Bu Me Be: Akan Proverbs

The Asantes and to a large extent the Akans of Ghana are a proverbs people, who over the past 400 years built empires and civilizations. One can fully understand and appreciate the philosophy and other cultures of these African people without understanding their proverbs. In ancient days, education in many African traditional societies involved oral not written communication. Even today, this is still the case, since proverbs continue to function as a way to reinforce moral and social precepts, and they teach the philosophy and ways of the community, its customs, and its prejudices. The proverbs collected in this book provide a richness of poetic imagery and vision, distilling the best of Asante language and oral tradition. In addition, they give inspiration to drum and horn language and provide depth to the funeral dirges and the appellations of Asante and Akan chiefs and the traditional political and religious rulers. They are also used symbolically in many items of stool paraphernalia, where visual designs have associated proverbial meanings.