As always, first and foremost giving all honor, praise and glory to the Mos High Power of the Universe, the Source by whom we live, move and have our being. Also paying respect and tribute to the spirit of our Ancestors upon whose legacy we stand. I greet everyone with our traditional salutation of AKWAABA.
Once again the cycle and season of PANAFEST is returning and needless to say I am excited with anticipation of the 15th edition of PANAFEST 2023 and the empowerment of the achievements which have been accomplished throughout the three decades of the PANAFEST movement.
Each edition of PANAFEST has been accompanied by a festival theme but this has not been at the expense of replacing our motto or recurring theme of “Re-Uniting the African Family” which has been with us from the beginning. This year’s festival theme, “Reclaiming The African Family”, referring specifically to reaffirming our African identity throughout the global African communities. Whether in the North, Central, South or Islands of the Americas, Europe, or Asia the over 350 million Africans who were displaced throughout the world have a destiny intertwined with the 1.3 billion Africans on the continent.
Too often the redefining and labeling of populations of African people in foreign territories by their national identities has brought into question the retention of their African-ness but now more than ever, there is a rebirth of pride by people of African descent to claim their identity with pride and admiration as well as an effort for Africa to claim her scattered sons and daughters as witnessed by the African Union’s proclamation of the African Diaspora as the “6th Region”.
Ghana has commanded the lead in this endevour by initiating the PANAFEST in 1992, Emancipation in 1998, The Joseph Project in 2007, and proclaiming the Year of Return in 2019 and beyond The Return from 2020-2030.
PANAFEST remains the most consistent Pan African Festival representing the continuity of all these visions and initiatives to reunite the African family.
This has also inspired African nations to commit to developing “Diaspora Engagement Policies” to welcome the African family back home to participate in the development of a new Africa in the 21st Century building upon the gains and achievements of the past century to confront the challenges of a new century and millennium. [click for more]
