SOUTH-CENTRAL : Royal Visitors From Africa Meet Residents

Linking the past to the future was what Dolores Sheen Blunt had in mind when she brought two village chiefs and a queen from the West Africa nation of Ghana to visit African Americans in South-Central.

“I want children to understand that America is their country and (Africa) is their homeland,” said Blunt, principal of Sheenway School and Cultural Center, a private facility in Watts. “We need to get their wisdom. We need to record it. It’s not in our history books. They are living history.”

Chief Togbui Nukpe II of the Ewe tribe and Ga tribe leaders Chief Kii Okuley II and Queen Mother Naa Ashami offered insight Dec. 2 into their way of life in their respective coastal tribes. At the same time, they were given a window into the lives of area residents.

“We saw life in Los Angeles, which is very similar to that of Ghana,” said the village chiefs and queen through interpreter Alexander Wilson.

“We’ve not seen sad things since we’ve been here,” he said, referring to the crime and violence the area has been linked with in some circles.

The cultural exchange, funded by the African-American Business Assn., also celebrated Blunt’s ambitious plan to open a Sheenway school in Ghana by early next year in Nukpe’s farming village of 3,000 residents. The royal entourage, as well as a team of Sheenway officials led by Blunt, left for Ghana last week to inspect the locale of the new school.

“This link will boost the self-esteem of kids here,” said Blunt, who traces her heritage to Ghana. “In return, we will be giving back to Africa what was taken away.”

Raised in South-Central Los Angeles, Dondre Bausley, 27, said having access to people that are a direct connection to his past opened his eyes to his cultural heritage.

“It gave me hope that they care and they want us to care,” Bausley said while sampling Ghanaian red beans and rice at a cultural celebration honoring the royal entourage at the Christian Community Center in South-Central. “It’s refreshing to know that they want unity just as much as us.”