It was just the final thing that renewed Wednesday as my community day. Riding home from another great bicycle (picnic) adventure through the French Quarters we stopped to visit friends outside of St Anna's church on Esplanade Avenue about three blocks outside of the French Quarter. They were buying beans to bring to a dinner party.
Of course there is always more to it. We talked biofuel growth between the Gulf Coast and South America. We talked Colombia. They may one day take us up on 'hotel-sitting' for us on the beach for a while. We would be honored and delighted to have more great representation and ambassadorship of New Orleans and The United States of America abroad.
Our friends were picking up their Weekly Produce Box from Hollygrove Market Esplanade Avenue - three blocks from French Quarter for visitors who want to still eat healthy great foods while traveling on a budget or with dietary restrictions (which New Orleans eating out does make somewhat more difficult and/or expensive than should be necessary these days).
Thanks St Anna's for remaining a beacon of human resoration now more than 5 years Post-k. We love the idea of one day having a weekly box delivered full of the Hollygrove Market's produce. But, that might mean changing the visit to St Anna's and we would not want to miss all the great comraderie which we get in public outdoor neighborhood (bikeable) locations.
Yesterday, we went to Cape Coast Castle It is one of nearly sixty remaining colonial forts along the coast of the great ancient kingdom of Mauritania, the ‘Gold Coast of Africa’. It struck me there that we have not taken seriously enough repatriation and reparation opportunities in today’s day and age. The world has become concerned about remedying itself; but, we do not seek out yet a root cause. While there, I took a photo of a sacred text. It had been brought to the castle and placed in a foul corner of the women’s cell. It was addressed to President Obama. It read, “Now that you are President Mr. Obama, What is your opinion on reparations?”
‘How can we ask the world’s most powerful leaders to take seriously the cause of reparations when we are not aware of it ourselves?’, I thought.
After the Civil War, President Lincoln promised reparations to freed slaves in the form of 40 acres and a mule, if this amount were given at fair historical interest, even not individually, but as a fund for reparations to today’s African-American diasporic community, it would be sufficient for a historically marginalized and politically and physically oppressed peoples to gain a more equitable division of power, voice, and sustainable economic wealth to make up for some of the evils of the past slavery. But, what of the other groups that deserve reparations? What would be justice with one oppressed peoples’ served and not the others. So, justice can be served by programs of comprehensive reparation and repatriation. Again, no political will in the world today could leverage such a powerful movement. Who could do this? Could people do this?
For 200 years, this fort sent 1000 men and 300 women every three months into slavery. It was but one of many such points of embarkation - a ‘door of no return.‘ At this fort, the last door slaves used before exiting onto the slave ships three hundred meters off to sea. The door to the ships which cruelly handled their ‘slave cargo’ across ferocious straights between West Africa and the Americas was called the Door of No Return because once slaves left they would either perish at sea or in a new land.
But, there was no UN at this time, there were no conventions which bind us now. So how would we begin this desired world outcome of economic and social justice.
Well, of course, the world has become more aware of how justice is created. It has actually come through the ages to us, through Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. All have spoken of the same framework. Political thinkers too, have wrestled with philosophies of guidance and behaviorisms for society.
But, there has been no binding movement, and causes and injustices have built up more rapidly in the past 200 years, though with equal amounts of Law and Human Rights Progress to balance against the severity and ruthlessness of previous millennia of cruelties.
If sufficient resources, education and understanding were given to a true repatriation movement for pan-africanist blacks from the Americas to afford a serious and healthful repatriation to countries where their families were enslaved in Africa it would benefit both sides of the Atlantic. This could bridge histories of suffering between descendants and inflictors of slavery. This is one of the starting places. Local communities and peoples are encouraged and working in small pockets for self-reliance and self-sufficiency programs to begin sustainable and locally beneficial processes.
Many of these, led by Universities, NGOs and Churches, are outside led, but have traditions of gradual acceptance of community participation, engagement, and control.
Affirmative action was conceived as a type of reparation. So was a truth and reconciliation commission set up in South Africa after apartheid. Experiments towards justice and equity have been used after conflicts and changes of oppressive rule now in much of the world. In a sense, it has created more faith that systems of justice can be conducted on the basis that all human beings caan be found equal under the law. This is a very large ideal. It is one I, personally, hold dear.
What are reparations and what are repatriations? In their fullest sense they are ethnic harmony, equity and health in stewardship of environments, cultures, and economies.
What would it mean to initiate global reparations for historically marginalized peoples’?
How could such peoples benefit from self-guidance and self- sufficiency? How could such an economy be scaled to create oppression mitigation?
It would take a majority of the planet, making community-based decisions to work together and benefit collectively from universal self-interest, to begin to pay down the inequity of only the last two centuries. But, if we do this, if we make two centuries of reparations, we can both make restitution in the form of more pluralized democracy while simultaneously conceiving of a sustainable high-functioning, egalitarian world social enterprise.
Are there other paths to this new, more equitable, society? There are likely many varied forms to begin to get there. These will only blend, however, so long as they are still exercised from principles of self-sufficiency, stewardship of economics and aesthetics, and sustainability. But, in its most simple socio-economic principle reparations built on new principles of ZERI businesses and non-profit societies, along with repatraiation and open borders, will get us peaceful harmony between nations and persons in the quickest best order. If not repatriations, then what? What can we do to build new and respectful forms of justice and equality stemming from so many centuries of its misappropriation by others?
In the women’s cell, placed next to the wreath left by the Obamas, is a wreath newly left by the Reggae artist Sizzla. It reads, “To all the deceased ancestors.” Ancestral, Cultural, and Aesthetic abundance together with education, economic and social productivity means repatriation and reparation in forms of coming to terms of justice through equity, inclusivity, collaborative control.
If you are of African descent living abroad, you are welcomed by the Ghanaian government to place your wreath at on of its infamous slave castles (usually wreathes are left in their plastic wrapping but may be unwrapped as the Obamas).
Our trip to West Africa confirms my long held belief that for many African-Americans, repatriation to Africa is a good option in some form (physically, spiritually, emotionally, economically etc). Not only is Africa the fountainhead for lost history and culture; but, it is a healing land of important ancestry. Aligning ourselves with positive human and political movements; with economic, humanitarian, and educational progress here; can serve as an act or personal and social liberation and a source of power.
What are reparations and what are repatriations? Aids to benefit a world of economic justice. Read more...
If I may be so bold, I would say that we have become exceptional travelers. We haven’t always been this good….it’s a skill that has developed in the last five months on the road.
When we began this journey in December, we carried with us a Lonely Planet India Guidebook. Let me note that we didn’t arrive in India until three months later, and additionally, let me specify that the LP India weighs about four pounds. It was a bone of contention between us, but once we left home with it, why would we dump it before arriving in India? I was delighted to pawn it off on our good friends in Jabalpur in our last few weeks in India. We learned a few lessons from having that guidebook: 1) it is way too heavy for backpackers; 2) that we oftentimes used the guidebook to determine where we DIDN‘T want to go, since every other foreigner was also there; and 3) that we oftentimes set ourselves up for disappointment when the prices listed for hotel and transportation were vastly incorrect. While great for some, and mandatory for many types of travelers, they just don’t seem to help us that much.
So, we bagged the whole guidebook thing. We use the space in our bags to tote a few, quickly devoured, pleasure books, some short pamphlet-style literature from Ghandi’s Ashram, and plenty of our own writings. This isn’t to say that we aren’t interested in browsing through a guidebook should it cross our path, but we don’t seek them out. When we are trying to determine a direction, we look at our National Geographic World Map, stop by a travel/tour office and ask some questions (the people who work in these offices are notoriously bored and are happy to chat), or talk to the people that we meet along the way. We also sometimes save regional maps to our computer and use them for reference.
Last week when we left Accra, intending to head down the coast to Cape Coast, we arrived at the bus station only to find that the CC bus had left a few hours earlier. So, we just hopped aboard the next bus, bound for a town called “Takoradi.” Now, without a map, or a guidebook, or very positive customer service at the bus station, we hadn’t the slightest idea where Takoradi was….but we knew that it was in Ghana and only four hours away. Quick deductions told us that it wasn’t east (for Togo was only three hours), so let’s go North….or West….or Northwest….or wherever Takoradi is! Tickets purchased and window seats scored, we were soon delighted to find ourselves traveling west, along the Atlantic Coast.
Strangely enough, our bus passed right through Cape Coast, but since we’d purchased tickets on to Takoradi, we stayed aboard. We ended up staying three days in Takoradi, quickly establishing ourselves as regulars at the local restaurant and enjoying countless bowls of spicy groundnut (“peanut” for all you foreigners) chowder, wandering through the industrial port, browsing through the market, and spending ridiculously hot afternoons watching Tela Novellas dubbed in English on our hotel television.
After a few lazy days in Takoradi, we backtracked to Cape Coast, our original destination. Debarking from the bus, we coyly evaded the merciless taxi drivers and walked half a mile, then catching a reasonably-priced taxi into town. We told the driver that we wanted a hotel room for around 10 cedis ($8 USD) and he deposited us in a modest hotel with a fantastic balcony that catches the most spectacular evening breezes from the ocean. At night we relaxed in the fresh air and watched fruit bats the size of owls swooping in the gigantic tree outside of the balcony.
However, let our readers not think that each and every part of our guidebook-less adventure is pleasant. I can recall a few that weren’t so easy or carefree. I can even remember a few where we would have been delighted to have the address of a hotel….ANY hotel! But my selective memory is a gift and I remember more vividly the times when we unexpectedly arrived at a perfect place, of our own accord, with nothing to thank but hope, perseverance, and luck.
There is certainly a wealth of information on the internet, but we don’t really do much in the way of internet research either; most of our internet time is spent posting blogs, dealing with business from home, and trying to stay in touch with friends and family. When I am out exploring the world, I don’t feel inclined to spend too much of my time reading about other people’s explorations. There just isn’t enough time in the day; better to spend the hours wandering and talking to people and figuring things out for ourselves.
difficult and/or expensive than should be necessary these days).
.jpg)
