On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Cape Coast Castle, a colonial-era seaside fort in Ghana, which was used to hold millions of enslaved Africans before they were transported to the Americas. Harris insisted on remembering the painful past, even as she earlier stood before a monument commemorating Ghana’s independence, envisioning a future between the U.S. and Africa propelled by innovation.
She skipped her prepared remarks and spoke bluntly about the anguish ‘that reeks from this place’ and the horrors endured by the enslaved people who passed through those walls.
“The stories must be told.”😢
— Kenneth Awotwe Darko (@TheKennethDarko) March 28, 2023
An emotional 🇺🇸US @VP Kamala Harris nearly breaks down after walking the dark dungeons of the Cape Coast Castle in Ghana🇬🇭, the last point from where many enslaved Africans were shipped to the Americas under colonialism. 🏰 pic.twitter.com/IkjiV3maBF
During her tour, Harris choked back tears as she approached the “door of no return,” through which slaves left the coast and never came back. She also placed a white bouquet of flowers at the entrance to a nearby women’s dungeon. Harris has proved to be a potent messenger in Ghana, and thousands waited hours earlier Tuesday at Independence Square for a chance to see her speak at the Black Stone Gate monument.
Much of her remarks there focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, part of her effort to spotlight Africa as a place for American private-sector investment. Harris also homed in on areas for work, including promoting democracies across the world, progress in the digital economy in Africa, and the empowerment of women.
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