((PKG)) AFRICAN DRUMMER
((TRT: 12:25))
((Topic Banner: Ghanaian beats))
((Reporter/Camera/Editor: Arturo Martinez))
((Map: Chattanooga, Tennessee))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub-character: 1 female))
((Blurb: Ghanaian drummer and singer, Kofi Mawuko, explains how he deals with cultural differences and makes a living in his adopted hometown, Chattanooga, a small city in southeast Tennessee.))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
One, two, three. Sankofa.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
My full name is Christian Kofi Mawuko, and I'm originally from Ghana, West Africa.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Be proud of where you come from
And what you are.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
I'm a full-time musician and also teach in the school system here in Chattanooga and around the southeast.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
You can, you can, you can make it
No matter how hard it may be.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
I'm here to spread my culture and also Ghanaian music.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
You'll lose your identity.
Oh, yeah.
Sankofa. Here we go. Everywhere. Sankofa.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Johnathan Wimpee
Band member))
I'll try to remember the keys.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Yeah.
((Johnathan Wimpee
Band member))
Okay.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
So, it just went off, right?
What time you got?
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Hey, Michelle.
((Michelle
Neighbor))
How are you doing?
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Good.
((NATS))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
I came here with a group 22 years ago, and then they did our little tour and I decided to stay. So that's what brought me to Chattanooga, and, you know, the rest is history.
((NATS))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Yeah, I come here three times a week. Performance takes a lot out of my body, so I have to get my body in shape, you know, to perform. Yeah, I've been living in this neighborhood for about 17, 18 years now. Still paying the mortgage, working hard to pay the mortgage, yeah. Yeah, very, very American.
((NATS))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
From the beginning, it wasn't easy to adapt here because, you know, because of the culture difference, you know. Back home, when you walk outside, you see people selling their wares. So, we have that outdoor experience, a community experience.
But here, you know, just even now, the sun is out, everything is bright, but there's no, there are no people, you know. So, if you are in your house, you and your family and your house, that's what you see every day. Each one for himself and God for us all. We use that term a lot.
((NATS))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
How was your day at work today?
((Tonetta Mawuko
Kofi’s wife))
I'll tell you what I loved. I went to see Mavis Staples.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Yeah. So that's good. So, we are going to put that in there, in the blender. So, we got chicken and turkey in here.
((Tonetta Mawuko
Kofi’s wife))
I love the Ghanaian food. So today, are we going to eat it with…
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
We're going to eat it with Banku today. Yeah.
So, I just got married with my newly wedded wife, and she is from Knoxville, Tennessee.
Alright. Alright, so this is how we do it, eating with our hands.
((Tonetta Mawuko
Kofi’s wife))
You did fill it?
Now, one thing I had to get accustomed to is not using a fork and a spoon, eating with my hands.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Yeah.
((Tonetta Mawuko
Kofi’s wife))
Very primitive, you know.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
You call it primitive, but that's a natural way. No, this is what I...
((Tonetta Mawuko
Kofi’s wife))
It's like what do we do before we had a fork and a spoon?
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
That's right. That's the question I was going to ask you.
So, turn your round like that. Put it in a bowl. See the magic…
((Tonetta Mawuko
Kofi’s wife))
Yes.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
…of the primitive people? Yep…of the smart people. I don't call them...
((Tonetta Mawuko
Kofi’s wife))
Okay, yes.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
I call them smart people.
((Tonetta Mawuko
Kofi’s wife))
Most definitely.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Yeah.
((Tonetta Mawuko
Kofi’s wife))
The first time we went to Accra, Ghana, and he showed me around where he grew up, and he comes from humble beginnings. It was more like a slum, you know.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
You know, we were very lucky to have that opportunity. And, you know, we always thank our leader who started it all.
((NATS))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Okay, good. So, this is how it all started. So that's me in the white shirt. Here, I can see I'd be ten or 11 years old then. We were the first children's group in Ghana, and that was our first experience traveling outside Accra to perform. And then, in the eighties, I played with a group based in Germany called Kalifi. That was our bus. This is me and my daughter’s mom. We were rehearsing in Germany. Yeah, this is in Ghana. You know, when I was in Ghana, I knew…I don’t know much about the United States, but I've heard a lot. Not only in Africa but anybody, anywhere that has not been here before is like, everybody who lives in America is rich. That's the mindset. So, yeah, I'll go to America, and I'll be rich, you know. But I can say I'm rich to still do what I love doing and, you know, get paid for.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Courtesy:
Kofi Quarshie
Kyirem Cultural Troupe, 1989))
I feel so good when I hear the music play.
I want you to dance with me.
I want you to rock my soul.
Down, and shake your body.
Up, up, and roll your body.
Down, and shake your body.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Thank you.
Alright, everybody, come around here. We're going to get warm, okay? Okay, so we're going to do a dance called Gota. Everybody say Gota.
((Students))
Gota.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
So, Gota means outside, alright? Especially in Africa, you know, most people cook outside, play outside, do most of the things outside. Alright? So, Gota dance is a celebratory dance to make everybody happy. So, we're going to have fun together today, alright?
((Students))
Yes.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Alright, so let's warm up.
Really good. Good warm-up, alright? So, here we go.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
I make a living here, playing gigs, traveling around, and also teaching the kids in the school system.
((NATS/MUSIC))
Forward, back, forward, back, forward, back and…bop.
My goal is, I want to see other people experience learning something from a different culture.
((NATS/MUSIC))
And bop, bop, bop, bop.
Good job, clap for yourselves. Yeah, that's beautiful. Alright.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Now, let me tell you, let me tell you something, okay? In life, if you hold yourself in, you'll be missing a lot of things in life. You got to be confident in everything that you do. Believe in yourself all the time. It's all here. I always talk about confidence. With these teenagers, it's very important to, you know, to plant that in them. And that confidence has been built in me since I was little. I don't care how big or how small you are, you know, I'll face you with a smile and break you down. Because we all make mistakes. Nobody is perfect. Alright. Thank you very much.
((Students))
Thank you.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Peace out.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
You know, thinking of America, you know, when I came here, sometimes smiling to some people, they were not even smiling back. So, I asked my friend, Omar. You know, he was born here as a Black man. And he's like, "Oh, yeah, that's how it is here. Some people don't like some people because of their skin color or their culture or where they come from.” And I'm like, “Oh, okay.”
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
You know, when I first came to Chattanooga, my first gig was here. We started the drumming and dance group here. We teach after-school program.
So, this museum is about the African American history, you know, from olden days through slavery or through Jim Crow.
When I came here, it was very, very shocking to me. Coming from Africa, we have no idea what was going on here in terms of segregation or slavery. And see all the horrors that our forefathers went through in the United States for over 100 years or 200 years, it really influenced my creativity.
"What we want is unity, togetherness, because we are all God's children, one people from one God.”
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Voice of Presenter
Barking Legs Theater))
Alright, we've got all the way from Ghana, Africa, let's hear it for the one and only, Kofi Mawuko and his band, Ogya.
((Crowd))
Yeah, Kofi!
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
So, Sankofa means, "Go back to your roots”, alright? We all have roots that we come from. If you are Black, you’re from where?
((Audience))
Africa.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
If you're white, you from where?
((Audience))
Africa.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Africa. We are all from Africa, right? Alright.
So, here we go. One, two, three.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
My goal, going on to stage, is to make my audience happy, put a smile on people's face because you don't know what they are going through. Maybe being at the concert and
laughing and smiling and clapping and tapping and moving their body, you've eased somebody's loneliness or depression or whatever. You've eased it down for that time. And even from there, maybe that person might have that switch and keep on smiling.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
So, we got to see how low we can go. Alright.
We go down. Go.
Down, down.
Now shake it.
Shake your body.
Up, up.
Up, up.
And roll it.
And roll your body.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
I preach about peace because, as a human being, we are all struggling, but it's about time we all put our differences aside and focus on how we can all co-exist and live together and be happy in life. Thank you, guys. Thank you for dancing with me.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Thank you very much.
((Voice of Presenter
Barking Legs Theater))
World class, Kofi Mawuko.
((Kofi Mawuko
Ghanaian Drummer and Musician))
Thank you.
((Voice of Presenter
Barking Legs Theater))
And Denise and Ogya.
((NATS))
