The James Mtume Interview Set III

My first experience with "The Motherland" was playing with the Umoja (Unity) Ensemble. We were scheduled to play in "The Rumble In The Jungle." We were scheduled to be on that show. Miles booked some gigs in Europe so I couldn't do it. The next time I visit Africa we're going over there for the 50th Anniversary of their revolution in Ghana. I stayed a bit in Ghana, the next year I was made a Chief. I've been going back and forth for the last fifty years. I was enstooled as a chief, a friend of mine took me to see the primary Chief. We started hanging out and I visited the Palace. We got tight and he said, "I'd like to enstool you as a chief." My official name in Ghana is "Nana Mensah." I never played for him. The first thing we got tight in was that my wife and aunt donated a bunch of computers for a school in one of the villages. That was just vibrations and a whole new world for those kids. He wanted me to be one of his personal advisors. They slit a goat in front of me, cooked it, ate it. I've never mentioned that in any interview in my life. You went never never land on me." African Folklore is still healthy but you see that change is coming. My son and I were just in Cuba in May. We were standing in the middle of Revolution Square and I sent my whole family two months later. My wife, my kids and my grandkids. I said, "I want y'all to check this out now before McDonalds gets there. It no longer will be a picture of change, it will be Ronald McDonald on the front cover.