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

Beyond the Return, with Ghana Tourism Authority and The BridgeZone collaborated to welcome Holistic Health Practitioner and Best-Selling Author, Queen Afua to Ghana with her delegation.  A welcome ceremony was held at La Palm Royal Beach Resort in Accra where a cultural troupe welcomed them with traditional music and dance.  

CEO of Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyeman, Director of Diaspora Affairs, Office of the President, Akwasi Ababio, CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Yofi Grant, and Manager of Beyond the Return Secretariat, Annabelle McKenzie, were among the speakers at the welcome event.  The group of influential African Americans who travelled with Queen Afua includes Attorney and Political Analyst, Angela Rye, Celebrity Chef, Lauren Von Der Pool, Wellness Coach and Dancer, Queen Esther Sarr, Recording Artist, Cultural Ambassador and Educator, Iminah Laura Ahmad, Workshop Presenter and Business Strategist Sherease Torrain, World Famous Painter and Artist, Leroy Campbell, Cultural Ambassador,  Documentary Filmmaker, Robert Gay, Executive Assistant and Womb Wellness Coach, Alexis Froe, Business Strategist, Goddess Deborah Webb and Photographer Damany Campbell.

Akwasi Agyeman spoke of how the pandemic had delayed activities for Beyond the Return and was thankful that it is a 10-year project, allowing for the Ghana Tourism Authority to continue to promote connecting with the diaspora community.  “As we welcome you here tonight, indeed you are going to be a catalyst for our restart of ‘Beyond the Return’ activities,” he said. Agyeman went on to speak about the Year of Return activities in 2019 which included collaborative efforts with the Diaspora Affairs Office and how the Full Circle Festival helped to spead the message of the Year of Return.  He said, “…through Queen Afua and her entourage here, we know that the message is going back home, that indeed Ghana is open again and Africa is ready to welcome its own.” 

Queen Afua spoke about creating a healing village in Ghana and how excited she is about this journey.  “I’ve been on this path for 50 years now….this path of wellness,” she said. “I am so grateful that I am travelling with such a wonderful, powerful, healing delegation,” she continued.  Some of the travellers have never been to Ghana and were all looking forward to learning about the country while having a trip that helped them reconnect with their ancestors.  Some of them spoke about how important it was that Ghana’s President made the public call for people of African descent to make the trip to Ghana.  Seeing what the ‘Year of Return’ did in 2019 to spark the movement of a new generation coming to Ghana, inspired some of them to heed the call.  

Queen Afua said she was grateful to the Ghana Tourism Authority for welcoming them to Ghana along with African Americans who are considering coming to Africa.  She was also thankful that the President of Ghana extended the invitation to all African Americans and people from the global Black diaspora to make the trip to Ghana.  

Written By: Ivy Prosper