The American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana, in collaboration with Webster University Ghana Campus and Yaw Pare Photography, on February 24, 2022, marked the 2022 Black History Month celebrations with art at the Webster Ghana campus.

Held under the theme,  The Health and Wellness of Accepting the Remnants of a Haunted Past. (The role of Forts and Castles of Ghana, by Yaw Pare), the event was attended by members, friends, and associates of the Chamber and our organizing partners.

The 2022 AmCham Black Month celebration featured remarks from the Chamber’s Executive Secretary, Simon Madjie, and Membership, External Relations, and Project Manager, Jane Okyere-Aduachie. It also featured remarks from the President of the African-American Association of Ghana, Sherrie Thompson, the Academic Director at Webster Ghana, Dr. Linda Deigh, and Yaw Pare who shared the story behind his new book, Remnants of a Haunted Past: Forts and Castles of Ghana.

The forts and castles themselves bear witness to the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery, so too do these photographs provide compelling material and visual testimonies, offering possibilities for understanding that words do not. Yaw’s camera captures a reality that many choose to remember but just as many choose to forget. Ultimately, Remnants of a Haunted Past: Forts and Castles of Ghana constitutes an attempt to document the past so that it is never forgotten in the present.

The event featured poetry on the beauty of Ghana and a drama skit reenacting the horrors of the slave trade.

Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating Black history.