Slavery Tourism: Is It Fair To Profit From Tragedy?

My ancestors were Enslaved Africans and my ancestors were the Europeans that enslaved the Africans. My tear ducts hurt as I struggle to write about my family's connection to slavery. I meet so many African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans that feel the way to connect to their ancestors is to connect to slavery.

I choose not to allow slavery to define who and what my ancestors were, well to a certain degree. In researching the history of my family, I uncovered that my Grandmother's great-great grandfather was a White man. I was angered that my Grandmother's family chose to praise and center the family's history on the White man that possibly raped my great-great-great grandmother. The family tree features the name of the White man but lists my great-great-great grandmother only as a "slave".

In uncovering the history of my paternal  great grandfather, I learned that he was the byproduct of an affair between a White southern woman and a sharecropper. His White mother abandoned him in a Black orphanage. He spent his entire life trying to find his mother and he did not. I can only imagine that he died with an emptiness that could never be filled.

I want to know my ancestors. I feel that going to Ghana could never help me quantify the horror that my ancestors went through. My ancestors are not tied to a specific place, my ancestor's blood flows through me. I am my ancestor.

I refuse to support Ghana's or an African country profiting from the tragedy of slavery. If I was to feel some connection to Ghana or the Cape Coast Slave castles then should I feel a connection to the Auction Blocks that my ancestors stood on? Should I feel a connection to the whips that beat my ancestors? Should I feel a connection with the people that enslaved my ancestors?


 via CNN
African-American poet Maya Angelou once wrote: "Africa is a historical truth ... no man can know where he's going unless he knows exactly where he's been and exactly how he arrived at his present place."

This search for" historical truth" has led thousands of visitors to Cape Coast, in Ghana, a picturesque seaside town with stunning blue sea, serene beaches and pastel-colored fishing boats.

Instead of idyllic days under the sun, they are looking for a glimpse into their dark ancestral past -- the harrowing experience of their African forebears who were sold as slaves. Roots tourism has brought more and more people of African descent, like Monique Ross and Jacques Wallace, to the sleepy fishing port.

Ross, Wallace and their tour group from New York walk the grounds of Cape Coast Castle, a seaside fortress that served as slave dungeons, to see what their ancestors went through before they were shipped across the Atlantic.

"I'm slightly numb actually," said Wallace. "I wasn't actually ready for the stories about this place as far as the way people were treated, and the thing about the tunnel and everyone bound and being led down the tunnel is a little bit tragic, a little bit too much to take in all at once."

His fellow traveler agreed. "It is a little devastating at first," said Ross. "It's good to know the history of what has happened and how to connect your historical past with things that have happened."

Paul Robeson: UnSUNG Hero Of The Civil Right Movement

 Paul Robeson is an activist that barely receives the acknowledgment that he deserves. He founded American Crusade Against Lynching (ACAL) to protect Blacks against lynch when President Truman refused to act. He continued on his anti-lynching even when the NAACP DID NOT support him. He was blacklisted! He was rumored to be a communist. He took the fifth rather than expose his political affiliations.
SALUTE THIS MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ‪#‎ASE‬

Lupita Nyong’o: Hollywood's Roles For Dark Skin Women

There is an unspoken code between poets, actors and performers. We believe that we feed our audience from our souls. In Miles Davis: The Complete Illustrated History, comedian and legend Bill Cosby recalls seeing Miles Davis perform in London. He and his wife were invited to Miles’ dressing room.  Cosby stated that more than 200 people rushed Miles’ dressing room. Miles simply stated, “ they came to get what is left”.

Miles’ words rang in my head, as I read a Hollywood Reporter Article on  Lupita Nyong’o. The article described her as the Cinderella of the Oscar ball and explores  her career opportunities since the Oscar hype has died down. Notable quotes from the article:

But now that the ball is over and the applause is dying down, what can Nyong'o really expect from Hollywood? ….there's never been a black actress who has become the equivalent of a Julia Roberts or Angelina Jolie.

"I don't think she has an audience -- not yet," says one studio executive. "And there are so few roles for women of color; those roles are just not being written."

Further complicating Nyong'o's prospects is the fact that her dark skin challenges an industry prejudice that traditionally has favored black actresses and performers with lighter complexions. "Would Beyonce be who she is if she didn't look like she does?" . "Being lighter-skinned, more people can look at her image and see themselves in her. In Lupita's case, I think she has two-and-half, three years.

Historically roles for African American/African women have existed in the following archetypes:

- tragic mulatto ( Halle Berry in Monster's Ball)

- the welfare queen ( Gabby Sidibe and Monique in Precious)

- Comic relief ( Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost)

- The slave/Object of White Man's desire ( Lupita in 12 Years A Slave)

- The Manny ( Hattie McDonalds in Gone With The Wind)

The Oscar community has awarded these very actresses with Academy Award nominations and awards for portraying negative archetypes that have plagued African/African American women forever. The roles for African/African American women seem to be limited in Hollywood. The choice and less degrading roles for African American/African women have gone to light skin African American, bi-racial or racial ambitious Latina actresses. 

As the Hollywood Reporter referenced, actresses of a darker hue and prominent African features have a tougher time garnering an audience. Why? From the articles that I read, we now exist in a world of post-racism. Our society has to be liberated for a  bi-racial man to be elected president, right?

I don't buy Hollywood's explanation of why dark skinned actresses are not chosen or successful! Hollywood creates reality for the world. If Hollywood choose to make dark skin actresses the new "it" girls and choose to give them " Angelina Jolie/Julia Roberts" type roles, the rest of the world would follow suit. It only takes one media executive with courage to change the world. 

What was Halle's groundbreaking role after winning the Academy Award? What was Gabby's groundbreaking role since Precious? What was Whoopi's groundbreaking role since Ghost?

My final question is what happens to African/African American actresses who have bowed and played stereotypical roles, when the Hollywood has taken EVERYTHING that they had left?

ASE