Returning to the Point of No Return

Among other attractions, Ghana is known for the slave castles on the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) in and around Cape Coast.  The most popular, Elmina Castle, is the oldest and largest slave castle in Africa.  Because of this, Cape Coast was definitely an important stop on my trek through Ghana.  So, I headed off early the morning after Christmas and was pleasantly surprised that Lola and Ayo (newlyweds from Nigeria) decided to postpone their departure back home to come with me.  Cape Coast is a 3 hour bus ride from Accra, so off we went at the wee hours of the morning to see Elmina Castle and whatever else they could cram into one day (I planned on staying in the area for two days).  

A quick history lesson: Elmina Castle was built more than 500 years ago by the Portuguese as a trading post for goods that over time became one of the central holding places for slaves traded during the Trans-Atlantic trade.  At any point in time, the castle held 1,000 slaves in captivity (usually 600 men and 400 women) for months until boats arrived to take them to America and the Caribbean.  African slaves from all over Ghana were traded to the Portuguese and British by the Ashantis for things as trivial as alcohol and guns.  Once brought to the castle, women and men were put into separate dungeons and left in crowded quarters to fight for food that was thrown in once a day and live among their own waste.  Lots of the women were raped by the overseers and the Governor of the castle and subsequently impregnated.  One “perk” to becoming pregnant by the captors was that these women and their children were freed and not packed into the slave boats headed for the Americas.  For others, the outlook wasn’t as “rosy.”  When the boats finally arrived to transport the slaves across the Atlantic, they were taken through the “Point of No Return” to the ship – some never to be heard from again because they died in transit.  Present day, Cape Coast is still a booming fishing town and has become one of Ghana’s intellectual centers boasting more than 20 secondary schools and colleges with a range of different concentrations.

Reading the history in a book is one thing.  Visiting the site is another.  I didn’t expect to have the emotional reaction that I did when touring the castle.  I haven’t really said this aloud to avoid sounding nuts, but I feel like my ancestors are from Ghana.  That I’m from Ghana.  The deep sorrow I felt when I was touring the castle and walking through the dungeons that still smelled rank of human waste hundreds of years later was overwhelming.  Like I was feeling the pain of my grandmother 10 times removed who suffered here in captivity, was stripped away from her family and crammed into a ship set sail for a foreign land.  

Of course, I haven’t put all the time, energy and resources into tracking my genealogy and maybe one day I will.  But for now, I have the feeling in my spirit.  The tour guide was especially attentive to me because he kept telling me “This is your history sister, these are your ancestors” because I was the only Black American there.  And I knew he was right.  I cry a little writing this because I knew this trip would be life-changing for me.  And I can’t put words to the change or even explain it yet, but I know I feel it.

I am deeply grateful to have been able to share the experience with Ayo and Lola, two of the most genuine and caring people I have met in a long time.  Lola is such a nurturer – she was so protective of me during the tour and in the hours following until they departed Cape Coast grabbing my hand and holding on until she saw the sadness pass and trying to do things to make me laugh.  When she said her and Ayo plan to have children right away, I thought briefly how lucky those babies will be to have her as a mother.

Overall, it was a moving, necessary and eye-opening experience returning to the point of no return for so many of our family members.  I hope their souls are at rest and that they’re proud of us.

Elmina Castle, the largest and oldest slave castle in Africa.

More info on the slave trade in Ghana

"The Point of No Return" - I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture, but this space is about a foot wide and maybe 5 feet tall and all slaves were made to go through this exit to the ships waiting to take them to the Americas.

Looking through the eyes of our ancestors

Ayo and Lola