Oral Kwame Ofori (born January 26, 1980), professionally known as Oral Ofori, is a Ghanaian-American award-winning digital media producer and blogger, freelance journalist, entrepreneur, and writer. Born in

Tema Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most popul ...

, he is also the founder of the US-based communication consultancy TheAfricanDream LLC. In February 2018 Ofori took on a

language interpretation Interpreting is a translational activity in which one produces a first and final target-language output on the basis of a one-time exposure to an expression in a source language. The most common two modes of interpreting are simultaneous inter ...

job as a level II interpreter of the

Twi Twi () is a dialect of the Akan language spoken in southern and central Ghana by several million people, mainly of the Akan people, the largest of the seventeen major ethnic groups in Ghana. Twi has about 17-18 million speakers in total, includ ...

and

Ga language Ga is a Kwa language spoken in Ghana, in and around the capital Accra. There are also some speakers in Togo, Benin and Western Nigeria. It has a phonemic distinction between three vowel lengths. Classification Ga is a Kwa language, part of ...

with the

Fairfax County Public Schools The Fairfax County Public Schools system (FCPS) is a school division in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. It is a branch of the Fairfax County government which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax. FCPS's headqu ...

system. In December 2021 Mr. Ofori started work with the Embassy of Ghana, Washington, D.C. as Head of the Customer Relations Office under Ambassador Alima Mahama. In February 2024 Mr Ofori's firm TheAfricanDream LLC partnered the Washington DC government in the United States to provide media for the event dubbed Africa on the Avenue to support local businesses.

Early life, career and education

Born to Ghanaian parents in

, Oral Ofori graduated from

Chemu Senior High School Chemu Secondary School is a coeducational second-cycle institution at Tema, in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It is a day-boarding school (no provision of hostel) that is located at Community four in Tema. History The school became establi ...

in 1998 and completed his journalism studies at the

London School of Journalism The London School of Journalism (LSJ) is an independent journalism school based in London, England, which offers qualifications in journalism, freelance journalism and creative writing. The LSJ provides both on-site and distance learning to it ...

in 2006. The following year, he began an internship with the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

(VOA) in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, as a radio news reporter and contributor. Ofori is also a columnist for Ghanaian news websites such as

GhanaWeb GhanaWeb, founded as GhanaHomePage, is a Ghananian portal, content curation and syndication website covering news, politics, business, sports, entertainment, opinions and general information about Ghana. It was launched by ''GhanaWeb B.V.,'' a pr ...

ModernGhana ModernGhana is an online media portal that has been in operation since 2005. The site covers news, politics, business, sports, entertainment and opinions. It is owned by Modern Ghana Media Communication Ltd., a privately owned Ghanaian company. ...

, and the US-based ''Afrikan Post'' newspaper. He has also contributed to publications including the ''

Los Angeles Sentinel The ''Los Angeles Sentinel'' is a weekly African-American owned newspaper published in Los Angeles, California. The paper boasts of reaching 125,000 readers , making it one of the oldest, largest and most influential African-American newspapers ...

'', Swedish news magazine ''Beyond Borders'', the ''

Dallas Weekly The ''Dallas Weekly'' is a newspaper headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the major Dallas-Fort Worth black newspapers. It was first published in 1954. From 1954 to 1985 the publisher was founder Tony Davis, from 1985 to 2018 James Washing ...

'', the ''North Dallas Gazette'', and the ''Baltimore Times''. Since 2014, Ofori has been host and producer of #TheAfricanDream show aired on

Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...

Public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

's channel 30.

Reporting and interviews

Ofori formally started a blog in 2011 and has since then written about or interviewed persons including Mayor Peter Bossman, scientist and fiber optics innovator Dr. Thomas Mensah, Anthony K. Wutoh; Howard University Provost and Chief Academic Officer, and musician and artist

Koby Maxwell Koby Maxwell, (born 25 November 1978, as Maxwell Koby Okwensy) is a Ghanaian musician, singer, actor and producer who currently resides in Washington, D.C. in the United States. He says that his goal is to maintain the authenticity of African mus ...

. Some of his other interview subjects have been Deborah Addo of INOVA Hospitals in the US, Grammy-nominated musician and activist

Rocky Dawuni Rocky Dawuni is a Ghanaian singer, songwriter and record producer who performs his signature 'Afro Roots' sound which is a mixture of Reggae, Afrobeat, Highlife and Soul music. He currently lives between Ghana and Los Angeles. Rocky is a two-time ...

, sportscaster Sonny Young of Voice Of America, historic

Quander family The Quander family is believed to be the oldest documented African-American family that has come from African ancestry to present day America. Historians believe so because they cannot find any records of any other African-American family whos ...

member Rohulamin Quander, Hege Hertzberg, former Ambassador of Norway to Ghana, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso and Liberia, and among others

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

Professor Michael C. Campbell.

Recognitions

References

External links

* * *
www.oralofori.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ofori, Oral Ghanaian journalists 1980 births Journalism in Africa Living people People from Tema Ghanaian bloggers Ghanaian mass media people American people of Ghanaian descent Alumni of the London School of Journalism Ghanaian expatriates in the United States