IN TRANSITION

Nana Asirifi Twereboo, Nkosuohene (Chief of Development/Progress) of Akyem Asafo, has gone to his ancestral village. The passing occurred July 4 at the Harlem Hospital, New York. Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in December 24 1943, Nana Asirifi Twereboo (nee Joseph Sargent) graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1962. As a young man he was an altar boy at the St. Augustine Church in Atlantic City. He married his long-time beloved wife Rosiland Mixon January 18, 1964. Soon after he got heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He later on worked at the Chase Manhattan Bank between 1964 and 1966, taught Swahili and Karate in 1968, worked at JFK Airport as a fuel handler in 1969 and became a tractor-trailer instructor in 1972. He was also the first Black Palero of Yoruba in the Bronx in 1972. He was also an accomplished percussionist. At the tender age of 15, he started drumming under the tutelage of Baba Femi, and went on to play with Reynard Simmons, David Coleman, Yomi Yomi and his brother Hassan Rafig. He drummed with various African dance companies in New York City that included Chuck Davis and the Marie Brooks Children’s Dance Company, as well as the Abibrim Group with the late Alex Kofi Bamfo. His friendship with Mr. Kofi Bamfo developed into brotherly relations that influenced Nana Asirifi to travel to Ghana more than thirty three times as a tourist organizer. Ghana became his second country, and Akyem Asafo his ancestral native town. Enstooled in 1992, Nana Asirifi Twereboo, in collaboration with St. Paul’s Baptist Community Church in New York, built a secondary (high) school in Akyem Asafo and furnished it with books. The school, which is currently one of the best in the Eastern Region of Ghana, has a boarding facility for non-residents. He was at one time a staunch member of Akyem Assocation, New York, and became its first Manhattan Borough Representative. He later became a Patron of the Association. Until recently he was a photo journalist of Amandla newspaper. He leaves behind his wife Afua Rosiland Sargent; two children, Jacqueline Torruellas and Tejula Sargent-Johnson; two sons-in law, Sherman Torruellas and Darryl Johnson; four grandchildren, Darryl Kwesi Sargent, Asha Torruellas, Tyron Turner (Sekani), and Zuri Johnson; and sister-in-laws Gloria McWhorter and Clifford McWhorter. .

For further information please contact Amandla at 201 704 5838.

Posted by on Jul 13 2015. Filed under Community News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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