World Cup Ghanaian Soccer in Brooklyn

New York -- If you weren’t in Rustenburg, South Africa or Accra, Ghana then Brooklyn, NY was the third best spot to watch the match.  When Ghana beat the US, 2-1 in the World Cup last Saturday, Ghanaians partied in the middle of Flatbush and Lincoln Avenues stopping traffic. The area has been a Jamaican stronghold for over 40 years and traffic is normally stopped by Caribbean descendants for the West Indian Day parade during the labor day holiday.   

The Ghanaian bar, Meytex Cafe, has shown the World Cup matches since the event started.  So when both countries met, American and Ghanaian supports turned out. Folks showed up with vuvuzelas, drums and tons on flags for the third African country to make it to the quarterfinals in the World Cup. 

And when Ghana won the match, the bar immediately emptied. All of sudden Flatbush and Lincoln Avenues became a club with folks dancing and singing in the middle of the streets. This went on for about two hours before a police car drove by. But seeing that people were celebrating, and nothing more sinister was happening, the officers didn’t tell the people to stop blocking traffic but chanted over their load speaker, "USA."  One officer even told the Ghanaians they "live in America now."  That was met by a pretty, young Ghanaian girl who draped the hood of the police car with her flag.  


Only in Brooklyn, could New York's finest be calmed by a Ghanaian beauty.
-- Connie Aitcheson

Easter in Jamaica

Kingston-- Praise and worship started at 6 a.m on Easter Sunday. Except it wasn’t at a church but at The Little Theater in Kingston. The National Dance Theater Company [NDTC] of Jamaica was holding it’s annual Easter performance. By 5:50 a.m. my mother, a family friend and I were seated in the auditorium. Over 300 people dressed mostly in white, packed the space. I said to our friend who bought us tickets for the performance is a big sin ting dis, upstairs and downstairs full only to have him reply, yes man is like backra [boss man] house, it have upstairs and downstairs.