Monday, September 12, 2011

Cape Coast Castle

As a part of our initial YFU orientation, we paid a visit to a fort, in the city of Cape Coast, in which the slaves were bought and stored before the arrival of the ships. Built on the seaside by the British after their victory over the Dutch, Cape Coast Castle has been, over the last 300 years, a silent witness to unimaginable pain and suffering. Now, in 2011, this same fort has become a place of memory. The castle's regal white walls and its cells' moldy and dark ones, have been given a voice: that of our wonderful tour guide Justice.
Through him, the tales of men's cruelty and greed come to life and the rooms are filled with the pain of those who died in this very place and of those who, from here, were forced to abandon their homelands forever.
This fort, visited officially a couple of years ago by President Obama and his wife, now stands as a reminder of what cruelty men have been capable of, and as a memorial to the thousands of men and women who were so brutally treated by people who saw them only as merchandise and not as fellow human beings.
Our visit to Cape Coast Castle was very powerful and moving and I believe that everyone who has the chance, should visit this tragic site.

1 comment:

  1. You offer a chilling account of a site that witnessed a brutal past. Keep writing, I am enjoying your blog.

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