🇸🇳 Gorée Island

Today, I walked every inch of this tiny 900m x 300m island—where an estimated 20 million enslaved Africans were shipped to the Americas, and 5 million perished before even leaving its shores. 🌍 Why Gorée? Strategic location: The westernmost point of West Africa, making it the closest stop for transatlantic slave ships18. Colonial chessboard: Controlled by Portugal, Netherlands, Britain, and France—each exploiting its position for the brutal slave trade46. ⚔️ From Spice Trade to Human Trade Originally, North African cities like Chinguetti (Mauritania) served as hubs for camel caravans and minor slave trading between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. But when European colonizers decimated Indigenous populations in the Americas (via disease and exploitation), they turned to West Africa for forced labor—sparking the transatlantic slave trade37. Local complicity: African kings and chiefs traded captives for glass beads, guns, and alcohol, fueling the system610. 🚢 The Brutal Mechanics of the Trade "Door of No Return": The final exit for enslaved people—boarded onto ships, never to see home again510. "Fattening rooms": Where underweight men were force-fed to increase sale value10. "Punishment cells": Tiny, suffocating chambers for rebels—Nelson Mandela wept after experiencing one10. 😢 A Legacy of Pain & Resilience Today, Gorée is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, its pastel-colored colonial buildings masking unimaginable suffering. Yet, it’s also a place of healing and remembrance—where descendants of the enslaved return to honor their ancestors17. #Dakar #Senegal #WestAfrica #GoréeIsland #NeverForget 🌍✊