This Weekend: Asanteman Association Swearing in Ceremony and Kofi B Performance

Today and tomorrow the Asanteman Association of Colorado will host a two day fundraising event that will benefit Project CURE. Tonight will mark the swearing in ceremony of local chiefs Nana Wiafe Anane and Nana Serwaa Ampem as well as their sub-chiefs.

Saturday’s event will feature musician Kofi B. from Ghana performing with the Kente Dance Ensemble.
See the flyer and press release below for full details.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts :

· K Danso Abeam. President, Asanteman Association of Colorado . 720-296-8958, admin@asanteman-co.org

· Nana Wiafe Anane 720-296-6678 (Newly elected King)

· Nana Serwaa Ampem: 720-251-3757 (Queen Mother)

· Claire Cunningham, Project C.U.R.E 720-490-4000

The Asanteman Association of Colorado invites you to celebrate their rich and colorful culture at a two day fundraising event to benefit Project Cure.

When: 2 Day event

DAY 1. Saturday September 5, 2009, 9 p.m to 2 a.m.

Swearing in Ceremony of local Chiefs, Nana Wiafe Anane and Nana Serwaa Ampem and their sub-chiefs.

DAY 2. Sunday September 6th, 2009, 9 p.m to 2 a.m.

Performance by Kofi B from Ghana and the Kente Dance Ensemble

Where:

Red Lion Hotel at 3200 Parker Rd , Aurora Co 80014,

For Hotel reservations call 303-695-1700

Cost:

One price covers both events- $30 single /$50 couple

August 19, 2009 – The Asanteman Associations of Colorado invites the public to a two day cultural extravaganza, on Saturday September 5th and Sunday September 6th, 2009. This event is also a fundraiser, the proceeds of which will be donated to Project C.U.R.E to ship much needed medical equipment to Ghana.

This two day event will include the Swearing in Ceremony of local Chiefs, Nana Wiafe Anane and Nana Serwaa Ampem and their sub-chiefs on Saturday September 5, 2009. Sunday’s program features entertainer Kofi B and the Kente Dance Ensemble. Both events will take place at the Red Lion Hotel at 3200 Parker Rd, Aurora Co 80014, and will run from 9 p.m – 2 a.m. There is one cost for both days. Single $30 / Couples $50. For tickets and more information please contact K Danso Abeam at 720-296-8958

The swearing in ceremony

In Asante land, a King remains a king for a lifetime. Usually a new King is sworn in when the old King dies, but as Asante people have spread all over the world, they continue their traditions by having a local King and sub- chiefs who then swear allegiance to the Asante King in Ghana. In the US each major Asante community has a King and Queen Mother, who are chosen by election from among members of their individual associations. Currently there are 11 Asanteman Associations in North America . Each King serves for a term of four years and they can go for two terms. The Queen Mother is head of the community for women, she mobilizes them for community events.

This year’s swearing in ceremony will be officiated by the Asante King’s representative, Nana Adusei Twenewa Ampen I, who is a paramount chief of Tepa, a region in Ghana. He is a sub- chief to the Asante King in Ghana . His entourage includes traditional chiefs from Ghana, the US and Canada . He will oversee the ceremony and report back to the King, Otumfua Osei Tutu II, who is considered the King of Kings, and is the spiritual heir of the Asante community in Ghana .

Other invited guest will include local officials, Colorado State Representative Joe Miklosi, Aurora Council member, Ryan Fraizer and other dignitaries.

Currently there are about 3500 Ghanians in the Metro Denver area. Many work in the health industry and support families back home. Some are also here to go to school with the mindset of one day returning to Ghana to assist in their health industry.

Info on the Asanteman Association of Colorado :

The Asanteman Association of Colorado was organized in May 2002 when a group of concerned Asante men and women came together to address the need for an association that could help Ghanians living in Colorado continue their rich cultural traditions while providing assistance to their countrymen back home. The Association was inaugurated in August 2005 under the leadership of the Rev. K. Agyankwa – Boansi, President; Freda Agyeman, Vice President; and Eric K. Danso, General Secretary. The association that began with 24 members grew to 70 members at the inauguration and today has 100 members. They meet bi-weekly at 1431 Dayton Street , Aurora 80010 . They educate their members on health and educational issues and consider their primary objective to be that of mobilizing annually for a fundraiser that aids the shipment of medical supplies to Ghana .

History of the Asante people

The Asante or Ashanti people, are a major ethnic group of the Ashanti region in Ghana . They are part of the larger Akan ethnic group and speak Twi, an Akan language. Prior to European colonization, the Ashanti people developed a large and influential empire in West Africa which later developed into a powerful Ashanti Confederacy which became a dominant presence in the region. Today the Ashanti ’s number close to 7 million people and represent app 15% of Ghana ’s population. The Akan people collectively make up about 49% of the Ghanian population, and include Ashanti , Fante and other Akans. Though tribal and ethnic identity are important to Ashanti and other Ghanians they do not define a person or carry as much weight as they did hundreds of years ago. Most Ghanians are more nationalistic than tribal.

The legend of the Golden Stool

“Essential to Ashanti nationhood is the legend of the ‘Golden Stool’ (sika ‘dwa), the legend actually tells of the birth of the Ashanti kingdom itself. In the seventeenth century, in order for the Ashanti to win their independence from Denkyira, then another powerful Akan state, a meeting of all the clan heads of each of the Ashanti settlements was called. In this meeting, the Golden Stool was commanded down from the heavens by Okomfo Anokye, the Priest, or sage advisor, to the very first Asantehene ( Ashanti king), Osei Tutu I. The Golden Stool floated down from the heavens straight into the lap of Osei Tutu I. Okomfo Anokye declared the stool to be the symbol of the new Ashanti union (‘Asanteman’), and allegiance was sworn to the Golden Stool and to Osei Tutu as the Asantehene. The newly founded Ashanti union went to war with Denkyira and defeated it. “ (From: Alan Lloyd, The Drums of Kumasi, Panther, London, 1964, pp. 21-24)

The Golden Stool is sacred to the Ashanti , as it is believed that it contains the ‘Sunsum’ – spirit or soul of the Ashanti people. Just as man cannot live without a soul, so the Ashanti would cease to exist if the Golden Stool were to be taken from them. The Golden Stool is not just sacred; it is a symbol of nationhood, a symbol that binds or unifies all Ashanti . The Ashanti were one of few African states who offered serious resistance to the European colonizers and it took many decades of fighting and four wars before the British defeated the kingdom and incorporated it into the Gold Coast as a protectorate in 1900. Many books have been written cataloging the accomplishments of the Ashanti kingdom, cataloguing their religious, familial and legal systems in works like R.S. Rattray’s Ashanti Law and Constitution. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashanti)

For more information see website www.asanteman-co.org

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION – Project C.U.R.E

Project C.U.R.E. is a non-profit, humanitarian relief organization that delivers medical supplies and equipment to medical professionals and the patients under their care in over 120 developing nations worldwide.

Project C.U.R.E. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, humanitarian relief organization that collects donated medical supplies and equipment and delivers them to medical professionals and the patients under their care in developing countries. Currently, Project C.U.R.E. is the world’s largest organization of its kind, delivering on average two semi-truck trailer-sized containers of medical relief every week.

Since its inception in 1987, Project C.U.R.E. has delivered medical relief to hospitals and clinics in more than 120 countries worldwide. Project C.U.R.E. is headquartered in Centennial, Colo. Distribution centers are located in Colorado, Arizona, Tennessee, and Texas .

For more information, contact. Claire Cunningham, at 720-490-4000, www.projectcure.org.

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