I was all choked up about this that's why I had to write it down.
One of the things I didn't know when I got to Ghana was its rich but sad involvement in the history of slave trade. I can't claim to know enough about it. I knew it was wrong, I knew they had a hard time as a people but being here and seeing first hand made me understand how these people are afraid of the sea.
Before this country was known as Ghana, it came to be called as the Gold Coast. The country was rich in one of the most sought minerals at the time that the Portuguese, one of the first to exploit the country, named their fort after it. The called it the Gold Mine in their language, something the locals couldn't pronounce and later bastardized to Elmina. The castle now named after it used to serve as storage for supplies, gunpowder and whatever they had to barter for gold and spices.
Noticing that the locals were overeager to trade their gold, they exploited them and kept them as slaves. As many as 1,000 of them were kept at the castle (600 men and 400 women) for at least 2 months at a time or until the slave ships got there to pick them up. The conditions they were kept in were inhumane to say the least. In the women's dungeon they contracted disease, were too weak to go to the designated corner where they could relieve themselves and were drenched in their own menstruation. The stench of all that remains in that dungeon to this day as a reminder to those who visit all the inhumanity committed there. Women were raped by the Governor or by soldiers. Those who were lucky enough to conceive bore mulattos who didn't suffer the same fate as their mothers. These children have taken on the names of their white forebears and have passed them on to their children. Their descendants bear these names to this day, some lighter skinned than most, others just as native as the next local.
The sad part about the whole affair was that some slaves were supplied by the Africans themselves at some point. Tribes were warring amongst themselves for supremacy (something true to this day). Those that had enough gold to trade for gunpowder were able to overpower the tribes that didn't have the fire power and were surrendered as slaves. There were such tribes who sided with the Dutch in order to overpower the Portuguese. Alas, the Dutch were no better. No sooner had they taken over the castle did they continue the slave trade. The British came after them but finally ceded in the mid-1800's when slavery was abolished.
One of the things that most people overlook is that Africa is a continent, not a country. Ghanaians would have as much compassion or indifference to Nigerians or Somalians as Filipinos would for Koreans or Indians. Yes, they're black. Yes, they have a painful historical past. No, they're not one country. That was true back then as it is now. Slaves from as far as Liberia were made to walk to the coast of Ghana, a trip that lasts 2 months, only to be imprisoned in such a castle before being transported by sea. The locals have a great fear of the sea. One thing you'll notice is that they love hanging out at the beach but don't swim. They have many a superstition about it. The lesser gods take with them those who swim on Tuesdays or they are not allowed to fish on Thursdays. They can say so many things about the sea without having to tell you that it symbolized the exile of their ancestors to lands unknown and is a great huge doorway, an exit to a place where they would never be able to return from.
One of the things I didn't know when I got to Ghana was its rich but sad involvement in the history of slave trade. I can't claim to know enough about it. I knew it was wrong, I knew they had a hard time as a people but being here and seeing first hand made me understand how these people are afraid of the sea.
Before this country was known as Ghana, it came to be called as the Gold Coast. The country was rich in one of the most sought minerals at the time that the Portuguese, one of the first to exploit the country, named their fort after it. The called it the Gold Mine in their language, something the locals couldn't pronounce and later bastardized to Elmina. The castle now named after it used to serve as storage for supplies, gunpowder and whatever they had to barter for gold and spices.
Noticing that the locals were overeager to trade their gold, they exploited them and kept them as slaves. As many as 1,000 of them were kept at the castle (600 men and 400 women) for at least 2 months at a time or until the slave ships got there to pick them up. The conditions they were kept in were inhumane to say the least. In the women's dungeon they contracted disease, were too weak to go to the designated corner where they could relieve themselves and were drenched in their own menstruation. The stench of all that remains in that dungeon to this day as a reminder to those who visit all the inhumanity committed there. Women were raped by the Governor or by soldiers. Those who were lucky enough to conceive bore mulattos who didn't suffer the same fate as their mothers. These children have taken on the names of their white forebears and have passed them on to their children. Their descendants bear these names to this day, some lighter skinned than most, others just as native as the next local.
The sad part about the whole affair was that some slaves were supplied by the Africans themselves at some point. Tribes were warring amongst themselves for supremacy (something true to this day). Those that had enough gold to trade for gunpowder were able to overpower the tribes that didn't have the fire power and were surrendered as slaves. There were such tribes who sided with the Dutch in order to overpower the Portuguese. Alas, the Dutch were no better. No sooner had they taken over the castle did they continue the slave trade. The British came after them but finally ceded in the mid-1800's when slavery was abolished.
One of the things that most people overlook is that Africa is a continent, not a country. Ghanaians would have as much compassion or indifference to Nigerians or Somalians as Filipinos would for Koreans or Indians. Yes, they're black. Yes, they have a painful historical past. No, they're not one country. That was true back then as it is now. Slaves from as far as Liberia were made to walk to the coast of Ghana, a trip that lasts 2 months, only to be imprisoned in such a castle before being transported by sea. The locals have a great fear of the sea. One thing you'll notice is that they love hanging out at the beach but don't swim. They have many a superstition about it. The lesser gods take with them those who swim on Tuesdays or they are not allowed to fish on Thursdays. They can say so many things about the sea without having to tell you that it symbolized the exile of their ancestors to lands unknown and is a great huge doorway, an exit to a place where they would never be able to return from.
They all hope that this door would never have to be used the same way ever again.
