DENKYIRA, WEST AFRICA, SUMMER 1800
The family sat together in the courtyard of their house with the wind rustling the leaves of the palm tree in one corner and the food set up before them. Kodzo knew that with the first harvest of the year successfully gathered, there was plenty for everybody, plantains, yams and manioc, together with sweet potato and gourds of beer.
Koshiwa Badu sat at the head, joking with her family, chiding where necessary, allowing the children all the freedom of childhood while keeping them from danger, as was the Denkyira tradition. Beside Koshiwa was Yawo, her daughter, and Kofi and Fifi, her sons. Further away, Kwabena and Kodzo, her grandsons, played happily with the fowls, not caring about the conversation of their elders. They were at home and life was as it
