There’s no denying what the impact of the trans-Atlantic slave trade has had on the African American community.  It has been over 400 years since the first documented ship of enslaved Africans arrived in what is now Virginia, USA. Today, the descendants of captured enslaved Africans are looking at making a return.  Our brothers and sisters from the diaspora are longing for reconnection and are finding ways to come back and experience all that Africa has to offer.  This is true not only for African Americans, but also the Caribbean, South American and Canadian descendants of slaves have also been making the journey back to Africa.

Holistic Health Practitioner and Best-Selling Author, Queen Afua, has travelled to Ghana with a delegation of influential African Americans looking to make a healing journey not only through health and wellness, but through spiritual reconnection with the African continent.  Among the group are Attorney and Political Analyst, Angela Rye, Celebrity Chef, Lauren Von Der Pool,  Workshop Presenter and Business Strategist, Sherease Torrain, World Famous Painter and Artist, Leroy Campbell, Cultural Ambassador, Wellness Coach and Dancer, Queen Esther Sarr, Recording Artist, Cultural Ambassador and Educator, Iminah Laura Ahmad, Documentary Filmmaker, Robert Gay, Executive Assistant and Womb Wellness Coach, Alexis Froe, Business Strategist, Goddess Deborah Webb and Photographer Damany Campbell.

Their visit to Cape Coast included the important trip to visit the dungeons at Cape Coast Castle.  This painful experience is one that needs to be made to truly connect with the spirit of the ancestors.  As Queen Afua and the group walked through the dungeon where our ancestors were held captive for weeks and even months at time, they took a moment to touch the walls and feel the spirit.  Angela Rye, who is known in the U.S. for her work as a highly respected political analyst, said she felt the spirit through the walls.  As they all walked down into the male dungeon, the tour guide turned off the light so they could experience what those held captive hundreds of years ago would have felt.  With very small window openings, not much air passes through the dungeon.  Imagining the feeling of being deprived of food and being forced to urinate, defecate and vomit within the confines of the dungeon, is heartbreaking.  Knowing our ancestors had to endure those conditions is both painful and angering.  The delegation made their way towards the shrine honouring those who died and those who survived, which was truly emotional.  Libations were poured, prayers were said and a wreath was laid in their honour.

For all who were forcibly taken from the continent of Africa, it was believed they would never return home.  Hundreds of years later, as their descendants are coming back and touching the soil of Africa, it represents the strength of survival.  Through the Door of Return, they are coming back and showing the world what it means to come home.

By: Ivy Prosper

Imagine seeing the names of your deceased family members immortalized among the names of some of the most significant people in Black history. That’s the experience that was given to a group of African Americans who travelled to Ghana on a wellness tour. The Sankofa Wall is located at the Diaspora African Forum, behind the W.E.B. DuBois Centre. It features many notable people from the African diaspora and continental Africans who made a significant impact in the world. Last year new names were added to the wall including civil rights leaders, Congressman John Robert Lewis, Congressman Elijah Cummings, George Floyd, who died at the hands of a Minnesota police officer and Actor, Chadwick Boseman, best known for his role the movie ‘Black Panther’, who died from a battle with colon cancer, were also added to the wall.

H.E. Ambassador Erieka Bennett is Head of Missions at DAF and has been instrumental in having the names of important people in Black history recognized in Ghana. On March 24th, Ambassador Bennett held a small ceremony for Holistic Health Practitioner, Queen Afua and her wellness delegation to welcome them to Ghana and to help them honour their family members by giving them a symbolic place in Ghana. Political Analyst and Attorney, Angela Rye, was among those who were given name plates of their deceased relatives to add on the Sankofa Wall.

“My grandfather said he was going to come back as a crow when he died,” said Rye.  “Every time a crow is present, what I know from crow medicine is that they are the bringers of truth and that’s what my name means.” she said. “Every time I see a crow it’s confirmation…but today, there are three members of my dad’s side of the family that I’m putting up today and right before Leroy finished [speaking], three crows came.” She smiled as she held the name plates.  

For African Americans, and others in the global African diaspora, the connection to Africa is hundreds of years in the making. The knowledge of your ancestors having gone through the struggle of the trans-Atlantic slave trade is filled with pain yet there is a yearning to learn more of the history. Today, African Americans continue to suffer the adverse effects and trauma associated with racism.

This symbolic gesture at DAF, provided a sense of peace for everyone knowing that their relatives names would be on the continent forever. “We’re so honoured that you’ll put your ancestors name on the Sankofa Wall,” said Ambassador Bennett. “Sankofa as you all know means come back to your roots and a lot of your ancestors did not get the opportunity to come to Africa, but their name is now in Africa.”

“I am the sixth child of Dorothy and Joseph Campbell. Two people who were born too soon, in the history of our people. They didn’t get to see the success that I became,” said World-renowned Artist, Leroy Campbell as he held his parents names in his hand. “Their spirit, this woman and this man, who were robbed from being the people they should have been, without the interruption of slavery.” He and the others were all experiencing emotion as they realized their family members’ names would be in Africa forever.

They will return to the Diaspora African Forum (DAF) at the end of their journey in Ghana to see the names affixed to the Sankofa Wall.