I was so excited for my summer in Ghana, I had packed a week in advance for my trip, leaving the toiletries on my dresser out until the very last morning. Saying goodbye to everyone was easier than I thought, don't get me wrong I was going to miss my family and friends a lot, but Ghana was awaiting my arrival. I was eager to see the motherland, the country that so many of my ancestors were taken from. I had fantasized visiting Ghana for so many years, it was a different feeling than what came over me when I had first visited my direct ancestral home, Jamaica. Both of my parents were Jamaican, and as a first generation American I was very aware of my roots as a Jamaican and very intune to the culture. In fact I traveled back and forth throughout my life, enjoying the beach, the food, the sweet reggae melody tunes playing for the speakers at a nice day party and the beautiful island people. Jamaica was always a great time, a time where I would visit my relatives and see where my parents grew up. But, Ghana was going to be epic, it was going to be my first time going to the country where Africans were literally captured, traded, and sold into slavery before coming to the NewWorld. I was actually going to touch down on a land that was a big piece of my history and my story as a African American whose descendants came from Jamaica prior to be taken from Ghana.
I was going to Ghana to learn about my history, to see my foreign relatives who I had only read about in history books. I was going to Ghana to become a proactive member of the community, one who was eager to learn about human rights and to see what role I could play. When I arrived in Ghana, it was more than I had ever hoped it would be. It was beautiful, the red dirt on the ground reminded me of the countryside in Jamaica. The people were beautiful and very friendly. There were even times I was mistaken for Ghanaian, and I would say I was born in the States but I too was African. In my first two weeks in Ghana I partiipated in a Fordham Law class, International Human Rights, it was my way of introducing myself formally to a topic that I was deeply interested in. Those two weeks of classes were a great segway into the work that I would be doing.
I began my real work interning at the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). It was mandated by the Constitution of Ghana. It is the national institution for the protection and promotion of fundamental rights and freedoms and administrative justice in Ghana. It investigates complaints of violations of human rights and injustices.
Working at CHRAJ was an amazing experience. I spoke with everyone and I learned from everyone. I was open to listening to everyone's story, to everyones experience working with an organization like CHRAJ and what drew them to work in human rights. CHRAJ was completely different from my International Human Rights class. I took that class with Ghanaian students as well as with students from all over the States. However, most of the Ghanaian students weren't interested in practicing human rights law, most were interested in corporate law. So, to intern at CHRAJ with people who were genuinely interested in fighting against corruption, against human rights abuses, against ones freedom being taken away, was really a breath of fresh air.
At CHRAJ, I was able to understand the day to day functions of a national institution with a huge responsibility of tackling a multitude of complaints of human rights abuses. I was able to meet with the Commissioner on many occasions and speak with her about everything, from her take on being the first woman Commissioner, the challenges she faced as a woman in a high position amongst a majority male dominated Commission, and Government and to her mission and goal of working as a Commissioner for a national institution as CHAJ. She invited me to sit in on high-level meetings where I saw firsthand the talks behind the doors of 'big weights' discussing the next steps of the Commission, their strategies to tackling serious human rights issues and developing programming to educate organizations and people outside of the main city of Accra. I sat in on the Directors meeting to see which cases they would accept and which cases they rejected. I was able to hear and understand the process and reasoning for accepting cases. I was allowed to offer my opinion and give feedback to the Directors. I attended the Conference on Torture and most interesting to me the Conference on Business and Human rights. The conference addressed the role of NGO's, businesses and government entities in addressing how their operations and practices may be violating peoples human rights and individual freedoms. That conference in particular was divided into three separate day sessions. It was deliberately done that way to speak with each individual group--NGO's, Businesses and Government entities to see what their take on the matter of business and human rights was and to see what role they could play in decreasing their role in contributing to human rights abuses. It was an amazing experience to meet people from completely different industries and hear their take and to see the power in human rights becoming a growing topic that was not only being spoken about, but addressed head on.
My time at CHRAJ allowed me the opportunity to learn about the structure and function of a human rights agency. I was able to see a possible glimpse into my future as a potential international human rights lawyer. I attended court hearings and saw the impact and role that lawyers and judges played in the legal system. But, the most rewarding part of my experience at CHRAJ was engaging in conversation with CHRAJ employees about their experiences working at CHRAJ, hearing about their commitment and dedication to working in the field of human rights.
My time in Ghana was spent immersing myself in a culture that was all to familiar to me. I was able to see how Ghanians described human rights. Human rights was described by the injustices faced by communities living in the same areas that mining was prevalent in; human rights were injustices community members whose communities were taken over by businesses from, without permission from the people who lived there, to operate and conduct business. In the midst of doing businesses communities were broken down, the members were disrespected and belittled, their livelihood was taken away from them, and there was little relief and resources for those same community members. I ultimately learned how connected I felt to a country that I had never visited and to a group of people I had never met.
Outside of my work experience, I was able to visit towns and villages outside of the capital in Accra. One of the most memorable places that will stick in the mind for the rest of my life was my visit to the slave castles. I was always a fan of watching movies and documentaries that spoke of my history as a descendent of slavery. I would often cringe at the sight of the slave master beating a slave; seeing the inhuman treatment of a race of people that I belonged to; and seeing how helpless yet resistant we were during those trying times. But, I must say being in a slave castle, being inside a dungeon in darkness, being on the literal grounds of my ancestors was overwhelmingly difficult. It was almost unbearable as those dungeons had retained a smell of those who died, shed blood, and were held in captivity there. As they conducted a tour and showed me where the slaves were beat, where they were held if they resisted slavery, where the woman were raped if they resisted in any form, I couldn't help but to cry. My tears were for the pain and torture my ancestors had suffered. My tears were for my ancestors who had survived and fought against the institution of slavery and bred life into me. Being at the slave castle was one of the most moving and difficult experiences of my life. Ghana gave me purpose, it gave me a drive to not give up against injustices and abuses experienced by disenfranchised and underserved populations, it led me to futher understand how deep rooted and how much work was needed to relieve people who were still subjugated to being deprived of fundamental human rights.
Ghanaian culture epitomized the essence of my identity as an African woman. I now understand my roots on a completely different note, I understand that I am an African empress because they sacrificed for me. I am American by birth, African by blood and extremely proud of my ancestry. As a woman with so many identities, I am forever indebted to Ghana and as I continue to step into my future, I will continue to fight against human rights abuses. I will continue to stand up for what is right and what is wrong. As a direct decedent of slavery, of those who were taken from Ghana, I feel a responsibility to stand up tall as an advocate for HUMAN RIGHTS.
Ghana could not have treated me better, could not have taught me more as an African born in America.
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