It's a bit disturbing to see many blacks in the diaspora angry or embarrassed when referred to as Africans, even though history reveals how they found themselves in strange lands like America, Surinam, Jamaica, Curacao, Cuba, Haiti etc. Whether it's ignorance or not I once witnessed a black man from Surinam, angrily yelling on a fellow black man from West Africa that "You are a slave, I don't come from Africa. I'm a Surinam."

It's very sad to hear such a comment coming from a black who seemed to have forgotten his history. While some Africans in the diaspora are shunning Africa, others have great interest in visiting the continent to find their roots. One of such people is Rita Marley, the wife of the reggae legend Bob Marley. Rita Marley, supported her husband as one of the I-Threes, with Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths. She has a number of albums to her credit.

Rita Marley for some time now has been regularly visiting Ghana, the country formerly called Gold Coast. In the year 2000, Rita opened and registered "The Rita Marley Foundation" as a non governmental, non-profit and non-partisan organization in Ghana. The foundation recently presented medical supplies to major hospitals in Ghana.

The foundation also embarked in the contruction of many projects, such as schools and laying of pipes in a village. Her great desire in rural development, resulted to her instalment as a Queen Mother of development, with the stool name as Nana Afua Adobea I, in the South Akwapim District of Ghana.

Rita Marley has now completed her residence in Ghana, naming it Alpha and Omega.

edited:ME