Hey Tina Turner, What’s Love Got To Do With It??
So yeah. I just finished pounding fufu on the first day of the harmattan.
That sentence has absolutely nothing to do with this letter whatsoever. I am just going to leave it there as a testament of my perseverance and drive for you to marvel at. I am also taking donations to buy ointment for the blisters on my hands. Please send all donations here:
Thanks a lot.
This letter is long overdue. It’s basically a follow up to last year’s themed writing campaign on “being an unconventional Ghanaian during Christmas”. This year’s theme is “What’s love got to do with it?”. (I’ll get into this year’s theme in a little bit). Last year’s series was really amazing, with so many posts that really spoke to how unconventional you Ghanaians really can be. There was a little (heated) exchange about God, who He is and why he does the things He does, between two of the publication’s writers. Here is a link to the first post. Like I know people who still reference those posts even more than a year after. Good stuff.
So to this year’s theme “What’s love got to do with it?” For almost everyone, depending on how big your scope is, 2016 has been pretty eventful. It doesn’t take much to figure that out. Trump, #BlackLivesMatter, Syria, Onaapo, Zika. I think in those four words and one hashtag, a picture of how eventful 2016 has been is painted really well. I have also come to understand that for a lot of people, 2016 has been the worst ever! To a large extent, it HAS been a LITTLE crappy at times. I am very sure that the news agencies have not had to fabricate anything in a pretty long while. For instance, two planes have crashed in the last two days. Enough said? Yah, I thought so too. Hmmm. Ah, wait… wasn’t there an apocalyptic movie about the world ending in 2016? Or was it 2012? 🤔 Hollywood, it’s all your fault!
On the other hand, there are people like Usain Bolt and myself. And for us 2016 has been the most amazing year ever. Usain got 3 olympic Gold Medals, for the THIRD TIME this year! But even overshadowing Usain’s year is mine, as I have fallen in love, gotten a Mac and watched the Kumawood rendition of Mortal Kombat, all in the space of this year.
From this, it’s pretty evident that most of the human race, irrespective of who or where they are, converge on how eventful the year was. At the same time, we diverge on exactly how we relate to the events that happened in 2016. So with love; a commonality we all share, the Unconventional Ghanaian publication is head-butting the point at which we diverge. We are asking; “What has love got to go with it (2016)”.
This is the point where I should start a deeper explanation of how the theme can be tackled by writers. But, I have come to understand that each writer has his or her own way of connecting and talking about a theme, so I’m just going to leave it at that. You’re unconventional and it will show. I’m pretty sure the writers on here are going to be so unconventional that they will not even talk about the theme (they’ll be led by one rascal in the being of Daniel Bempah). He thinks the theme is lame. Ah well. What else am I expecting?
All the same, please enjoy your time reading the posts that will follow. This is also a call to every writer who sees this. Start thinking, and start writing. It’s going to be a glorious (and eventful) end of year. While you wait, you can listen to Tina Turner’s Whats Love Got to do With it single here.
P.S: If you are a writer, and you want in on Unconventional Ghanaians, please just leave a comment/reply and I’ll be happy to make you a writer. If you are a reader, make sure you follow us sharp.
Happy reading
Mawuli Adjei.
