Read Time: 4 minutes
Iron was a kind and honest person – by Napoleon Abdulai
Shared by Yao Graham on November 19, 2022
In loving memory of Comrade Iron.
I got to know Comrade Iron through Kofi Mawuli Klu in Cape Coast in October 1977. Iron immediately took me around campus showing me the location of interesting places including that great bookshop where he encouraged me to buy books. One such book is Amilcar Cabral’s Return to the Source. Selected Speeches of Amilcar Cabral. We met regularly at the flat of senior comrades Akwasi Aidoo and Vincent Oddateng where he read poems and spoke at length on culture.
Iron was a kind and honest person. He introduced me to popular poems and radical music. The last time we met was during a Workers Defence Committee (WDC) meeting in 1982. He was full of energy. The honesty he exhibited in 1977 was still there.
In 2018 in… read more
Remembering Iron
Shared by Alo Denkabe on November 19, 2022
I recall how one day, early in the days when the setting up of Defence Committees was gathering pace countrywide, Iron announced that he was going off to Takoradi to help the Railway Workers union with their implementation of this crucial political programme. He was literally empty handed as he headed out. All he had with him really was his passionate, unyielding spirit so far as the fight for freedom and justice was concerned. And that is one of the things that I came to appreciate about Iron (and will forever remember him for) – his passionate, indomitable spirit, like his moniker, in matters of fairness, equity and the upliftment of peoples’ lives.
One of the stories on his return to Accra is worth recounting here. At his first meeting with the railway workers at their… read more
Dearest Iron, We shall always miss you – Ama Ata Aidoo
Shared by Yao Graham on November 17, 2022
Dearest Iron,
One doesn’t even know whether to put this special nick name for you in quote or not. Since Korwu Tordzro sounds quite formal and so unlike the you we tried to make a revolution with. We admired, we respected and loved you.
Dear fellow writer, the short stories and the poems were precious.
We always missed you whenever a few of us got together and you were not present. We shall always miss you. We miss you already.
Ama Ata Aidoo
He populated his stories with ordinary people – Goosie Tanoh
Shared by Yao Graham on November 16, 2022
One cannot speak of Iron without recalling his humor , natural gift as a raconteur and his undeniable creativity . These attributes of his are laced in unforgettable, indelible moments in each of the lives of those of us who were privileged to be close to him as friends .
And of course his music, and spontaneous improvisations still ring loud in our remembrance of this restless genius of a friend . Bronyi’smusic was purposeful and functional . They were often conceived to advance community consciousness and knowledge be it in promoting primary health care , improving productivity at the work place , promoting fairness and equal access to community resources and many other interventions that drew on his considerable talent at communicating and educating through song.
The lyrics and rhythm… read more
Shared by Yao Graham on November 16, 2022
A Great Mind – by Benjamin a.k.a. Aingre one of Iron’s students in Cuba
Iron taught me HISTORY at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial School- ESBEC # 22, on the Isles of Youth in Cuba.Indeed, a great and Excellent MIND, who helped our academic journey in Cuba-very successful.
He was committed/dedicated to the peasants and working class struggle.
REST IN POWER IRON – as the nickname depicts in the class struggle for the underprivileged/oppressed.
One of his composed revolutionary songs which directly spoke to the essence of the proletarian struggle was-
As l Paraphrase here:
HUNGER AND WANT
POVERTY AND MISERY
HUNGER AND WANT
WE ARE THE FARMERS
WE ARE THE LABOURERS ALL OVER TOWN
WE DO THE ALL MANNER OFWORK YET IN THE NIGHT SLEEP ON HUNGRY STOMACHS
HUNGER AND WANT.
Indeed! REST IN POWER-TORDZRO and revolutionary inform Chè, Fidel, Nkrumah, Sankara, Machel, Winnie, Lumumba, etc,…
A talented comrade and activist – by Kwame Mfodwo
Shared by Yao Graham on November 16, 2022
Iron was a true stalwart of the struggles waged by the National Union of Ghana Students and other groups against the military regime of the Colonels and Generals that was the National Redemption Council (NRC) which then became The Supreme Military Council (SMC)
Iron was in Akuafo Hall along with myself Kyeretwie Opoku and many others – he was a very close friend and was particularly close to Yao Graham of Third World Network – many know him as D Gray
Iron was important politically because he was very creative and gifted in the areas of music drama and poetry
He produced many on the spot dramas and poems which gave extra political meaning to many of the issues of that time – both the issues of working people and of students – he could make a rhyming poem out of anything that came up and raise… read more
Memories of Iron from Dr. Akwasi Aidoo
Shared by Yao Graham on November 16, 2022
I got to know Tordzro (AKA “Iron”) way back in the 1970s at the University of Cape Coast. He was a great force of nature, with what I call outstanding CREDIT qualities as a comrade in the youth struggle for democracy, justice and equitable development. His CREDIT (as acronym) stood for his combination of:
C ordiality
R eliability
E mpathy
D etermination \I nnovativeness
T eam-spirit
May his great Soul rest in eternal and perfect peace!
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