“Chop life make life no chop you” – Esme Marfo speaks to founders of lifestyle brand promoting health and wellness [@choplifeboyz]

Chop Life is a community organization dedicated to promoting health and wellness in underrepresented communities.

Contribution by Esme Marfo

Living in immigrant African households, health wasn’t a topic that was discussed or taught to Chop Life co-founders Michael Marfo and Nana Danso. Growing up in housing projects in Worcester, Massachusetts, the two struggled with both physical and mental health issues from a young age. The first generation Ghanaian-Americans saw the need to provide health education for youth and kids after not being taught about it in their adolescence.

Chop Life is a community organization dedicated to promoting health and wellness in underrepresented communities. Partnering with other organizations across the world, including some in Ghana, the two best friends hope to have the African mantra “Chop life make life no chop you” become an embodiment amongst disadvantaged youth across the world.

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Why did you see a need for an organization like the one you’ve created?

Nana: I used to work at the community centre and there was an after school program. There was this one kid. It just seemed like he always had an issue and nothing was ever good. There were a couple of times where I would just pull him to the side and be like ‘What’s going on? Is everything okay?’ But he would just brush it off and I didn’t have enough patience for that. We all grew older and separated. I’m in college and one day my friend called me and he’s like, ‘Do you remember Angel from the pool center? We used to take care of him.’ He told me about the story of how Angel was playing Russian roulette with one of his friends. He pulled the trigger and he died. When I heard that story, it hit me. Just the simple fact that he felt like that was a game that he should be playing, to be playing with his life like that. I felt like there was much more I could have done when I was younger. It felt like I had the opportunity in his life where I could have maybe turned him in a different direction and I wasn’t able to.

Michael: I had a friend growing up, Joe. Joe was always smiling and goofy, just a nice kid all the time. I don’t think I heard Joe scream or raise his voice once and I knew him from like fifth grade to when I was in college. I got the news my senior year in college that Joe had committed suicide. It just hit everybody because it was like ‘Yo, Joe committed suicide? How’s that even possible?’ And it just started those questions that there’s not a certain look, a certain way or a certain person that does certain things. I wish Joe would’ve had someone to talk to or knew from an earlier age than it’s okay if you’re struggling, you can talk to someone about it. I wish I knew that because I even masked my struggles with jokes and staying busy. We want to let the kids know it’s okay to speak about it.

Why did you choose to specifically work with disadvantaged youth and underrepresented communities?

Nana: Once we grew up and learned so many different things, we thought this would’ve been helpful if I knew it when I was 12. These same communities that we grew up in, don’t have the resources that other communities might have. Seeing ourselves in these kids was a big reason.

Michael: I agree with Nana on that. You’re going to relate more to the people that grew up similar to you. That’s not the only kids we’re working with, but for us, we feel like that’s where the most need is. That’s who we are and how we grew up. We’re trying to take what we’ve learned and reinvested it back into the community.

Growing up, what was it like living in an immigrant African household? Was mental or emotional health ever talked about and how do you think that affected you and still affects you to this day?

Michael: It was the greatest and worst thing ever in life. I value it so much now because it’s my foundation. Anytime that I feel like I’m getting too crazy out in this world I can easily reel myself back in because of the way I grew up. But it was very tough because it was doctor, lawyer, engineer, those are your options. There’s a lot of pressure growing up in an African household, especially with grades. You can’t study 24/7, but they’ll make it seem like you can. There are other kids getting away with certain things or being able to go out on certain nights and you’re not able to do that, and I wasn’t able to do that especially being the son of a pastor.

On the mental health piece though of growing up in an African household, nah it wasn’t a thing. There’s no inkling of it. ‘Depression? What are you crazy. Anxiety? What are you anxious for.’ I didn’t know any of that growing up. It was never talked about. But that’s another reason why we do this. It’s targeting not only underrepresented and underdeveloped communities, but going back to those Ghanaian kids in Worcester…we know how it is growing up.

African and Black culture has a history of a rise and grind/hustle mentality. This notion is that you have to be successful and productive all the time. How do you think that this hustle culture has played a role in bad habits that you carry as adults that affect your health?

Nana: It forces you to try and mask those dark times. For me now, if I’m being berated mentally with ‘You gotta do this, you gotta do that. Rise and grind,’ then it’s like hold on, let me take a step back. Let’s see how I can figure this out so I’m not going through what it used to be because it used to just be ‘do this blindly’. I used to make so many mistakes because I was thinking I gotta get this done, it doesn’t matter how I get it done, but I gotta get this done. I wasn’t worried about doing it right, I just wanted to do it.

Chop life means to live life and enjoy yourself. How does enjoyment fit into health?

Nana: You want to enjoy life, but live long as well while we’re enjoying. Enjoyment comes with the relaxing but also comes with the grind. The grind is definitely fun but you don’t want to burn yourself out. All of it goes hand in hand.

Michael: Like Nana said there’s enjoyment in the grind. But at the same time, the enjoyment when it comes to work…you have to have a healthy balance. If I know one week I’m going out a certain amount of times, then this week I’m going to be on my smoothies, salads and vegetables during the week, because I know I’m going to be eating out on the weekend.

What do you hope to accomplish with Chop Life? What do you want people to know about the organization and its legacy to be?

Nana: Right now, we’re travelling to different places and doing activities and events. But, very soon we’re intending on getting a building and having a Boys & Girls club type atmosphere. Because along with the Chop Life and the mental health, physical health and eating healthy, we want kids to know that their talents and their dreams are limitless. Whether that’s music or sports, whatever it is, we want to help kids in every area that they’re passionate about. We don’t want some of our young kids, nieces and nephews, to go through that mental grind of doing something they don’t want to. So speaking it into existence, we’ll get a building and have sports, music and even therapy as well.

Chop Life is planning a trip to Ghana at the end of this year. What can we expect from this trip?

Michael: We’re partnering with the Pro-Basketball Academy. They get youth, specifically women, into the game of basketball at an early age promoting physical health. We’re honoured to design the championship shirts and hats for their all-star game in December. In the coming months, we’ll announce that we’re partnering with the academy on additional shirts and all the proceeds will be going to another organization in Ghana called DUNK-Grassroots Ghana. This organization takes homeless children in Ghana and gets them involved in physical activities and fine arts. They take them on field trips and around different parts of Ghana that they’d never be exposed to being a homeless child.

Nana: We started this idea because of our Ghanaian parents and aid to some of the issues that we might have. As much as it felt right to start in Worcester and Lincoln Village, where we came from, it feels good to go to the direct source and have that same impact.

What advice would you give to those who are growing up in circumstances similar to how you both grew up?

Nana: Listen and don’t be afraid to speak. First, listen because there’s so much different advice or ideas that you can learn just by listening. When you hear other people’s problems or issues, you realize that you might not be alone. Then don’t be afraid to speak about your problems because you can be helping someone else. When you hold it in, it just grows. I’ve held it in for 20+ years and I’ve seen the way it affects me. When you don’t speak about it, it doesn’t end.

What does the future look like for Chop Life? Is there anything, in particular, you’re excited about?

Nana: We look forward to teaming up with a lot of other Black businesses. Whether it’s our friends’ businesses, family businesses or any other Black business in general. Because that teamwork is gonna help us to reach much more kids and much more people.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Michael: People always ask how they can support. We sell merch. Shirts, hats, hoodies season is coming up and beanies are coming out. The sales from the merch are what funds our events.

Nana: I don’t have much, but I wanna make sure I get this correct. Thoughts become words. Words become actions. Actions become lifestyles.

Michael: And at the end of the day Chop Life, that’s a lifestyle.

Contribution by Esme Marfo

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