave Museum and African Art Gallery, I sought to create safe spaces for dialogue to help build a common front for overcoming centuries of systemic racism, which is rooted in the original sin of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

The Black N Black documentary film and panel discussion, scheduled for Sunday, May 16th at 5pm EST, is a kickoff event for the Building Bridges initiative. We invite you to be at the table as we shape this safe space. In the tradition of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation process, championed by Madiba (Nelson Mandela) and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, we start this process with a gesture of atonement. This spirit of reconciliation is also anchored in the wisdom of a pioneer bridge builder himself, the late Marcus Mosiah Garvey, who proclaimed: “Liberate the minds of men (and women) and ultimately you will liberate the bodies of men (and women).” ["Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds,"],

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US BUILD BRIDGES AND HEAL OUR WORLD THROUGH DIALOGUE.

With Ubuntu Love,

Kojo Krom (Albert Gyan)

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." - Marcus Mosiah Garvey

"Divided we are weak. United we could be one of the greatest forces for good in the world" - Kwame Nkrumah

NGO Committee on Financing for Development

Financing Development in the Post-2015 Era

Africa Development Interchange Network (ADIN) at the UN