KWAKU - Victor Kwesi Mensah

I was born in Asokore, Koforidua in the eastern region of Ghana

And I started schooling in a one room school house

Now I can look back and say everybody was poor

But we didn’t know we were poor because we had food all the time

Loving family

The main problem was trying to go fetch water

Because there was no running water in the house

The bathroom is somewhere there outside

We didn’t have the clean shoes that everybody had

We didn’t have good clothing

It wasn’t particularly very comfortable being under British colonial domination

And then I came to the United States in 1977

Just before the winter

Chicago then had a murder rate of close to 1,000 a year

It was a very violent city

That’s when it earned it’s nickname as the Beirut on the lake

But again I didn’t let that scare me

I went to 63rd

We used to say that 47th Street was so dangerous that if you died

Your parents may not come for your body

Yeah it was bad but still the city was fun

Well when I had a son

And I just thought that it was better to stay in Chicago to raise kids

The good thing about Chicago is you learn the truth about America

There is no sugarcoating nonsense in this town

I was scared though, I got scared because I thought you could be shot

When you started getting in trouble I started graying

I started graying very fast

My heart is beating and I was having nightmares because you were having real

problems with the police

Anytime I’m called to come and look for the police station where my son could be

I was scared that one of these days I maybe called to the mortuary to identify

your body

Your growing up in Chicago gave me a lot of heart ache and head ache

But around the time you did the Innanetape

The enthusiasm with which you handled that

And the friends all around you

How mature they become

All of you

Made me think these kids have made it

I think my father in his grave would be very happy that I brought up some good

kids in America

And particularly also I see it as a great success

If I leave I have very little regrets