As part of the ongoing 2024 Emancipation Day Celebration, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) took a significant step in strengthening its partnership with the Oguaa Traditional Area by paying a courtesy call on the Omanhene, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, the Paramount Chief of Cape Coast. This important meeting took place on Tuesday, July 30th, 2024, at his palace in Cape Coast.

The courtesy call was a gesture of respect and appreciation for Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II’s unwavering support and collaboration in promoting tourism and preserving cultural heritage in the Central Region. The GTA delegation was warmly received by the Omanhene, highlighting the deep-rooted connection between the traditional leadership and the authority responsible for advancing Ghana’s tourism agenda.

During the meeting, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II emphasized the importance of preserving Ghanaian culture, particularly through education. He called on the GTA to integrate more educational programs into the Emancipation Day activities, ensuring that the youth are educated about Ghanaian heritage and culture. His appeal reflects a broader vision of empowering the next generation with the knowledge of their rich cultural history, which is crucial for maintaining the country’s identity.

As part of the Emancipation Day activities, a significant event will take place this evening, July 31st, with the Reverential Night in Cape Coast. This solemn event will bring together people from all walks of life, including traditional leaders, Ghanaians, and members of the African diaspora, for a candlelight vigil. The vigil will proceed through the streets of Cape Coast, ending at the historic Cape Coast Castle (dungeons).

The gathering at Cape Coast Castle will be a powerful moment of reflection and remembrance. Traditional leaders will meet with the diaspora and other attendees to pour libations, offer prayers, and honor the memory of those who lost their lives and those who, through their resilience, survived the atrocities of the transatlantic slave trade.

The collaboration between the GTA and the Oguaa Traditional Area highlights the importance of unity in celebrating and preserving Ghana’s cultural heritage. These types of partnerships and events, help support Ghana’s long-standing vision of Pan-Africanism. The country continues to honor its past while educating future generations, ensuring that the legacy of those who endured the horrors of slavery is never forgotten, so that it never happens again.

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