"Knowing your history is an act of resistance": Interview with Benjamina Dadzie

Description

We spoke with Benjamina Dadzie about Akan gold weights, missionary presence in West Africa, migration of the Akan people, importance of oral histories, and much more! Benjamina is a native of Sekondi, Ghana and naturalised Italian. She is a writer and researcher, with an interest in West African cultures, especially Akan and Yoruba culture, and the history and making of the African diaspora culture. In her work she explores agency, representation and self-determination, and the role of objects as aids and embodiment of these ideas. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Archaeology from the University of Manchester, and a Master’s in the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas from the Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, University of East Anglia.

Benjamina has lived and worked in two African and three European countries, and speaks four languages as a result. She is a former Graduate Attaché at the British Institute in Eastern Africa, and currently engaged in independent work as a consultant.

Her favorite person from Ghanaian history is Theodosia Okoh, creator of Ghana's flag. "I think she was a visionary in how she shaped our collective memory and history into a visual item such as our flag, which actually stands the test of time when thinking about ideas of empowerment and return of the African diaspora."

You can find Benjamina online at benjaminadadzie.com and on social media at @waba.aba.

Note: When Benjamina says 1730s, she means 1830s.

Participants

• Benjamina Dadzie
  
• Kirstie Kwarteng
  
• TheNanaProject
  

Interview By

• TheNanaProject