Continuation of atrocities against kidnapped Afrikans who are wrongfully called 'slaves'

[Yoofiwaa]

I recently went on the Sankofa Journey (www.sankofajourney.org) to Ghana and visited the dungeon in Cape Coast. Many Afrikans in the Diaspora have different reactions when visit this and other such dungeons (called castles in Ghana) and I am not special in that regard. My reaction was anger and extreme disappointment; but not necessarily for what was done because we can't undo that. I am angry for what is being done today.

Considering Afrika's beliefs and traditions around death and the handling of bodies, and understanding the atrocities committed by the whites against Afrikans who were funneled through the dungeons in Ghana (those who made it on the boat and those who didn't) demonstrating their blatant disrespect for Afrikan lives, bodies and traditions, why does Ghana to this day honor the very devils who participated in managing these atrocities by allowing their bodies (actual graves) to remain in the courtyard of the dungeon? What did those devils do to earn that privilege, which is still being, honored hundreds of years later? That, in and of itself, is a continuation of the atrocities.

What surprises me is most of the people to whom I pose this question who live in Ghana and those from the Diaspora who have gone there hadn't even considered it; it hadn't even dawned on them. In fact, it was a shock to me because I couldn't imagine something that blatantly and obviously disrespectful could go unnoticed and challenged by the many scholars, intellectuals and/or conscious brothers and sisters who have made that journey.

Ghana and we who are in the Diaspora owe it to our Ancestors and Ancestress who didn't make it on the boat and those who did to remove those devil's caucuses and (at minimum) dump them into the sea as they were responsible for the mishandling and dumping of thousands of Afrikan bodies into the sea. As long as they are allowed to remain, IT IS NOT FINISHED!

Below is a picture of the graves of those devils that was taken in July of 2008, fifty-one years after Ghana gained it's independence.

[Yoofiwaa]

I also agree with Baba Baruti that the dungeons should not be destroyed. The walls to these places are very high and were well able to hide what was really going on behind them. Here is a portion of a post from Nana Kweku Egyir Gyepi III of Ghana in response to this issue when I posed it to him which implies at least some the bodies of our Ancestors and Ancestresses are buried within those dungeons (visit my page to read his entire post):

“…The Cape Coast Castle dungeons and the court yard are to be known as underground must grave yard during the slave trade, what are my saying here; the courtyard when you die in the castle, you are not thrown into the sea because your body will be floating to the shores on the other hand you will not be brought outside of the gate for a proper burial because it will raise an alarm against the Europeans in control of the castle so therefore you are thrown into the underground burial site known as Cape Coast Castle court yard I hope this will help you understand.”

So if we blow up the dungeons we could be desecrating the remains of the very people we’re trying to venerate. Many of our minds don’t seem to be devious enough to readily, accurately and conclusively conclude what all these devils did behind those walls. That’s why it’s so important to thoroughly think things through before we act as oppose to just react.

To that end we have setup a Think Tank and have already started the process of resolution. Those who are interested in joining us in this effort should send me an email at [e-mail].

Those graves gotta go!!

[al Asaad]

The anger over this state of affairs is misplaced in that "Ghana" is not responsible.
"Ghana" is the people, Africans like us.
Part of our trouble is we want to, even when angry-"go along to get along".
Far too many of us are into "turning the other cheek".

If it was Jews who were the people who were shipped out, there would be memorial flames instead profiteers in the plaza.
If it were Jews, Conde Nast would have Goree designated as a "must" stop.
If it was Jews, The United Nations would be represented, the United States would have its own pavilion and reparations would have already been paid.

In all matters Jewish, Jews only discuss their affairs in public when the other side has already capitulated. Jews would have already taken action about this global travesty against Africa and Africans.

"We ain't Jews" some will say. Damn right we're not.
If we were, there would be no anger, only jubilation after a victory.

The demand is to the United Nations, not to Ghana.
Remember besides the United States, Portugal, Spain, England, The Dutch and other Europeans were perpetrators in this heinous trade.

The specifics being the graves constitute an offense to all humankind.
That in the larger scheme of things, exploiters should not be rewarded in any way for their crimes against humanity.
No sites exist where Nazis are honored for their exploits.

Excepting the United States, nowhere on Earth are the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and their victims in close proximity to the other.
Nowhere on Earth would Jews tolerate such an affront.

“…but we’re not Jews” the protests continue. Damn right we’re not else there would be no graves of perpetrators of crimes against Africa, Africans and humanity in such a sacred place.

Getting mad won’t do: removing the perpetrators ought to be the first of many actions taken regarding the atrocity against humanity that was The North American slave trade.

We must make the entire world see why Goree and other such sites are as sacred to us as Auschwitz and other concentration camps and internment centers used in The Holocaust are to Jews.

As the OP noted and inferred: when will we get angry about what happened?
_______________________
FYI: “Ancestors” is plural and indicates those who have preceded us.
Our Ancestors have no gender.

[Rudwaan Amen-Ra Lumumba]

And we are in total agreement Baba Baruti, for i recognize that no one of us will have all the pieces that's why I stated 'then we either tear them down or seal them off from tourism' leaving room for those that will comment after me and multiply. I agree totally with your thought, if they are not torn down then they should at the very least be treated as sacred ground, off-limits to the general tours.

[Mwalimu K. Bomani Baruti]

Ase. And, right now, the main force of bringing this inevitability to light is with the Day of Mourning as you have been working on. We must make sure that the intent of this awakening and unifying ritual is not coopted by those whose life mission is to offer apology and inclusion for those who continue to benefit from the Maafa. Apologies from the other side do even less as they remain no more than the truth of highly politicized and skilled liars. We must continue to uncompromisingly support and take heed of those determined, Ancestor-loving efforts such as yours and the correspondence of warrior scholars like Sis. Yoofiwaa.

[~]

Oh, I didn't see this pic before.

smh

Can't believe I'ma have to go to Ghana, drop my draws, cop a squat and bless'em wid a 2-piece right quick.

Hell, I might take bucket donations from the brothas and sistas here and fly'em on over special delivery.

[al Asaad]

The anger over this state of affairs is misplaced in that "Ghana" is not responsible.
"Ghana" is the people, Africans like us.
Part of our trouble is we want to, even when angry-"go along to get along".
Far too many of us are into "turning the other cheek".

If it was Jews who were the people who were shipped out, there would be memorial flames instead profiteers in the plaza. If it were Jews, Conde Nast would have Goree designated as a "must" stop.
If it was Jews, The United Nations would be represented, the United States would have its own pavilion and reparations would have already been paid.

In all matters Jewish, Jews only discuss their affairs in public when the other side has already capitulated. Jews would have already taken action about this global travesty against Africa and Africans.

"We ain't Jews" some will say. Damn right we're not.
If we were, there would be no anger, only jubilation after a victory.

The demand is to the United Nations, not to Ghana.
Remember too, besdies the United States, Portugal, Spain, England, The Dutch and other Europeans were perpetrators in this heinous trade.

The specifics being the North American slave trade and the graves constitute an offense to all humankind.
That in the larger scheme of things, exploiters should not be rewarded in any way for their crimes against humanity.

No sites exist where Nazis are honored for their exploits.
Excepting the United States, nowhere on Earth are the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and their victims in close proximity to the other.
No where on Earth would Jews tolerate such an affront.

“…but we’re not Jews” the protests continue. Damn right we’re not else there would be no graves of perpetrators of crimes against Africa, Africans and humanity in such a sacred place.

Getting mad won’t do: removing the perpetrators ought to be the first of many actions taken regarding the atrocity against humanity that was The North American slave trade.

We must make the entire world see why Goree and other such sites are as sacred to us as Auschwitz and other concentration camps and internment centers used in The Holocaust are to Jews.

As the OP noted and inferred: when will we get angry about what happened?
_______________________
FYI: “Ancestors” is plural and indicates those who have preceded us.
Our Ancestors have no gender.

[Mwalimu K. Bomani Baruti]

Before replying to your comment, which definitely has value, I am curious as to the significance of the qualification "Our Ancestors have no gender." I am especially concerned given the gender confused nature of european culture in terms of any statement that can be misconstrued in this cultural context to support this relative to Afrikan people. I think it is also very important to qualify the idea that our Ancestors are all (which of course is not said but is implied) "those who have preceded us." My reading of our traditions says different. To name a few, Anthony Ephirim-Donkor's African Spirituality: On Becoming Ancestors, Johne S. Mbiti's African Religions and Philosophy and Kwame Gyekye's African Philosophical Thought clearly indicate that ancestralship for Afrikan people is not a given. It is a privilege awarded because it is something earned through the thought, word and behavior progressively exhibited though ones life. For example, Tippu Tibb, an Afrikan notorious for assisting europeans capture his fellow Afrikans would not (or, at least, should not) be considered an Ancestor by any Afrikan person. He died and his name should be forgotten, except as an example of the epitome of the opposite of that to which we should aspire as human beings (human beings, or humanity, being another definition we must make the time to reconceptualize in sankofan terms, bearing in mind our true Ancestors' interpretation of what that constitutes).

[Mwalimu K. Bomani Baruti]

no response...hmmmm

[Yoofiwaa]

Brother al Asaad,
I’m not sure that I completely followed your post but as a point of clarification my anger is not directed towards Ghanaian people. I recognize its likely they didn’t setup those memorials as they were colonized when that happened and they were kept ignorant to what was really going on behind those walls. Also, those who know me know that I am absolutely not a supporter of turning the other cheek nor getting along for the sake of getting along. So I think you and I agree on these points.

My anger was invoked by the fact that I saw that those devils where being rewarded (wittingly or unwittingly) by allowing those memorials to remain in the same place that the spirits of our Ancestors and Ancestresses reside, and in a manner of protection with ropes around them.

But those devils killed a lot of Afrikans, including Ghanaians; not just those that were dispersed. In f act, we met with one of the Asante Chiefs while there who told us two of his Ancestresses were stolen and (assumed) sold in the so-called slave trade and he specifically asked us if we would help him find their descendants. These were free Ghanaian women (not slaves or prisoners of war) who were kidnapped and no one really knows what happened to them after they made it behind the walls of that dungeon. Either one of them or both could have been killed right there at the dungeon so this affront is not just against those of us in the diaspora. It is against Afrikans, period.

The purpose of this post is to bring light to the issue and invoke dueanger in Afrikans everywhere that will IGNITE ACTION TOWARDS RESOLVING THAT WHICH CAUSES US TO BE ANGRY. That is the real purpose of anger; which is why psuedo-religions and white concepts discourage anger and encourage turning the other cheek. So this not an exercise of misplaced anger.

Those graves gotta go!!

[deapnat9]

yuo have switched on a light inside of me !!! we are slaves , I am a slave , i guess that is the reason why i want to go back home and have never wanted to be here in the west ..... I am being slaved ..................... No More ......... No More .......
his time is up now Its 9 time Now .... Im going home ,and bringing my family with me ...

[natturner187]

Peace Sista Yoofiwaa Kyekye ,
Thank you for bringing this info to us. I have not been blessed to be returned to HOME yet. I would do the same that you have (spit on their graves), as a small token of my disdain for yugrugu krakkkas.
I believe the site should remain as a point in ourstory, but the graves of the yurugu should be destroyed. Maybe a special ceremony to discard of them perhaps.

I recently viewed a film from a few years ago when our ancestor Sonny Abubadika Carson , Professor James Smalls, and I believe Nana Leonard Jefferies had returned ancestral remains found in New York and Jamaica back to Ghana. The ceremony brought the remains through the "Door of no Return" to transform in to the "Door of Return". It was touching just to witness this on video. Also at that time, the then president Jerry Rawlins, opened the door for captured Africans abroad to repatriate to Ghana. That was a first if I am not mistaken. All these things are little known to many of our people scattered through the diaspora, and needs to be known .

[natturner187]

The rot of their wretchedness would pollute the ocean , BURN them.