The influence of Kente on the worlds modern culture in social life, politics, and symbolism

 

The influence of Kente on the world's modern culture in social life, politics, and symbolism

Kente cloth has become popular around the world in recent decades, but its roots go back to Ghana and specifically, its southern region, known as the Ashanti region. The Ashanti are a part of the Akan people group.

“Kente” is an Akan/Ashanti word meaning basket, but the Akan also refers to the material as “nwentoma,” meaning woven cloth. Some Ghanaian history suggests that the Ewe tribe, in addition to the Ashanti, could have played a role in the origin of Kente. The Ewe’s are well-known experts in weaving, and they have a word in their language, “Kete,” a combination of the words ke (“open”) and te (“press”), referring to the actions of the weaving loom, from which the word Kente might have derived. Whatever the exact facts of Kente’s origins might be, there is a lovely Ashanti legend about two farmers who were enthralled with a spider’s web and tried to recreate it by weaving the black and white fibers of the raffia tree.

For many centuries, Kente was mainly worn by royalty because it was usually woven with silk, an expensive material imported through the trans-Saharan trade route. Even though it is often made with cotton, rayon, or other materials today, it is still pricey because all of the threads are imported. The cost is also due to the intricate process of weaving, which takes much time and human energy. One expert estimated that a strip of cloth (similar to the width and length of a graduation stole sash) could take an entire day’s work by the most skilled craftsman! The way Kente cloth is woven and the types of patterns that are created are both wonders to behold.

Picture of the Kente cloth.

Ghanaians tell stories and express ideas and proverbs through the Kente cloth. Every color and pattern has meaning, so the way they are used in various patterns, sometimes in combination with the Adinkra symbols, work together to express a specific idea, often with multiple layers of meaning.

meanings associated with many common colors in Kente cloth

·        black: maturation, intensified spiritual energy

· Blue: peacefulness, harmony, and love

· Green: vegetation, planting, harvesting, growth, spiritual renewal

· Gold: royalty, wealth, high status, glory, spiritual purity

·        Grey: healing and cleansing rituals; associated with ash

·        maroon: the color of mother earth; associated with healing

·        pink: assoc. with the female essence of life; a mild, gentle aspect of red

·        purple: assoc. with feminine aspects of life; usually worn by women

·        read: political and spiritual moods

· Silver: serenity, purity, joy; associated with the moon

· White: purification, sanctification rites, and festive occasions

· Yellow: preciousness, royalty, wealth, fertility, beauty

 

In this chapter, I will elaborate on the various impact of the kente cloth in our daily lives including, graduation ceremonies, politics, and African American cultural symbolism.

Kente as graduation Stole.

A Kente Graduation Celebration, also sometimes known as a Sankofa Ceremony, is a pre-commencement ceremony practiced in the United States, typically by African-American students graduating from high school or college, where participants are presented with a Kente stole to be worn over their gown during the graduation commencement. While a typical graduate’s stole might represent a field of study or academic achievement, a Kente stole displays the colorful, intricately woven patterns of the traditional West African Kente cloth.

The first Kente Graduation Celebration was celebrated in 1993, the idea conceived by four staff members at West Chester University who wanted to celebrate the obstacles overcome by African-American students graduating that year. The school has since seen over two thousand students walk with Kente stoles, and the tradition has since spread to graduation ceremonies at colleges and high schools across the country.

While Kente Graduation is mostly considered an African-American celebration, students from many ethnic backgrounds wear Kente stoles and participate in the ceremonies every year.

Kente Cloth Graduation Stole

Kente Cloth Graduation Stole

Kent as African American cultural symbolism

Kente appeared on the radar of most African-Americans in 1958 when Kwame Nkrumah, the first prime minister of independent Ghana, wore the cloth to meet with President Eisenhower at the White House. Coinciding with the Civil Rights and African Decolonization Movements, Black Americans associated Kente cloth with Black politics and the dignity of the African heritage. By the early 1970s, the predominant garment featuring Kente in the United States was the dashiki, a long tunic-type shirt that grew increasingly popular and commodified by the fashion industry.  Kente’s appeal within Black Power waned, with Fred Hampton and other Panthers leaders deriding those who wore them. Nevertheless, Kente cloth and dashikis remained staples of urban Black life and received a new layer of significance when adopted by the Hip Hop community in the 1980s.

Another important moment in Kente's fashion history occurred at the West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Recognizing the need to honor the particular historical and personal struggle of Black students to complete a baccalaureate degree, Dr. Franklin Simpson, Director of Affirmative Action, and Jerome “Skip” Hutson, Director of Minority Affairs, met with two English professors, Drs. Christian Awuyah and C. James Trotman. Together the four came up with the idea of a Kente Commencement Ceremony and on May 15, 1993, thirty graduates attended that first-ever event called A Family Affair. To date, nearly two thousand graduates of West Chester University have donned Kente stoles, including this author. The practice has since spread to hundreds of high schools, colleges, and universities, making the sun-drenched splashes and bursts of Kente print a ubiquitous sight of any commencement ceremony today.

Kente cloth has historical significance beyond slave traders

When Africans were kidnapped and brought to this country, they were told they didn’t have a history, they didn’t have a tradition,” N’Diyea said. "During the 1970s through at least the early 2000s kente cloth was regarded as a symbol of pride in African American identity and heritage."

Rep. Karen Bass, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, defended the legislators' use of kente cloth after the June 8 event.

“The significance of the Kente cloth is our African heritage, and for those of you without that heritage who are acting in solidarity,” Bass told reporters. “That is the significance of the Kente cloth. Our origins and respecting our past.”

The Ultimate History Project has pointed to the Pangi cloth woven by the Maroon people of Suriname as evidence of kente’s cultural significance beyond slave traders. Suriname, formerly Dutch Guiana, is a small nation on the northeastern coast of South America. Suriname gained its independence from the Netherlands in 1975. Suriname's Maroon people are the descendants of escaped African slaves. 

The Maroon people wear Pangi, which has similar patterns and colors to kente cloth. Historians believe the Maroons derived Pangi from kente cloths and their Asante culture. 

 

Kente clothes in Congress As a political tool

This is not the first time members of Congress have worn kente cloth in protest.

After President Donald Trump called some African nations “shithole countries” in 2018 members of the Congressional Black Caucus wore Kente cloth to the State of the Union address. 

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus wore kente cloths in September to honor the 400th anniversary of the first Africans brought to the colonies.

On June 8, Democratic members of Congress wearing kente cloths and face masks knelt in Emancipation Hall to memorialize Black lives lost to police brutality. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., read the names of unarmed Black people who’ve recently been killed by police.

"We were there for eight minutes and 46 seconds on our knees," she told reporters afterward. "My members will attest, it's a very long time. It's a very long time."

The group then introduced the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, aimed at changing policing after a series of Black individuals killed by police officers led to weeks of protest in the U.S. and overseas.

In the days since social media users have pointed out the cloth’s historical ties to the slave trade to criticize the legislators' garment choice.

KINGS' ATTIRES AND SUPREMACY

The Akan people have their roots in the Ashanti dominion that existed between 1701 to 1957.  During this era, there existed a Monarchial system of leadership and hence Kings ordinarily assimilated the Kente Cloth as per the Ananse spider web legend to symbolize greatness and supremacy. As such, with trade and modern relations, the Ashanti Kingdom assimilated silk and cotton apparel for the Kings and their concubines. The Kente Cloth became accessorized with modern fashion and aspects.