African immigration to the United States is on the rise, and first-generation African Americans are engaging with black American culture in new and interesting ways.
Enter 26-year-old Ghanaian-born New York artist Dennis Owusu-Ansah. When he witnessed a friend being teased by a group of men for wearing a kente cloth, he decided it could be an opportunity to educate;
“I figured something must be done to change the perspective of people who are not familiar with the African culture… They had no idea what my friend was wearing. One of the guys shouted ‘That man has a blanket wrapped around his body like it’s winter time.’ I saw this incident as an opportunity to educate people about who we are, and what we stand for through my art… Africa isn’t only about what the media portrays on television [it is] a continent rich in history, diversity and traditions.”
Owusu-Ansah reimagined top black American entertainers in traditional African dress and gave them traditional African names. The drawings have been liked thousands of time on his Instagram account and shared thousands of times on social media.
Chris Kofi Sarpong Brown
Aubrey Drake Abdul-Salam Graham (PALMWINEPAPI)
Chief Shawn “Ugonna” Jay Z Carter
Meagan “Omotola” Good
Nicki Maame Akua Amponsah
Sean Puffy Nana Antwi Combs
Mazi Odinnaka Rosey
Robyn Rihanna Amahle Fenty
Beyonce Lankenua Carter
Ladies, what are your thoughts?
These are wonderful! I especially love the re-imagined image of Rihanna.
Africa the center of the world ???!!!! These are so cool, glad he’s doing this. African culture rocks!
very cool!
I love his re-imaginings!! I can’t wait to buy some traditional African clothing.
This initiative is really interesting and so meaningful. I hope it will get the echo it deserves. I loved it so much that I forwarded it to many of my friends and one of my male friends felt a bit vexed on the “ladies what are you thoughts” as he was willing to comment too. Maybe something more neutral like “people” would be more appropriate especially as more and more articles are on broader topics than hair.
My thoughts also!
Black GIRL long hair has a clearly defined target market, and don’t need to “neutralize” their voice to accommodate folks who are not within that demographic.
Nothing stops your male friend commenting, so I’m a little surprised he would be genuinely vexed. The website is Black GIRL, and the main demographic are Black women and women of colour. It’s not that deep.
BEAUTIFUL!
[…] –Black Girl Long Hair […]
this is stupid since many of these people are mixed.
News flash…some Africans are mixed too
True, no one is pure, we are ALL mixed!
What does being mixed have to do with wearing African garbs!?!?
Is it stupid when they wear European style clothing ’cause they’re mixed!?!?
What a dumb comment.
What a stupid and ignorant comment. Get some education.
when trying to say something smart goes wrong…
Alasia, so are you saying that there are no “mixed” Africans, and they all are pure? Some whites are Africans, and some blacks are Europeans because they live on those continents. The fact is that there are no pure races anyway.
Beautiful!
[…] an artist from Ghana was mocked for wearing traditional African garb, he decided to take the opportunity to teach the world something about African culture and how it […]
[…] an artist from Ghana was mocked for wearing traditional African garb, he decided to take the opportunity to teach the world something about African culture and how it […]
dennis-ohhhhh! my broda! eh! you even performed the ultimate libation by giving them a name. My broda, fine ting dey come yo way.
I LOVE THIS!
I LOVE THEM!!!!! Wow! NM was and CB were definitely my favorite.
Wow! Beautiful! I.love it! DON’T hate EDUCATE!
I think they are great!!!
Whether digitally created or manually done, this is so awesome!!!! If only they could embrace and proudly reflect physically their African roots like this everyday!! Ase‘
The best part for me is the authentic African names he gave them. The palmwinepapi moniker got me laughing!
this is pretty awesome. complete with names and everything. i like it
I’m English born but I am definitely not European.
Same here. Blacks are not European neither are whites African.
Wonderful. I love them all.
Are these works created digitally? The clothing appears more as an illustration…cool concept though…could lead somewhere more interesting socially.
I’m so proud to be a Ghanaian!
I only saw 3 of these. They all are nicely done!
Should be an art exhibit.
Beautiful!
Stunning!! Love the names too they are honorable!