U.S. & Ghana to host 2023 inaugural International Convention of Africans in Diaspora
(TheAfricanDream.net) — International Convention of Africans in Diaspora (ICAD) will host its inaugural conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.; and Accra, Ghana, in 2023 under the theme “The Truth Need to be Told“.
The conference is expected to attract both Diasporans and Ghanaians to the event as a way of bolstering tourism and relations between the two countries, through a conference that revives the slavery debate.
It is organized by International Clergy Association (ICA), and Diaspora Legacy Resorts and Tourism; and sponsored by Bishop Dr. Charles Abban, CEO of The Rock Hospital in Accra, Ghana, and founder/president of International Clergy Association (ICA).
A major media partner for the event is TheAfricanDream.net — a trademarked multi-award-winning Communications Consultancy on African Affairs.
According to the organisers, the program will centre around the wealth of information on the slave trade that has been left undiscussed, especially the need to understand the circumstances that led to the slave trade. Hence the theme — The Truth Need to be Told — a contemporary exploration of the transatlantic slave trade from both sides of the coin.
“Although intricate evidences outlined dealings between White slavers and local African chiefs in the transatlantic slave trade, there’s still need to revisit the debate given that some African-Americans harbour bitterness against their ancestors and Africa as a result of it. We need to change their view and call for harmony,” said Bishop Abban in a interview with TheAfricanDream.net.
The Bishop argues that the conference should be given priority because many African-Americans in the diaspora still have a fragmentary understanding of the 400-year-old slave argument.
Therefore, the conference will seek for reconciliation between Africans and the Diaspora through a proper Dialogue. It will also bring together Africans and African-Americans in the Diaspora for a common goal of developing the Motherland — Africa, and consider Africa as their home.
Alongside, it will consider working on policies regarding slavery that will be documented, like reparations; and include sub-events like networking, renaming services, convention of praise and worship etc.
READ ALSO: 2022 Zoom Stakeholder Engagement on Ghana’s Homeland Return Bill
The organisers will also present a book yet to be published called Gyinaye — The Survivor on the Bridge of the Atlantic. The book according to them is an important resource material on the purpose of the conference.
The conference is open to “African-Americans, Ghanaian-Americans, and friends of Africans on the continent, in the United States and around the world who seek to bring about the true economic, political and spiritual emancipation of Africa and Africans everywhere while admitting the faults of the continent’s past, learning from them and forging ahead positively into the future for a better world,” said Bishop Abban.
“We also appreciate TheAfricanDream.net for joining this event as media partners, and looking forward to more partners, supporters or sponsors for this historic event,” he concluded.
Source: TheAfricanDream.net
Oral Ofori is Founder and Publisher at www.TheAfricanDream.net, a digital storyteller and producer, and also an information and research consultant.
