The Door of No Return

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That type of slavery, you were taken somewhere, you could be killed, raped or even tortured," he said.

The story is told through the writing of Michel Adanson- a botanist and a man whose past has never left him -in particular an expedition to Senegal in the 1750s. During his last few months of life he scribes this journey in the hope it will be found and read by his daughter so she can understand the man who didn't give her much love -as he was immersed in his world of plants and in many senses escaping the pain of the past. It's 1860 in what is today Ghana. We meet Kofi who is part of the Asante Kingdom. He is 11 and loves his family, has a small crush on a girl and loves to swim. We learn about what life is for him as a young boy and what direction he will go as he grows older, but life doesn't always turn out the way we think it will. I will leave it at this point and urge you to try this book!The largest and most impactful memorial stands at the end of the Slave Route. This is the Door of No Return, a memorial arch, or gateway, built in 1995. Both sides of the arch are covered in images of enslaved men and women. The main mural on the inland-facing side depicts enchained men walking toward the sea, a ship waiting for them in the distance. On the sea-facing side, the mural shows them walking away from their homeland, a single tree in the distance representing the land that most of them would never see again.

The key to this mysterious woman’s identity is Adanson’s unpublished memoir of the years he spent in Senegal, concealed in a secret compartment in a chest of drawers. Therein lies a story as fantastical as it is Maram, it turns out, is none other than the fabled revenant. A young woman of noble birth from the kingdom of Waalo, Maram was sold into slavery but managed to escape from the Island of Gorée—a major embarkation point of the transatlantic slave trade—to a small village hidden in the forest. While on a research expedition in West Africa as a young man, Adanson hears the story of the revenant and becomes obsessed with finding her. Accompanied by his guide, he ventures deep into the Senegalese bush on a journey that reveals not only the savagery of the French colonial occupation but also the unlikely transports of the human heart. The International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade “serves as an opportunity to honor and remember those who suffered and died at the hands of the brutal slavery system, and to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice today.

Synopsis

I can understand why this book was hard for Alexander to write. There was a chapter dealing with the lower and upper Kwanta that reminded me of the moments leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. I literally held my breath throughout the rest of the book. Through the Africa Renewal digital magazine and social media platforms, webinars with youth groups, media relations, and other outreach and partnership efforts, we present a new narrative about Africa that showcases positive action and hope, while countering mostly negative stereotypical portrayals of Africa.