Below are some pictures from today in Cape Coast.
Cape Coast, Ghana is home to several of the most historic forts and castles used by the Dutch, Portuguese and British during the several hundred years of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
I’m in Ghana studying historic and contemporary slavery and Micah, Jerod and Eli are with doing a DVD/CD project of several spoken word pieces of Micah’s on Justice sponsored by both World Relief and Eastern University. The finished DVD/CD will be given out at this year’s Justice Conference.
Using frequent flyer miles for both me and Micah we were able to do all the research on this trip within the trip budget related to the DVD project.
It’s pretty wild, but we’ve met with some of the most decorated academicians related to slavery around.
Dr. Irene Odoteye recently retired as Professor of African History and Culture and opened an International Advocacy Center related to human rights and slavery.
Dr. (Mrs.) Akosua Perbi is the foremost expert on indigenous slavery in Ghana and was brought in to meet Obama in 2009 when he visited. Her understanding of the African diaspora was unlike anything I’ve heard. Micah said from an African American perspective it was life changing.
Dr. E.V.O. Dankwa has been one of the leader lawyers in Ghana working on framing justice in the country since Independence in the 1950s (think trying cases before the supreme court) and was the Chairman for the African Commission on Human Rights for over 13 years. His definition and explanation of the narrative and development of human rights in Africa was mind blowing.
Here are some pictures from today. It was a pretty sobering day and walking the castles helped me forever come to a deeper more human understanding of justice and injustice.
(Above: Micah at Elmina Castle. Below: Cape Coast Castle)
