Hi Guys,
I wanted to let you know about my amazing experience yesterday at Cape Coast, Ghana, where I went to Elmina, the very first slave castle built by the Portuguese 500 years ago here in West Africa. My program woke up at 5 am to board the bus to the castle and I couldn't help but feel that i was getting on the bus with all of you all over again. The journey this past year has taken me across the ocean, and I genuinely feel like I have come full circle in my understanding of the struggle, the history, and where we still need to go. As we drove and the morning light broke over the coast, I thought of Rip and Joan, and about all the others who continue the fight for freedom that started in the Elmina Castle more than 500 years ago. I would be lying if I didnt say that I wasnt deeply disturbed upon approaching the castle, for those of you who understand, the souls of the past there were not being quiet. It was before I even entered the place that I was almost over whelmed, walking across the ancient moat that whispered death, imagining the feeling of all those men, women, and children that were stolen from their homes, and placed into the pestilential dungeons to await death or a fate worse. At the castle there was a room set aside for captives that were trying to break free and to rally the rest of the prisoners to escape. They were placed in that dark room to starve to death, set as an example of for the next freedom fighter. Though I hate to admit this, it was until this trip that I think I have been able to truly understand what is happening today, how the incredible destructive force of slavery, racism, oppression, has lived on in so many ways. In a way, I wanted to believe that slavery and its effects were a thing of the past, that if we all could just be kind and treat each other well there would be no need for racism and the likes. I knew that I didnt see color and that if we could all just be like ME then all of the harms that had happened would simply not matter any more. I think I underestimated the incredible violation and perversion of trust that occurred and has continued to occur between Africans, the west, and African Americans in America. And how could someone trust, after all that has happened, after all that has not been acknowledged, the constant calculated suppression of the African race, the ignorance and denial of that abuse, and the incredible unacknowledged debt all of Americans owe to the slaves that came from this coast? We learned that during the 18th Century the Dutch West Indies owned the castle, the same people who were building "New Amsterdam," our New York City at the time. The wall on Wall street was literally built by slaves taking from Elmina. Until every school child in America knows this history and recognizes it for what it is, not out of pity but out of great respect and debt we have for our fallen fathers, the unrecognized founding fathers of America, I am not sure if we will ever be able to build that trust up again. Time will tell. Each of us recognizing this inspires me for the future. You are all exceptional human beings, lets teach the world to heal and love!
Miss you all.
From Accra, Ghana.
Lily
