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All Wail the Queen WSSU alumna receives royal title from dad's African tribe BY CHANEL DAVIS I HE CHRONICLE Winston-Salem State University students heard from one of their very own about how she became a queen. Nuekie Aku Opata, a 1998 WSSU alumna, returned to campus Thursday, Nov. 13 to detail her summer installation as Queen Mother of her father's tribe in Ghana. "Everyone has seen the movie "Coming to America." That is not an exaggeration. 1 literally didn't do anything for two weeks. They wait ed on me hand and foot," she said of her visit to her father's homeland. As Queen Mother of Development in the village of Doryumu, where her father, Frederick Kweku Opata, lives, Nuekie is charged with encouraging the girls in the village to get their education. Her name - Nuekie - means "Princess," and her family's royal line extends back several genera tions. Opata, who was born in Laurinburg, said her father extended the queen mother title to her to make amends for being absent for much of her life. Her parents met when they were students at N.C. A&T State University. Their relationship ended shortly after their daughter was born. Opata said her father's constant traveling pre vented them from developing a rela tionship. She said she reached out to him, after a failed marriage and having two children of her own. "I told him that I know we hadn't had the best relationship, but 1 want us to have a better relation ship and I wanted him to have a relationship with the children," she told an audience of about 40 or so. "He said that he never knew that 1 felt like that, and he can't make up for it but there is something he can do to make things better." He then extended the royal title as an olive branch, but Opata had to actually travel to Ghana to carry on the family legacy. Opata accepted the offer and began to make sacri fices to fly her and her children to Africa. "1 had to stop shopping; I had to stop getting my hair done as much, had to stop going to the nail shop, and 1 didn't take my tax refund and blow it," she said. "I took my money and saved it. We had to get tickets, passports, visas and shots." Opata said it was all worth it. She called the weeks she spent in Ghana the best time of her life. She was able to meet the 17 brothers and sisters she never knew she had; spent time with her father; learned the history of the Akan (the region's largest ethnic group) society; and toured historic places like Cape Coast Castle, a former slave trade outpost. "The first thing I thought was that this really is a beautiful place," she said of Ghana. "There were black people everywhere, no vio lence and no fighting." Most importantly, she said, the visit repaired her long-damaged relationship with her father. "My dad literally had a shrine of me. He had everything up on that wall that 1 had done from birth until I was a grown woman. I felt crazy because I had been mad at him for so long for not being there, and he didn't know how to show that he loved me," she said. Though her queen mother title is largely ceremonial. Opata plans to serve as an ambassador for the village. She is currently working with the Laurinburg City Council to make Laurinburg and Tema, her father's hometown, sister cities. She also wants to establish an African/American cultural resource center in Tema and start internation al cultural pageant and an African/American cultural club at a school in Laurinburg. She has also created a line of Ghanaian-inspired garments. African American Studies major David Price was inspired by Opata's story and hopes to visit Ghana him self one day. "1 think that it was very interest ing that someone was able to con nect to their culture." the sopho more said. "I feel like every African American should have been here and heard this." Senior Candice Helton said Opata helped her view Africa in a different light. "It really opened my eyes about the culture there," said Helton, who admitted that her view of Africa didn't include the modern-day advances Opata described. Opata visit was part of WSSU's International Education Week, which was from Nov. 10-14 and also included a global art exhibit and presentations by students and faculty who have studied and taught abroad. Price Photos by Chanel Davis Nuekie Aku Opata graduated from WSSU in 1998. i i ly | Helton linage by Profevvor John Hulton Salem getting first new dorm in 50 years CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT Salem College will break ground on a new residence hall on Friday, Dec. 5 al 4 p.m. on north campus, at the comer of Church and Cemetery streets. Construction is slated for completion in the late summer of 2015. Salem's Board of Trustees recently approved new res idence halls and the renovation of existing ones as part ot the Master Campus Plan. The college and its academy (for high school students) has seen three consecutive years of enrollment growth, including the largest incoming class in the history of Salem College. "We have repurposed m;iny spaces on campus in order to accommodate our record-breaking enrollment," said President Lorraine Sterritt. "We are delighted with the Board's authorization to move forward with a new resi dence. As we contemplate a judicious increase in the size of our undergraduate student body, this will make it possi ble for more women with the highest potential for success to benefit from a Salem College education." The "new residence hall will be a four-floor, 32.000 square-foot rectangular building with 92 beds in an apart ment-style configuration. It will cost an estimated $5.5 million. It will be Salem's first apartment-style housing and the first residential construction in nearly 50 years, since the construction of Gramlev Residence Hall in 1965 Salem has engaged Frank L. Blum Construction to develop the residence hall through a design-build agree ment. The team also includes CJMW Architecture and Stimmel Associates. PA. The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co. Inc.. 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston-Salem. N.C. 27101. Periodicals postage paid at Winston-Salem. N.C. Annual subscription price is $30.72. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Chronicle. P.O. Box 1636 Winston-Salem. 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Nov. 27, 2014, edition 1
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