The Voyage - Day 10

Project Africa

The Voyage - Day 10 (7/31/15)

"The pain, the suffering, the strength, the endurance, the death, the bravery, the POWER of my people welled up through me and knocked me out."

 The responses of the people are so different. In some areas we drive through, we are welcomed with warm, bright smiles and vigorous waves. At other times the people scrunch their faces in disgust and fling up their arms with curses. Some even throw things…even the little children. I don’t know what to make of it. I wish I could talk to them and explain… something.

We went to Cape Coast today. I broke down at the dungeons. The pain, the suffering, the strength, the endurance, the death, the bravery, the POWER of my people welled up through me and knocked me out. We poured a libation for our ancestors and just spent some time FEELING; the walls and the floors pulsed with the remembrance of experience. I couldn’t breathe. The dungeons literally sucked the breath out of me…took me from myself and struck me bare. What has been done to my people - physically, psychologically, socially, economically, emotionally, etc. - is an injustice.

That night we came back to the dungeons. We dressed in white as a group and gathered at a corner where previously our ancestors had gathered for spiritual rituals pre-slavery. We built a small bon fire and lit one torch. From that torch, one candle was lit and everyone passed their flame until all the candles were lit. Then, we marched; candlelight vigil. We marched about 1.5 miles or so all the way to the slave dungeons at Cape Coast…the same march our ancestors did hundreds of years ago. There were around 200 – 300 of us, all in white, honoring our ancestors’ journey. We arrived to the slave dungeons and packed ourselves inside. It was so dark. Our candles were still lit though because along the march everyone who had a flame made sure to share it with those that went out. It was such a beautiful symbiosis. The candlelight was the only source of luminance as we descended into the caves. Once we arrived, a libation was poured, prayers were said, and a brief silence was held. I felt protected and the hold the caves had on me earlier in the day was released. 7 candles were left in honor as we ascended and went on to a midnight program with singing and dancing and keynote speakers.

Exhausted, I was able to end my day at the most beautiful hotel of our stay: the Coconut Grove Hotel Beach Resort in Elmina. My room overlooks the water and the sound of the raging Atlantic Ocean is a calming musical symphony accompanying my dreams.

Amani,

Rahkua

Project Africa: Los Angeles

"A group of conscious artists endeavoring to enrich our spirit and art through cultural immersion into our historical origins"

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