@DrShanelleRD In November 2022, I went to Africa. It was one of the most anticipated excursions I've ever embarked on. I didn't know what to expect, but I knew it would be awesome. The flight was 10 hours, which was unbearable. However, it was the smoothest flight I've encountered, and I've flown a lot; very smooth soaring. When we landed, the Africans greeted us with welcome home signs. I should have anticipated things to come, but I didn't. Walking into a foreign space and hearing welcome home was jarring, especially as a descendant of enslaved Africans.
It is a disservice to Ghana to articulate what I saw and heard daily. I do not have the words to describe the experience. The only way to truly understand this journey is to embark on it yourself. However, what I am willing to talk about is what I felt.
Upon exiting the plane, I was nervous, excited, scared, happy, elated, apprehensive, and every other emotion, I didn't know what to anticipate. Being welcomed into the country was beautiful, but being embraced by everyone was something I did not expect. Imagine going to a land where everyone looked like you, your parents, your grandmother, grandfather, aunts, uncles, and cousins; everyone looked like family. The experience silenced me.
We began our adventure dining at different restaurants, going to other villages, and embarking on various adventures: wildlife preserves, forests, museums, allow your imagination to run free, but nothing was as impactful as the Assin Manso Ancestral Slave River Park and the Cape Coast Castle.
I had a chance to walk the path of my ancestors. It was the location where they boarded boats that would eventually take them to the slave castles. I walked that same path. I felt the ancestors surrounding me, guiding me, instructing me. I felt them encouraging me. I know their hands are on my back, pushing me forward towards my destiny. The river walk was overwhelming, but words can't express my reaction to the Cape Coast Castle. I stood where my ancestors stood. I stood on their broken, bloodied bodies and excrement. During the tour of Cape Coast Castle, one of the guides explained to our group that one of the dungeons had been excavated by archaeologists, and what they discovered was the sediment of enslaved Africans. The archeologists were able to identify DNA in the excrement. I tried to hold it together during most of my trip, but I remember being overcome and crying.
The day had come for us to depart. I had mixed feelings. I sometimes remember trying to come up with a strategy for building a home in Ghana. But of course, I know my work is in America, my family is in America, and my older children are in America. I knew I had to return, but a longing in me left me with the desire to remain.
Nevertheless, this experience changed me. I knew without a doubt life would be different. I would be different. I was different. I am different. Traveling to Africa transformed me. I knew that I was no longer the same when I touched down stateside. I didn't know how I would be received by my family, my friends, and my loved ones. I was curious to see if they would notice the change. I was interested to know how they would handle my change. But I knew the difference was evident, and I knew I would never return to being the same person. I pray, I meditate, I believe in God. I am a very faithful servant.
Additionally, the universe is working things out in my favor. There's not a doubt in my mind. But I learned on my journey to Africa that my ancestors are standing with me. They are walking alongside me. They are guiding me. Their hands are on my back. My pilgrimage to Africa was my great awakening.
It is a disservice to Ghana to articulate what I saw and heard daily. I do not have the words to describe the experience. The only way to truly understand this journey is to embark on it yourself. However, what I am willing to talk about is what I felt.
Upon exiting the plane, I was nervous, excited, scared, happy, elated, apprehensive, and every other emotion, I didn't know what to anticipate. Being welcomed into the country was beautiful, but being embraced by everyone was something I did not expect. Imagine going to a land where everyone looked like you, your parents, your grandmother, grandfather, aunts, uncles, and cousins; everyone looked like family. The experience silenced me.
We began our adventure dining at different restaurants, going to other villages, and embarking on various adventures: wildlife preserves, forests, museums, allow your imagination to run free, but nothing was as impactful as the Assin Manso Ancestral Slave River Park and the Cape Coast Castle.
I had a chance to walk the path of my ancestors. It was the location where they boarded boats that would eventually take them to the slave castles. I walked that same path. I felt the ancestors surrounding me, guiding me, instructing me. I felt them encouraging me. I know their hands are on my back, pushing me forward towards my destiny. The river walk was overwhelming, but words can't express my reaction to the Cape Coast Castle. I stood where my ancestors stood. I stood on their broken, bloodied bodies and excrement. During the tour of Cape Coast Castle, one of the guides explained to our group that one of the dungeons had been excavated by archaeologists, and what they discovered was the sediment of enslaved Africans. The archeologists were able to identify DNA in the excrement. I tried to hold it together during most of my trip, but I remember being overcome and crying.
The day had come for us to depart. I had mixed feelings. I sometimes remember trying to come up with a strategy for building a home in Ghana. But of course, I know my work is in America, my family is in America, and my older children are in America. I knew I had to return, but a longing in me left me with the desire to remain.
Nevertheless, this experience changed me. I knew without a doubt life would be different. I would be different. I was different. I am different. Traveling to Africa transformed me. I knew that I was no longer the same when I touched down stateside. I didn't know how I would be received by my family, my friends, and my loved ones. I was curious to see if they would notice the change. I was interested to know how they would handle my change. But I knew the difference was evident, and I knew I would never return to being the same person. I pray, I meditate, I believe in God. I am a very faithful servant.
Additionally, the universe is working things out in my favor. There's not a doubt in my mind. But I learned on my journey to Africa that my ancestors are standing with me. They are walking alongside me. They are guiding me. Their hands are on my back. My pilgrimage to Africa was my great awakening.