By Isaac Arkoh
Cape Coast, May 30, GNA – Delegates from the Teaching Arts Institute (TAI) in Bolton, USA, along with representatives from the University of Cape Coast’s (UCC) Department of Music and Dance, have urged the government to redesignate colonial castles throughout Ghana as ” Slave Dungeons.”
The 27 members of the delegation emphasized the countless years of human suffering and cruelty experienced at the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles. They criticized the contemporary use of the word “castles,” stating that it serves as an inadequate and sanitized description that does not adequately capture the profound atrocities these places represent.
Led by Ms Kim Poole, the Executive Director of TAI, the delegation comprising lecturers, students, parents, and officials from the Department of Music and Dance at UCC raised their concerns during a visit to the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles.
The purpose of the tour was to help them rediscover their heritage and enhance cooperation with UCC via cultural interactions and joint educational activities among the students from both organizations.
TAI creates a network of teaching artists who collaborate with educators to address various students’ requirements using the arts, infusing classrooms with innovation and happiness.
The institution provides instruction on contemporary educational practices, academic benchmarks, and classroom organization, bolstered by guidance from experienced master teachers, along with opportunities for professional connections and teamwork.
During individual interviews with the Ghana News Agency, the Executive Director of TAI stated that the term “castle” historically represents an opulent fortified dwelling for royalty, signifying authority and security.
However, she said the so-called colonial castles had prisons where millions of enslaved Africans were confined in cramped, dark, and suffocating dungeons before being shipped across the Atlantic, never to return.
She specifically mentioned that the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles sharply differ from the typical grand image of castles. These structures were initially constructed as trading posts but were subsequently utilized by European colonial forces. They stand as somber reminders of human misery and cruelty in West Africa.
She highlighted how the majestic exteriors of the castles concealed the terrible truths behind their walls, and she opposed giving them attractive names that glossed over the suffering and humiliation endured by Africans.
Mr. Elijah Etheridge, who is both a parent and a lecturer at TAI, shared his thoughts: “Today, as we gather in Ghana, we recall the agonizing past shared by our ancestors, marred by brutality, selfishness, and sorrow.”
Ghana served as a significant center for the capture and transportation of people, entire families, and whole communities into transatlantic slavery. However, the signs we encounter merely read ‘Cape Coast Castle’ or ‘Elmina Castle.’ In reality, these places were dungeons that continue to carry the lingering odor of resistance and humiliation.
He recognized Ghana’s present economic difficulties yet warned against falling into despair or idealizing the West as places untouched by adversity.
Many African slaves and their offspring owed their endurance to traits like resilience and persistence. They urged contemporary Africans to adopt these same attributes to surmount the ongoing impacts of slavery such as economic hardship and social injustice. Their aim was also to construct a future that paid tribute to their forebears’ heritage and fight for liberty.
Dr. John Doe Dordzro, who leads the Department of Music and Dance at UCC, supported this perspective, suggesting that designating these locations as ” Slave Dungeons” would strongly recognize their actual historical purpose and the hardship experienced there.
This alteration would pay tribute to those who went through the “door of no return” and act as a starkreminder of the horrors of slavery.
This alignment would resonate with the aspirations of the African Diaspora for accurate historical portrayal, promoting acknowledgment of their ancestors’ suffering as part of the healing process.
The push to rename the castles signifies an essential reckoning with the harsh history of slavery.
“While castles often conjure up visions of opulence and authority, these locations in Ghana serve as reminders of one of history’s most grim periods, thus making the term ‘ Slave Dungeons’ both appropriate and crucial,” Dr. Dordzro noted.
Several students demanded the reopening of the sealed underground tunnel at Cape Coast Castle, where shackled captives used to be led from their prison cells to the notorious “door of no return” following the end of the slave trade.
In line with TAI’s initiatives aimed at supporting and empowering communities, the group donated laptops to Edinaman Senior High School, where just two working computers were available for their 4,800 students.
Mr Ebenezer Obeng, the school’s principal, conveyed his profound appreciation and urged for enhanced backing as well as continuous interactions between the two educational bodies.
GNA
Edited by Alice Tettey / Linda Asante Agyei
Provided by Syndigate Media Inc. (
Syndigate.info
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