I must return home.

I must return home.

“I must return home

To clear the weeds,

Weeds that took over our nation.

The grasses on a green land.

That the crops might blossom,

That our soil be no more barren,

That crops may smile again.”

-Bright Igbinigun

Port Comfort, Virginia 1619 – we see ships flooding in along with the magnificent North Atlantic Ocean. Wave after wave, ship after ship – humans are boarded off like cattle to be sold off, to be worked, but not to live. Four hundred years later, 2019, the physical shackles of slavery have been removed however, the mental and spiritual shackles continue to bind us to a life half lived.

Four hundred years after the first African’s were stole away to “the new world”, Ghana, a former integral cog in the transatlantic slave trade machine, has opened her doors for its lost children. Ghana, yet again, will become the focus of the African – American diaspora; welcoming people of African decent to her shores. For historical reasons, Ghana is one of the best places for Diasporas to visit. Many European built castles and forts line the coastal areas as well as further inland. Furthermore, these castles and forts had direct involvement in the slave trade, harboring captured African’s till they could be packed into ships and sent off.

Ghana is one of the most accessible countries in west Africa – the government is taking further measures to extend this accessibility to encourage more members of the African community abroad to return. There are activities planned (naming ceremonies, tours etc) all created with the aim of facilitating reconnection to the continent. Tichama Tours is providing discounts on tours to Cape Coast and around Accra.

The year of return is a great opportunity for people of African descent to return home, to help clear the weeds so that crops may smile again. It is a chance to reconnect with another home. A chance to learn more about yourself and have a deeper understanding of what it means to be a human in 2019.

By Helel Smith

Film Maker

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