LINCOLN’S STORY

Jamaicans are very conscious that Africa is their motherland, especially among the Rastafarians, and many reggae artists have lyrics in their songs about Africa.

Therefore, as a Jamaican, I always wanted to travel to Africa and got more interested while sharing an apartment with a Ghanaian in Vienna, Austria. Because my roommate is from Ghana, I chose to make this country the first place to visit in Africa. In 2008 a lady from Ghana sent me online a photograph and asked if we can be friends. At the time, I had little or no interest in trying to make friends with anyone on the internet. I never did this before, but because I was planning to travel to her country, I accepted.

About two months later, after we became friends, she was able to make me believe the story she told me about her family problems. She also said that she wanted to finish school and asked me if I could help. I started sending her funds monthly to pay for her school fees. Just about eight months later, she introduced a male person to me on the phone, whom she said was her cousin. He also asked me to send him money, which I did send to him two times in small amounts.

I can remember her telling me quite often how happy she would be to show me around when I visit Ghana. When I finally decided to travel there, she said it would be much better to meet in a border country because her uncle might want to harm me. After all, he doesn’t like to see her with a man.

Her previous odd behaviors had already been showing me signs of dishonesty, so it was now clear that I have been a scam victim. I couldn’t quite understand why a person I am helping to get an education would do such a thing! I told my roommate I must fly to Ghana to catch these scammers with the help of the police.

After I had made the final arrangements to travel to Ghana in 2009, my roommate arranged one of his friends, who is a pastor, to support me during my stay there. The pastor then informed the scammers that on my way to Ghana, I would spend a few days in another county before I arrive.

The real truth is, I arrived there four days earlier than the time they were expecting me so I could prepare to catch them with the help of the local police. After the scammers confirmed to meet me at the airport, we had a female undercover police officer escorted us to have them arrested, but unfortunately, they didn’t come.

The pastor and I decided to go to the scammers’ resident address located in a community called Alajo, which is one of the poorest slums in Accra, Ghana. When we got there, we only found a Church, and not one of the people we asked about that lady seemed to know her.

We then went to the only post office in the community to make some inquiries. We asked the employees if they could remember this young woman who often came to collect packages I sent her from Austria. A male employee told us that he remembered those packages with my name as the sender and the lady who came to collect them but knew nothing much about her.

As soon as we walked out of the post office, I remember saying to the Pastor that I want to come back here to do something worthwhile for this neighborhood. For example, help to develop a safe community, providing homes and an institution to teach the parents and their children how to exercise good human qualities in their lives. By doing so, this would achieve a beneficial effect on their lives and provide their children with a chance for a more decent future.

Suddenly, receiving these thoughts, I seem to have discovered a real sense of purpose for my life. Therefore my feelings of disappointment were immediately replaced with Joy and relief. Perhaps I would have never thought of doing such a worthwhile project if it hadn’t been for this negative experience. Yet, I began wondering if these struggles I have been confronting in my life were a preparation for this mission. Well, if it is, then it was worth it.

Now that I was all excited and full of energy to carry out this mission, it was time for me to get to know the Ghanaian people. I started traveling around Accra, the Capital City of Ghana, with taxis, local buses they call Tro Tro, and visited various places and met a variety of people. I happily discovered how friendly and polite the Ghanaians are, especially the remarkable beautiful and charming women. One of the things I noticed about this folk is that when you show them a little kindness, they are willing to do almost anything to express their appreciation. Yet, in my opinion, they become vulnerable to be taken advantage of by people with money or in influential positions with wrong intentions.

One day I was shopping at a local market in Kaneshie, which is one of the largest in Accra. A charming lady in her late thirties approached me with an empty basket and politely asked if it was okay to help carry the items I purchased for a couple of Ghana cedi. After noticing her politeness, I agreed. Is this what you do for a living I asked? She replied, yes.

She then put the items in her basket and carried it to a nearby taxi station. After we packed the goods in a taxi, I asked her how much I should pay for her service. In my opinion, the amount she mentioned was not enough. However, I had already planned on giving her more than the amount she wanted. Unfortunately, I then realize I didn’t have enough local currency left, so I gave her an American $10 note.

I cannot explain in words how happy I was to see the way this lady expressed her Joy. She then told me that she had never experienced someone showing this amount of kindness to her before, so she would close for the day and go home. I felt so much pain in my heart, and tears came to my eyes after I heard what she said. If I had more funds with me, I would have given her at least US$50 more. Please understand everyone that the most valuable achievement a person can have in this life is when you start showing a little kindness to the less fortunate.

Ghana, like other parts of the world, has its negative sides as well. On the other hand, the vast amount of potential in this country, and its friendly people encouraged me more to try harder to carry out my mission to help the less fortunate here and around the world.

After a couple of visits to Ghana, it was now clear that using my music to generate funds would be the only possible way to carry out my plans. Nevertheless, how can I do this not having the funds, I am not a well-known artist or have any hit songs on the market. Yes, I had some doubts, but the desire to carry out this mission to support the underprivileged, grew stronger each day and gave me hope. Is it possible that God used my negative experience as a scam victim to reveal something he wants me to do? I hope so.

Now while back in Austria after my third visit to Ghana, an idea came to my mind to write a commercial song expressing my positive views of Ghanaian women. For that reason, I wrote a song entitled Ghana Girls, which needed to have the potential to succeed in the international market to generate funds for my Ghana mission.

While I was writing the song Ghana Girls, I became fully aware that it was necessary to have in the final product a bit of Ghanaian music and culture as an influence in the production. Therefore to have this done, I needed to travel to Ghana to do the demo recordings, and this I did in the same year.

Please take note that I wrote the song Ghana Girls in the early stage visiting Ghana. Since then, I have discovered so many valuable facts about this country in which I hope to share with you soon in connection with my mission.

Here I am again in Ghana, and one of my first meetings was with a Radio DJ whom I had met earlier. He recommended to me, an upcoming artist who has a recording studio. I then met with the artist at his studio, and we immediately decided to start working. During the process of the production, the artist suggested we add a few lines from the three most common local languages to the original lyrics of the Ghana Girls song. I allowed him to do this as well as the interpretation of these lyrics in the song. He did an excellent job

Now am back again in Austria with the demo production of Ghana Girls, what’s next?

Earlier I mentioned that before I came to Ghana as a scam victim, I never in the past once thought of trying to do such a mission, and now here I was, faced with a difficult challenge I fell in love with but had not the required amount of funds. Nevertheless, I decided to use all the resources I have and give my best. Now while I was making all effort to move ahead, I started experiencing some miraculous things happening to me in which I barely had any control.

I noticed that every time I get an idea to do something and attained it, then it always immediately opens other doors that just kept me going. I never seem to lose excitement or have too much time to think about the present or future problems. Even with all these obstacles, I never stop trying to find a solution, and at times when it looks like everything is about to fall apart, then something supernatural always happens to help me get to the next step. Yes, I have always been that kind of a person who never gives up when trying to achieve something I believe is the purpose of life. Nevertheless, without the wisdom, strength, and guidance from God, I could never stand up to these challenges. I have also come to realize that no achievement in this world has any real value without having a relationship with God.

There is this music producer I knew for a long time, and he lives in Los Angeles, California, so one of my main objectives now was to accumulate funds to have him produce the final recordings of the song Ghana Girls. However, the only realistic chance I had to get the finance I need for the production was to put all my effort into organizing as many live shows as possible. It was just four weeks now since I returned to Austria from Ghana, and it didn’t last long before I experienced the next miracle.

One night while lying in my bed, I instantly got some creative thoughts to write new songs. I took a pen and paper, and with no difficulties, I wrote the lyrics for the choruses of three songs and recorded the melody with my phone. Within a week, I wrote seven new songs. I have never experienced something like this before since I have been a songwriter.

What makes this mystery even more amazing is that my only realistic source to get the funds needed for my music production was through my live shows. But just within two weeks after I composed these songs, I was able to get investors to invest not only in the song Ghana Girls but also in a complete album.

Two weeks after I signed an agreement with the investors in 2013, I then traveled to Los Angeles to meet with the producer to start producing my first album. On our first day in the studio, we exchange ideas, set up a schedule for that week, and talked about important things in connection to the recordings. We also confirmed that the title of the track “No one but you should be the name of the album, which was my choice from the day I wrote this song.

After a few days in the studio, the producer fell more and more in love with the songs, and according to his words, he could see the potential to have a hit record with at least one of the songs.

The fact that he realized the possibility of the songs becoming successful made him more creative and engaged in the production. The producer seemed emotionally connected throughout the recordings of the tracks, which had a positive effect on his efforts to give his best.

Concerning my contribution as a co-producer, I was sharing creative ideas with the producer in which he found very useful for the recordings.
It was also magical during the performance of my vocal recordings on the tracks. I couldn’t explain what was happening, but I was singing so beautifully with hardly any difficulties and didn’t take much time to finish each track. The potential of the songs and positive energy in the studio was the key to overcome any obstacles we had in the course of the production.

After we completed the studio recordings in Los Angeles, I took a flight the next day to Miami, Florida, to meet one of the members of the famous male band Inner Circle from Jamaica. He had confirmed with me before I started the studio recordings in Los Angeles, to allow me to use their studio and engineer for the final mix of my album songs for an unusually low fee.
The producer arrived two days later to the studios and was present throughout the final mixing. It took the engineer seven days to finish the mix, and immediately after, I flew to New York to have the album mastered. The mastering engineer did a fantastic job, and he loved my songs. Everything went smoothly. Approximately three days later, I flew back to Austria

Once again, here I am, back in Austria from another long journey, but this time with the final production of the first album I have recorded entitled “No one but you, a big step forward. Nine from the twelve songs on this beautiful album are created by me, which gives me more chances to generate funds.

Great achievement, but now again, what’s next?

Well, it was clear that I still had a long way to go, but all the troubles and trials I have been facing seemed to have given me more wisdom and strength to deal with new challenges.

Now that I have achieved something tangible, it was time to travel once again to Ghana. However, I thought it was necessary to be more businesslike in my approach on my upcoming visit, so writing a plan of action was compulsory, which I did within seven days.

The next fundamental thing to be determined is the percentages I was willing to commit myself to give from net income from my music to achieve the goals of this mission. Making up my mind whether I should contribute ten, twenty, or fifty percent wasn’t easy, but in the end, I decided to give fifty percent. Why I carry out such a decision, I cannot explain. Nevertheless, a few days later, I then realize this was the ideal thing to do.

Now finding myself back again in Ghana in 2014, I met with people in management positions at the ministry of tourism and ministry of housing. In our meeting, I presented them with a copy of my plan of action and talked about the project. They all showed deep admiration for what I am trying to do. The manager from the ministry of housing with whom I spoke with was very impressed with the plan to build homes and a secure community for the poor in poverty-stricken areas in Ghana. Therefore, he showed his willingness to support.

Although I didn’t receive any support from these departments, the interest they showed in my project was the crucial reason that kept me going at the time. Otherwise, I probably would have given up right there and then. Furthermore, when I look back from where I am today, I have to say I have no regrets because it’s clear now that I had a lot more to learn. My reason for this mission is to help the weak, and it seems I understand best having a little experience of what they are going through.

During one of my earlier visits to Ghana, I met a male employer at the Ghana Investment Promotion Center, so this time I decided to contact him as well. In the course of a phone call, I informed him about my latest achievement, and he asked me to send him a copy of my Plan of Action, which I did. The next day in a phone call, he declared how brilliant my plan was and that we should set a date and time to meet. Besides, he would bring one of his colleagues to the meeting.

The meeting took place at one of the five-star Hotels in Accra, where we had lunch and talked about my plans. Moreover, they told me that after reading my plan of action, they both concluded that establishing a foundation would be the best choice for me to try to achieve my goals.

While we were trying to think of a name for the foundation, one of us suggested using my official, as well as artist name, Lincoln Brown. Right away without second thoughts, we confirmed that Lincoln Brown Foundation is perfect.

Now that we have a name for the foundation, they offered to accompany me to the registrar general the next day to have the foundation registered, and this we did. Ten days later, I received all the registration documents.

My return flight to Austria was scheduled within two days after I received the documents, and I was now prepared to leave. At least that is what I thought until other surprises started to unfold.

I went to visit my two male contacts in their office at Ghana Investment Promotion Center in Accra, and one of them told me that I needed to stay a bit longer in Ghana because, with the registration documents, I will need a lawyer. I asked why, and he said because it was now necessary to get legal guidelines. They also promised to do everything possible to get support for this project.

After I had left the office, I kept trying to figure out what to do next because I didn’t have surplus funds at the time to extend my stay in Ghana, or even a budget for this project. The only realistic chance I have available to generate funds to achieve my goals for the Lincoln Brown Foundation over time is with my music. Yet, the desire to overcome obstacles to carry out this mission has become more passionate than ever. Therefore, the thought of giving up had never entered my mind.

At this time, I thought it was necessary to contact people I know in different countries and professions to get their opinion about my project. Therefore, I made phone calls to music business professionals, including the producer of my album, as well as friends in Austria and other countries. Astonishingly, everyone praises me for taking up such a challenge to seek to do something so good in this troubled world today. Besides, it will be good for my career as well, they said.

Significantly, I never had thoughts to carry out this mission for the benefit of my career. It all started through me coming to Ghana as a scam victim. Nevertheless, I must admit that the positive feedback I am receiving from people from different backgrounds do show signs that it can be equally beneficial to my career. Yet, if this is the case, then obviously it must be part of God’s plan because he knew I would be willing to give a large portion of my income to carry out his mission. Isn’t this wonderful?

Now to extend my stay in Ghana to get legal support, meant changing my return flight schedule and cancel confirmed appointments I had in Austria. One of these meetings I needed to postpone was with a doctor I knew for five years who was a fan of mine. During a phone call with him, we also spoke about the Lincoln Brown Foundation, and he told me he was in favor of my mission.

The doctor wanted to have information about my immediate plans, so I informed him of the present obstacles I was facing. His positive reaction was an enormous surprise for me. It was another miracle when he expressed his admiration for my mission and gave me his promise to support me.

By now, you may have noticed that whatever difficulties I have been facing along the way, something positive always seems to happen at the right time to help me get to the next level. Do you have an explanation for this? Well, I know the answer. Nevertheless, it’s up to you to find your theory, but while doing so, please bear in mind that my story is in connection with my beliefs, character, and the desire to do good deeds, and most importantly, a close relationship with God.

I promptly received financial support from the doctor and was able to extend my stay in Ghana for another two weeks to find a lawyer to get legal advice.

I randomly chose a female lawyer in Ghana from the internet, and in a brief telephone call, I set up an appointment with her for an hour consultation. During our conversation, she listened to my music and read my Plan of Action. Like everyone else, she too seemed to have been touched by my story and mission. She then offered to assist me for a while at no extra cost to help me build my project.

I cannot explain in sufficient words what it feels like when you discover a purpose for your life that causes such a positive effect on humanity.

The lawyer explained to me that with these documents, I needed to apply for a work permit and resident visa for Ghana. It is another big surprise for me because I had no intention to live or work in Ghana, I said. Nevertheless, she stated that if I sincerely want to do this project, then it is necessary, so I should go to the immigration office to apply.

The next day I went to the Immigration office, filled out the application forms and paid the required fees. The Immigration officer informed me that the processing will take about ten business days, but they will try speed things up a bit for me.

I realized I needed to engage myself doing something constructive for my mission while waiting for the documents. Therefore, I thought why not try to get a low cost video production from the song Ghana Girls, showing some of the beautiful scenes in Ghana? Before I spoke to the Doctor about this idea, I decided to carry out a research first to prepare a precise budget plan as possible. While traveling around making enquires, I realize almost everyone wanted to give me at least 50% discount, and some places gave us free access when I told them about my mission. After the budget plan was completed, I then discussed this with the doctor and he agreed for me to do the video.

In the process of the video production, I discovered some of the most beautiful sights in Ghana, and I asked myself why the world doesn’t know about these places?

On the other hand, please allow me to clearly say that over the years until today traveling to Ghana I also saw some sad and heartbreaking pictures.

For example, I saw young girls sleeping with their child in front of small shops, with no future for themselves or their children. I remembered I stood there once to watch them, and it was so funny because they thought I was crazy looking at them. Too bad they had no idea what was going through my mind. I was actually thinking at that moment that if I had the required amount of money I would immediately organize a professional team to get them a convenient place to stay and help them build a future for themselves and their children. I asked myself, why someone like me who want so much to make positive change doesn’t have the funds to do it. On the other hand, if I had so much money I probably wouldn’t be here to see this

After all that I have seen and learn in recent years, having success with my music now would be a perfect time because I have found a worthwhile cause to spend the money. The decision to give 50% of my net income from my music, to support the less fortunate, is the best decision I will ever make in this life.

I have now come to the end of this part of my story because it meant to inform you only about how the Lincoln Brown Foundation idea came about. There is so much more to share with you, but if you believe this story has been exciting, then I can tell you that there is so much more to come.

Here is some final facts I would like to share with you.

•  The music video production from the song Ghana Girls took place in 2014 and even though it was a low-cost production it came out very well.
• With all the complications I was still able to present The Lincoln Brown Foundation officially in Accra, Ghana on 8th December 2018.
• You can notice that pertaining to this story, there is a gap between the date of the production of the music video production and the official presentation of the foundation, but that is another story.

I am presently in the planning process to start introducing my story and music to the world to generate funds for the Lincoln Brown foundation to achieve its goals, and I hope you will support us on this journey.

You can also visit the Lincoln Brown artist website to get familiar with my music or choose a way to support this worthwhile mission.
www.lincoln-brown.com

Thank you

Lincoln Brown