By Clifford Okyere
A Déjà vu to my primary school days. Third and last term before the major promotion examination to primary two. Despite the rainy season, the country welcomed the first-ever black president of the great United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama, to the motherland on Friday, July 10, 2009. Obviously, it was history and definitely is to this day. I certainly did not live the euphoric moment of witnessing the President alight with his family from the Air Force 1, but undoubtedly, the news did travel for a while, featuring in our Citizenship textbooks. But what remains an imprint in the minds of every Ghanaian Gen Zees who lived in the country in the era of his visit, has heard of or tasted “Obama Biscuit”. The rhythmic sounds that were formed and played along with during our local games such as skipping row and “ampe”, perfectly hammered home the historic visit to the motherland, even before we got to read about it.
15 years down the aisle, another historic moment has been observed. This time I got the opportunity to see the enormous arrival, through the lenses of the nation’s broadcaster GTV, of once again the first-ever black female vice president of the United States of America, Kamala Harris, to the country. Indeed, “Ghana no dey carry last,” with some notable African Americans who have also touched down in this country, including Martin Luther King Jr., George Padmore, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Richard Wright, Pauli Murray, and Muhammad Ali.
As the first woman of African and south Asian descent to occupy such a position, her visit is timely and historic in nature, honour to the country and the continent as a whole. Her arsenal of achievements to her name and her impact as one of the most powerful women in the world is one worthy of admiration for the country and the continent as a whole. Shattering numerous glass ceilings and achieving this height for women and as a woman of colour is enough of a yardstick for a black-skinned woman to know she is capable of a befitting seat at the table if she is determined.
Her hope is to strengthen the bilateral relationship with both countries with her focus on women’s empowerment, youth empowerment, entrepreneurship, digital inclusion, and supporting an increase in food security, including adaptation to the effects of the climate crisis, which are some of the significant works she is known for since her attorney days in California.
Her strive for the inclusion, progression and success of women are recorded in events where Kamala Harris advocated for equal pay for women, thereby introducing the Paycheck Fairness Act in the Senate and working to close the gender pay gap in the United State; Advocacy for women reproductive rights, championing the fight against efforts to restrict access to safe abortion and advocating for access to affordable birth control and sexual assault prevention advocacy where she launched several initiatives aimed at preventing sexual assault and holding perpetrators accountable, including the creation of a statewide task force on human trafficking and the establishment of a program to test rape kits.
These and many more are some alternatives she has added to the women’s course for progression. I guess little can be said about women who hold similar offices in the motherland.
Kamala’s visit will forever go down in history as historic, no doubt about that. But as I took out the ‘Obama Biscuit’ as an indelible emblem which will always remind me of Obama’s visit to the country, we can also have a legacy from her visit by passing the Affirmative Action Bill into law to at least show how supportive we are as a country to women and to their progress as a whole.
