Cest Triste

One of the experiences that had quite a bit of impact on me was a trip to Isle de Goree. This is a very beautiful island off the coast of Dakar but its beauty is deceptive. This was one of the major ports for the slave trade and the home of the famous "door of no return." The buildings are gold and red...the gold built by the portuguese and the red by the dutch...and set against lush green tropical plants. There are no cars on the island so it is very peaceful. Many artists have set up bohemian shop there and quite a few rastas having givin it a very laid back friendly vibe.
I even knew that the islan was used for slave trade but it is difficult not to get sucked into its beauty. But my visions of beauty were quickly shattered when my friend Mohammed's friend lead us around and described to me in english the horrors that took place there. Families were seperated into men, women, and children. Young girls under 25 were all in one room and this gave me the shutters to think about what happened there. If the people were under 60 kilos...yes they were wieghed...they were fed peanuts to fatten them up. It is not ironic that one of Senegals main crops is peanuts which were imposed by the colonists in order to make a cash crop. Africans that agreed to keep watch over the prisinors before the door of no return were promised not to be sent off. I couldnt help what this must have felt like to be in either position...not wanting to be shipped off so you do a horrible task or to have your own people watching as you were shipped off.
There are memorials visited by Papa Bush and Clinton and the likes but I was sinical about any peice of concrete having enough meanigh to apologize for such acts. And so went the them of Senegal for me. You take the good with the bad because it is the whole package that is truelly beautiful. Ironic Huh