December 2019

By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra – 23 December, 2019 Christmas is here – and we wish ourselves and each other well. Over the weekend while an elderly friend, Uncle B, poured me a drink, he wished me Season’s Greetings thus: “It’s Christmas. Glory to God in the highest, peace on Earth and good will to all men”. With the gender angle, which excludes women and humankind acknowledged, I reminded him that The Roman Missal has the Luke 2:14 verse say, “Glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace to men of good will”. “It is discriminatory,” he replied. “How can you not wishRead More →

By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra – 11 December, 2019 Jacqueline Woodson’s glossy romance about the Year of Return published on nytimes.com on 9 December is significantly flawed. She was narrating her impressions following a short trip to Ghana and promoting the laudable idea that “African-American dollars should be reinvested in Africa”. She concluded that her family will travel back to America and return occasionally because that is what makes them “African” and “American”. Well the fact is that most of us – 75%, of Ghanaians want to emigrate as revealed by the Pew Research Center. So what are some of what Woodson called the “push”Read More →

By Isaac Ato Mensah Abetifi – 9 December, 2019 Joseph Emmanuel Allotey-Pappoe (JEAP), aged 72, the primus of Institute of Public Relations – Ghana, was cremated at the Lashibie Funeral home on 6 December. The cremation and funeral service of the 72 year old soft spoken teetotaller provided Ghana’s PR practitioners with many useful lessons. Ghana’s PR “gurus” were there – the ladies in their wicked and surreal western-style wigs, but it is all good; their students can now tell the difference. My students were also there to support their classmate, Godfre, JEAP’s son. Now at least one of my classroom battles has ceased, myRead More →

By Isaac Ato Mensah Accra – 2 December, 2019 Sara Maino, Deputy Director, Special Projects and Talents for Vogue Italia, visited BlueCrest College on 21st October. Her mission was to see what the faculty and students at the School of Fashion and Design have for the world. It was that simple. Nothing much to report than to say look out for a feature on the visit in Vogue magazine. The visit included a brief meeting attended by Dev Varyani, the board chair of BlueCrest College himself, which immediately provided serious impetus and gravitas to the event. Also present were Dr Anand Agrawal, Rector and SujithRead More →