Hello there...Day 3 in beautiful Africa. As you can tell by my blog entry photo that we had the chance to visit Cape Coast Castle, this is where the black slaves were stored before they were put onto the slave ships heading for America. The condition of the dungeons was horrendous and many slaves not only died on the journey to the Cape Coast Castle, but many died right there in the dungeons because of the miserable conditions that had to endure. The tour guide broke it down about the history of the castle and we walked through majority parts of the dungeons which housed the slaves. As we walked through these dungeons I got a much deeper understanding of what our forefathers went through and how only the very strong of the slaves were able to make it not only to the ships, but to America. This understanding helped me to realize how strong our ancestors were to be able to endure this atrocity and make it to America alive. The Blacks in America have strong, strong blood running through our veins because our forefathers were very strong. We must realize that we are not weak people; we are strong because our ancestors were strong. I must continue to deliver this message to our people, because we have been bamboozled to think that we are some misfits of the world who have no place in the world. We are a strong people from a strong nation and we should really take a look at where we came from and embrace the strength and pride of our people. There is so much more to our story and I glad that I have the opportunity to learn more about whom we are and therefore who I am.

The blog entry photo shows the "Door Of No Return", this was the last point in which the slaves would go through before they entered the slave ships to never see their homeland again...wow...powerful. On the other side of the Door Of No Return is a sign that reads, "Door Of Return". The ancestors of two of the slaves who went through this door brought their remains back to this place, held a ceremony proclaiming that this door is not of no return any more and they took the remains of the two slaves and brought them back through those doors making it a "Door Of Return", Amen! Now it's a door of return, never to be a door of no return anymore. The Cape Coastal Castle is a great history lesson of what our people went through as slaves and if you get the opportunity you must visit it.

We also visited the Cape Costal University and we walked the campus, got to interact with the students and faculty. We were able to sit in on a lecture and we also connected with administrators to begin the dialogue of bringing our students to their university this time next year. We also discussed the opportunity of setting up an exchange program between our schools and to work together to make sure this happens...awesome! The one thing that struck me the most while I was at the university was the amount of Black men who were there...what a sight to see. The students were friendly and welcoming and so was the faculty and administrators. I look forward to our continued work with the university and the development of great relationships between the students and faculty of both schools.

Last thing I want to say...a kind of moment of pause from me that I learned from the Cape Costal Castle. The Castle consisted of two parts, an upper part of the Castle and the dungeons of the Castle. The dungeons are where the slaves were held, abused and sold. The upper part of the Castle is where the 1st Anglican Church in Africa resided...really. The slave owners would go and worship while people were being abused to the utmost….slaves and the bible at the same time...yea really. Makes you say...hmmmm

More to come tomorrow...same bat-time, same bat-channel.