THE LEGENDARY “MAYA ANGELOU” ONCE FOUND HER ROOTS IN KETA (Volta Region) IN 1965.

 The Legendary “MAYA ANGELOU” Once Found Her Roots In KETA (Volta Region) In 1965.

The story of Maya Angelou cannot be written in a single Article, but then it is worth noting that She mysteriously or by the doing of her Ancestors found her roots in Keta in the Volta Region.

Maya Angelou was a very popular American Poet, Writer and Civil Activist who worked with both Martin Luther King Jnr and Malcolm X. She is the first African-American and second Poet in history to ever perform at the Presidential inauguration in the USA in 1993 during the inauguration of Bill Clinton.

In 2010, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., by President Barack Obama. And more than thirty health care and medical facilities have been named after Angelou

Maya Angelou visited Keta in 1963 and mysteriously found her roots and documented it in her book titled “All Gods children need traveling shoes”.

In her own words in this book, Maya Angelou wrote and I quote;

"I had not consciously come to Ghana to find the roots of my beginnings, but I had accidentally tripped over them or fallen upon them in my everyday life. And here in my last days in Africa, descendants of a pillaged past saw their history in my face and heard their ancestors speak through my voice."

Before leaving Ghana in 1965, Maya Angelou was offered a trip to Keta in the Volta Region of Ghana by a friend. The sea had just begun eating away the land and the town was gradually getting eroded which was a sore sight for Maya.

Just as they got to the market square in the center of town, a woman stopped Maya and begun a conversation with her in Ewe as if She knew her previously. The woman mistook her for a relative and the woman seemed confident Maya was one of her lost relatives.

Maya Angelou was six feet tall and this woman was just a little taller and when Maya saw her face, she saw the splitting image of her paternal grandmother who raised her and her brother. 

And then in addition the woman was speaking in a low-timbered voice very identical to that of her grandmother. Maya knew straight away that She had found her roots and did say so in her book.

The woman continued to speak to her as if she knew Maya until her host intervened and explained that she was Black American. Even this the woman refused to believe until she showed her an old California driver’s license in her handbag.

All at once the woman placed her hands on top of her head, interlocking her fingers, and began to rock from side to side weeping from the memories of the faces She saw in Maya’s resemblance, just as the Ewe's do when mourning.

Her host explained to Maya that it was the way Ewes mourn and that the woman was not mourning because of the memories of the faces of the people She saw in Maya.

And then Maya also explained to her host that when she or her brother assumed this position of hands interlocking on top of their head as kids, her grandmother would take time to uncross their hands and said that it was a sign of bad luck.

The woman led Maya to her market stall and gave her a lot of vegetables and then She led her to other women at the market who repeated the same gestures of mourning and giving. When she asked, her host explained the situation, He explained to her that She Maya reminded the women of someone the people never had the chance to meet. He explained further to Maya that during the slave trade era, every adult in Keta was captured and sold into slavery. So the children that got away and were raised by families in neighboring communities. They went back to Keta and resettled the town when they grew up. They told their children, who told their children, about those who were stolen away and so they knew by her face, her height and her voice that Maya Angelou was a descendant of those who were taken from the shores of Keta.

She had come to Ghana with her Son who attended the University of Ghana and She herself worked at the University of Ghana, and was active in the African-American expatriate community. She was a feature editor for The African Review, a freelance writer for the Ghanaian Times, wrote and broadcast for Radio Ghana, and worked and performed for Ghana's National Theatre.

So in short Maya Angelou hails from Keta! Hopefully someday We can build a her statue in Keta to keep this story alive!!! 

Credit : Selorm Ameza

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