Midnight's Family

When midnight at last arrived on March 6, 1957, church bells sounded across Accra. The crowds, who had filled the city streets with the hum of celebration and hope, pushed into the square outside Parliament and cheered as Britain's Union Flag was lowered, and the green, gold and red colors of the new nation of Ghana were hoisted in a light breeze. In a nearby polo ground, Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah broke into dance and then spoke of a dream finally realized. "Today, from now on, there is a new African in the world," he declared. "At...