The Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations is teaming up with several Ghanaian community organizations in the NY-NJ-CT metro area to honor the late President John Evans Atta Mills in a memorial tribute to be held one week after he is buried.
The event will take place on Friday August 17 2012 at the pristine Riverside Church in upper Manhattan, New York City. Slated to start at 6:00 p.m. the program will include a video presentation on the life and times of the late President as well as tributes by various organizations, diplomats, and other prominent individuals. There will also be a brief inter denominational service that will include the offering of Moslem prayers by the Chief Imam of the Ghanaian community. To give the program an authentic Ghanaian flavoring, there will be Ghanaian gospel music as well as traditional poetry exaltations – “Damirifa Due” eulogy - set against a backdrop of “atentenben” musical recitals. Thousands of Ghanaians and friends of Ghana are expected to jam the huge and elegant sanctuary to honor the man whose leadership style, character and personality have his name alongside the words “Man of Peace” aptly inscribed into the collective consciousness of his countrymen and indeed of all of mankind.
Located at 490 Riverside Drive, Manhattan (it shares a street with another famous New York landmark – the Union Theological Seminary) the Riverside Church is famous for its elaborate Neo-Gothic architecture and its history of social justice in its 75 years of existence.
Organizations participating in this historic collaborative endeavor include the National Council of Ghanaian Associations (NCOGA), the New York Chapters of the NDC, NPP and CPP, Council of Ghanaian Associations of New Jersey, Ghanaian Lawyers Association, nearly all Ghanaian Churches and social groups in the area.
