Akwaaba! My name is Ivana Nyamekye Opoku. You likely also know me as Yame, Ivy, or Sister Akua.

The Native Sun first came to bloom during the spring of 2022, as a response to a project assigned by my poetry professor. She asked us to imagine a world where poetry was tangible and present in our daily lives: prose on a sidewalk, a sticker on a metro car, a prayer in fine print at the bottom of a receipt. For those of us who know to search for poetry, this world is already here. Our task then——how do we prove poetry is not a luxury?

I created The Native Sun to be the illuminating light that inspires the awakening of sight. What began first as a medium for the poems and poets of my world to meet has matured into a temple for healing, query, and contemplation. The Native Sun will be thorough in its pursuit for answers, and above all, devoted in its reception of questions. As a vessel, I will continue to honor the storytellers of my lineage. This space is where the cosmic stream of the Ancestors, the Divine Creator, and the Yolk of Imagination converge into a great sea of infinite possibility.

Arrive curious, with your feet firmly rooted and your arms reaching for the Sun. 

Welcome home.