by Genara Necos

We step through the narrow doorway, leaving the dank entrails of Elmina Castle, going out into the afternoon sunshine. The Portuguese built the castle in Elmina, Ghana, about 100 miles from Accra, in 1482. For centuries enslaved men and women were kept chained in its cramped dungeons before passing through the “Door of No Return” to begin the arduous journey across the Atlantic. Many perished; my ancestors survived.