Permission to use Ghanaian Adinkra symbol

[Kwaku Kwakyi]

Folks, Does anyone know the copyright requirements needed to use an appropriate Ghanaian adinkra symbol? I realize that people (businesses also?) freely use Gye Nyame and others adinkra in various endeavors. Is there a group/body that authorizes the use of such symbols?  Please advise.  Thanks!   -Kwaku Kwakyi

[Kwaku A. Danso]

Ha!

As for you Kwaku Kwakyi paaa!! You gave me my first laugh.

 

You have to really go home and live more than 3 months to really know your Ghana!

As the village champion once said “We are drinking palm wine and you talk about shirt for the school boys”.

 

Look, where is the patent office going to be housed? Where? Can  you have a patent office without use of Computers to document?

 

Didn’t you read that since 1992 the Honorable Members of Parliament have not had a chair and desk to sit on!!!

Huh!!

Kwaku, tears fill my eyes sometimes to know that is the society I came from. Occasionally you will hear they are naming streets and numbering houses. You may even hear of patent offices and people doing Economic analysis. Trust me Kwaku, don’t worry about such things. I was ushered into the Graphic office one time and I watched a young man interviewing me about Computers use in Ghana and seeing the kind of paper the man was writing on,,. He eventually took a break and said ‘Masa, as for computers there are too many computers in Ghana oo. Everywhere you go they say computer! Everywhere they say computer! Isn’t there too many computers in Ghana!”.

.  

Forget about it, Kwaku, and if you can use the Adinkrah to make some money, do it. Haven’t the Chinese been using our designs to make cheap cloth and selling them in Ghana? Who born them?

This is what reminds me of my late Aunt Akyema who used to say “to mu da”, meaning literally “close your door and go to sleep” since it is mere noise and no cause for alarm. .

 

Kwaku, why do you think some white people like Ghana?

Think about it?

There is more freedom to make money in Ghana and Africa than anywhere in America!

Why?

So far as you find a niche market, be it in digging gold or oil or selling used clothing, so far as you have a market, you can start and nobody will bother you. Nobody seems to obey any rules over there. Builders don’t get permits, houses are built but don’t get registered, and titles to property is through some patapaa principles where possession is half the law, as they say in ancient real estate.

Some people think I am joking but I found out electricity is cut off anytime they want, especially when it rains. Water has been cut off for two weeks in my East Legon area and my nephew told me today the Ghana Water representatives have come around telling them some pipes were cut during some repair work and the neighbors should come and pay money to have the water connected. He did not even tell how much money to pay!  

 

Kwaku, does this look like the kind of society you should worry about patent rights?

Look, the only advice I will give you for sure if you want to go and live in Ghana is to buy you at least one pistol and one shot gun that make lots of noise when you shoot. It is a jungle out there as they say!  Don’t get me wrong, Kwaku – you can get into trouble in Ghana if you act arrogant and it will cost you lots of bribe money! When the heat gets closer like this Restaurant man at Osu insulting Africans, you can get into trouble,, and it will cost you money. Other than that you can make all the money you want and nobody will even know you exist. Kwaku, nobody keeps account ooo! There is plenty of money in Ghana the government should be able to do away with this begging form overseas. Sometimes I used to laugh a lot and listen to Asempa FM, Happy FM, JOY-FM when electricity is cut off and I have battery in my Radio. Don’t forget the station that plays Rihanna songs! My Gosh!! I learnt to like Rihanna in Ghana.

I sincerely think there is reason some people retire in Ghana. Humans get tired following rules. Sometimes don’t you feel like taking you dick out and urinating in the public park in Detroit? Come oon1 Tell the truth! But you can’t do that here. You can do it in Accra! The human being is not hard to please. A full stomach, occasional woman or man to satisfy other needs, and a human being is no different than an animal. Some happiness in being in  a nation where there are no rules! You are on your own! No patents!! Freeeddooooonmmmmm!!

 

Enjoy your day and Rihanna music if you are driving or in darkness in Ghana.  Right now I am enjoying and laughing - it’s Rick Perry day that makes the laugh, on CNN. I feel sorry for the man,, he sound like some arrogant man but perhaps a nice person to his friends over a gallon of beer!  

 

 

              Kwaku A. Danso, M.Eng., PhD

    East Legon-Accra, Ghana   -  Livermore, California, USA

President - Ghana Leadership Union (NGO), Moderator-GLU and GLF Forums.

http://groups.google.com/group/glu-ghana-leadership-forum?hl=en?hl=en

 

Author: Leadership Concepts and the Role of Government in Africa: The Case of Ghana - http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Concepts-Role-Government-Africa/dp/142572499X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319743034&sr=1-1

 

Publisher - Global Express Communications - www.globalexpressonline.com

For Best Engineered, Managed, and Quality-built and most competitively-priced homes in Ghana, see:

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[Kwaku Kwakyi]

K. Danso, Thanks for the heads up. My Ghana-based contact confirmed that for cultural reasons, those in-the-know have decided free use of our Adinkra symbols.   It seems to me that for publicity and spread of Ghanaian culture throughout the world, the decision is right.  As such, I will take my time to pick and choose an appropriate symbol. Thanks again, doc!   -Kwaku Kwakyi --- On Thu, 11/10/11, Kwaku A. Danso <dans...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Kwaku A. Danso]

Publicity spread of our culture?

 

And what economic benefits does that bring us?

 

K. Danso

[Shauna Castro]

Dr. Dansu. I'm writing to thank you for your thoughtful response. I had the same question as Kawku regarding showing respect and feeling the need to show respect to creators of Sankofa adninkra symbol but you make sense. I imagine your busy but from your thoughtfulness in response to the question about copywriter, I value the dialogue.  I'd like to share with you why I want to use Adinkra in my work or how I've been using it and again I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

I'm a Licensed Mental Health Therapist in California. I gravitated to this field after wanting to understand why people like me with my complexion and coming from my communities didn't have opportunity to go to college in America, the land of opportunity. I learned about African Centered psychology, the disconnection from the self and community for many African Americans. At core to our healing is having knowledge of self. My favorite assignment was through Wade Nobles, a Social Psychologist trained at Stanford.  We had to write a paper on the residuals of Africa. I didn't know where to begin and when I started I didn't know where to end. Essentially we had to think about what do we still have with us that survived the abrupt disconnection from family, community, middle passage, chattel slavery, drugs, poverty etc. We saw the move Sankofa in my first African Centered psychology class fought by Halford Fairchild and I was amazed that I had to get to college to know of its existence. Anyway…those are memories that are far away for many, we live our lives here trying to forget. We also forget the love, that is the essence of who we are. 

God is love, we are divine.  If we should remember this love for ourselves and it resonates to others, that is the ultimate healing and freedom from suffering. It is a delicate balance to stay connected to what's loving to self and others while realize that sometimes there's pain when you can't seem to balance love for self and others. This was where my center Be Love Community Counseling came from. I work with people with vision that that could be love. Loving to themselves and resonate love to all beings. Being love = Sankofa for me. It is going back and remembering our best stuff but not forgetting or difficult times and being our optimal in the present time. 

Peace & blessings! 

[Kwaku A. Danso]

Dear Shauna,

 

Thanks for the compliment. I don’t even know what I wrote, and at my age and the volume of writing I do daily, it helps to have what I wrote so I remember context.

I presume you were born here and hence African American, but are you one of the first generations or distant past? The reason I ask is the difference in psychological makeup as being found recently about motivational factors leading to success of African American variations in America. BTW what part of California are you? I am very glad to know you are in the best state of the 50, California. Huraaahh!! We did 1300 miles not long ago driving to Las Vegas and what a difference in drought conditions this year!! And then it started raining when we got to the other side of the mountains in Nevada!

 

  Yes, people have to find their roots and hopefully if they have love in their hearts, will learn to understand the journey others have taken to make it possible for us today and bring us all where we are. I can’t even believe I was in high school in Ghana when Kennedy, and MLK Jr., were killed and the civil rights marches. Boy were some of us lucky when we came to America!! We all go through pain and it is how we cope with it that determines our mental health. Opportunities in life may come and disappear, and especially some of us who studied the white-man’s magic in unraveling the mysteries of nature through subjects as Electronics Engineering and Sciences. I bite myself and even know we thought of some brilliant ideas but lacked the opportunity to nurture it till somebody else is smiling to the Bank with the Billion dollar bags! Gosh! Well, we all have our burdens, and I can cite a few of those but who cares now! Some of us had to take care of responsibilities entrusted on us and perhaps unable or impossible to make the necessary sacrifices to rise to the very top.  

   Your field of mental health therapy fascinates me as I am the type who puzzles over every problem I do not understand. I don’t particularly like the treatment of all problems with medication but would love to go deep into man’s Psyche to find out what makes some survive and others break down.

 

BTW we have two GLU forums (I guess GLU and GLF) and I noticed you came on GLF. I am trying to merge all into one. GLU is the original and there was time Google was making some changes and locked me out so I started to create another one GLF and reached only 90 members. GLU has perhaps 350 or so members.   

 

Let me share some of my favorite thoughts with my long signature line below.  

 

 

From: Kwaku A. Danso, M.Eng., PhD

(President, Ghana Leadership Union, Inc(NGO) and Moderator, GLU Forum.)

Author: Leadership Concepts and the Role of Government in Africa: The Case of Ghana"

Publisher - Global Express Communications - http://www.globalghana.net/

      Livermore, California, USA

Email: dans...@gmail.com, or  kda...@att.net  /Skype: dr.k.danso

 

Empowering Democracy through Creative Analysis & Strategic Solutions

 

LIFE IS WAR! but wise people settle disputes using their brain-power and without War! Let the life of Nelson Mandela be the lesson, and may he rest in Peace.

Help others fight theirs by giving, and better still teach and empower them! And if you think it cannot be done and want to live on superstition and some external deity to solve problems, please watch Shaka Zulu!!

 

LIFE IS A BUSINESS,Period!  At the end of the day, always remember, or you will find that you get what you put into in,, and sometimes more. Do the right thing now! and look for the results at the end of the river as grandma said. 

WORK HARD, PLAN and THINK AHEAD. Remember the Bible says:

    “The poor is hated even by his own neighbor, but the rich has many friends.” (Proverbs 14: 20)

     “In all labor there is profit, but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.” (Proverbs 14:23).

LEARN from Others and from Life and Prosper. The Bible says:

    “Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instructions, but he that regardeth reproof shall be honored.” (Proverbs 13:18).

    “A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.” (Proverbs 12:18).

    “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22.7)

HAVE FIRE! but No need to show Anger!  Think before you respond.

British Colonial Governor of Nigeria  Lord Lugard once wrote about the African: "His THOUGHTS ARE CONCENTRATED ON THE EVENTS AND FEELINGS OF THE MOMENT, and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future, or grief for the past. His mind is far nearer to the animal world than that of the European or Asiatic, and exhibits something of the animals’ placidity and want of desire to rise beyond the State he has reached" (Lord Frederick John Lugard, 1926).

   Anybody can offer opinions and say what we used to call nkwaseas3m (foolish talk).  It is called "free speech".  One can call him a racist or any names. However, it is left to Africans alive today in the post-Independence era, to prove such people wrong!

Question to ask of yourself is: LIke the Network man, are you ready to say:

I AM MAD AS HELL and I AM NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE

or simply want to give it to God?
To SURVIVE and PROSPER in life one has to be almost paranoid as the former Intel Corporation CEO Andy Grove says, or

have the EYE OF THE TIGER! As Katy Perry says!!

 

STRATEGY is what you do to arrest an armed mad man on the prowl, or to achieve a target others have, or to exective your own vision to win at the game of life.  You stop, take a deep breath, think and ponder, consider your strengths, size the opponent, and remember the wisdom of my village Tow Truck:  MAN PASS MAN!!  It can be done! Plan and keep a focus!

 

BTW, Enjoy your day, and days on earth, whatever is left of it that you think somebody will carve out for you as you slumber!! And when things get to you and you want to relax and enjoy a good meal, go to EMBASSY RESTAURANT- (A Major Re-Opening -June 15, 2014!)

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[Oliver Twist]

I know its old
But why you thought there is a copyright on ancient symbols?
Who should hold that right?
Is there a copyright on chinese (ying-Yang) or hieroglyphs?

You can use it for sure all over the world, even in europe or america. :D

Thats why I never would buy a license for like www.adinkra.org offers (http://www.adinkra.org/htmls/graphics.htm). ;)

Maybe I would pay for there work to digitize it. But not for the license. :D

PEACE!!!! :D