'Year of Return, Ghana 2019' initiative invites African-Americans back to Africa

Given its history and commitment to the unification of African peoples throughout the world, it’s not surprising that the government of Ghana is sponsoring an unprecedented “Year of Return” in 2019, during which people of African descent in North America are invited to visit Ghana.

Described as an event to celebrate the resilience of African people and to mark the 400th anniversary of the first Africans being forcibly transported to what is now the United States of America, it was officially launched in August 2018 in Ghana and announced in September at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Year-round events, activities and special happenings abound in Ghana. There is Elmina, the fortress where many thousands of African men, women and children were held in brutal captivity before being forced to walk through “The Door of No Return” to be taken by ship to North America, South America and the Caribbean.

President Barack Obama (1stR), his daughter Sasha (2nd R), flanked by unidentified people, walk at the entrance of the 'Door of No Return' during a guided tour in Cape Coast Castle, a former slavery outpost, in Cape Coast, Ghana, on July 11, 2009. (SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images)

Walking through the fortress is a searing emotional experience that can evoke deep feelings of sorrow and intense anger in visitors from the African diaspora.