The Black Heritage Today 2010-2011 magazine features Kojo Jantuah's Healing History programme. It is part of Black History Month, an important annual celebration of heritage, identity and pride. Originating in America decades ago and slowly trickling its way across the Atlantic, Africa and Europe, BHM highlights the often hidden history of black people, their achievements to date, their ingenuity, talent and hopes for the future. The article features Kojo walking along the slave routes of West Africa, on an epic journey to finding healing and reconciliation and discovering his identity - and his destiny.

Kojo JantuahHe was just eleven years old when his mother - from the town of Keta in the south-eastern part of Ghana - and maternal grandmother sat him down and told him the man he’d always regarded as ‘dad’ was not actually his father. His biological father was a member of the royal family of the former Ashanti kingdom. A pharmacist and barrister, he had once been Minister of Agriculture in the last Cabinet of Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah. Apparently he wanted to see his son.

“I was born in Ghana but spent my early years in Tel Aviv, Israel, where my stepfather was a diplomat. My memories of childhood include the six-day Arab-Israeli War. I still find myself occasionally humming the tune of Yerushalayim shel zahav (Jerusalem of Gold),” says Kojo.

“I went to live with my father and his family in Kumasi but I couldn't cope with the the tensions that arose because of my presence. I returned to my mother's home in Accra after a year, more confused about my identity and my place in life. My school grades slumped and I found that I couldn't settle back into my mother's family.”

You can read more of Kojo's story by downloading the article in PDF here.

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