Our early morning lecture was on the Cape Coast Castles and the history of slavery. The biggest things that puzzles me about the whole concept of slaver are two things: (1) People always talk about slavery in dehumanizing terms which in fact was a method used by slave masters to justify doing what they did...so its like...have things really changed in terms of how we refer to our ancestors? and what exactly dose that mean about us today...seems like we're still slaves if you ask me...(2) what about the Europeans made them resort to the extremely brutal form of slavery? Muslim and other African forms of slavery weren't nearly as brutal and dehumanizing. What about the European made him so cold... probably the crazy money they were making out of it..
Its crazy, and in a twisted way, brilliant the ways and the amount to witch Europeans have damaged the African people in every aspect...so much so that century later we still haven't bounced back...I really liked the lecture. I didn't feel like everyone was taking it as seriously as I was though....this feeling actually echoed through out my whole time in Ghana sadly enough.
...:CAPE COAST CASTLE:...
From the out side..life goes on. people don't seem to dwell on the the thought of slavery like Black Americans do..maybe people have gotten so used to the castle being there that its just another building...in side there were offices and shops and people going about life as if the building were a normal place of business...but to me it was something sacred. The foot prints in the floor, the stench of the holding cells, the shells and fist prints left in the walls of that place. I wanted to feel anger but I didn't, I wanted to feel sad...but I didn't..I just felt..a block...going to a place like this with a group of white students flashing pictures for their face book profiles so they can seem 'cultured'..Rachele fallowing me every were so I didn't have a chance so sucking anything up on my own....I left...dipped out of the group..fell behind..I couldn't be here in a crowd..this place had too much history, too much importance and way to many way word spirits for me to be herded around like a lost sheep in a herd of castle..I was a different species from these kids and I just wanted to be on my own.
So I waited until the groups moved on a explored by myself (or at least tried too seeing how Rachel was at every turn)
No picture can ever capture what one feels in that place walking around alone. The punishment cell were they put those who were caught 'miss behaving' (which could have probably just been sneezing in African accent)...was maybe the most ere experience of my life. The room had to be 15ftX8ft and PITCH BLACK once you get more that 2 people in there...As soon as the group left I tried to find the edges of the room in the midst of the blackness...it was like walking into a cemetery blind folded..the deeper I go the heavier the air around me felt..not many things frighten me but that just about did it..not scared like of things unknown..but scared like..i could almost feel people touching me..my over active imagination kicked in and all around me I could imagine bodies dreamed in sweat blood and vomit. Women being forced to sit in their own menstruation, no food, water or light. Knowing your surrounded by people but not being able to see a face or hear a familiar language....It humanized that which had been dehumanized...for me at least...and with my heart in my throught I finally reached to opposite side of the room.
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