Muta hopes Popcaan returns with new perspective - Artiste honours ancestors at Cape Coast Castle
Published:Friday | January 10, 2020 | 12:00 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
Prominent Jamaican dub poet, broadcaster and social activist Mutabaruka, while pointing out that the media has not made a big enough deal of last year being dubbed ‘The Year of Return’ by Ghana, says he hopes that dancehall star Popcaan will return to Jamaica with a “different attitude” following his visit to the west African country.
When Popcaan landed in Ghana, a little over one week ago, the ‘Unruly Boss’, in the ultimate show of reverence, devotion, and respect, quite dramatically, fell prostrate and kissed the ground of the Motherland. It was not surprising, therefore, that a few days later, a very emotional Popcaan was seen visiting Cape Coast Castle, an European-built fortress situated on the central coastline of Ghana. This ancient fortification played a significant role in the transatlantic slave trade. Former United States President Barack Obama remarked when he visited that “it reminds us of the capacity of human beings to commit great evil”.
Popcaan traced the footsteps of his ancestors as he paid homage. “I went and lay this wreath in memory of my ancestors that was put in these dungeons and shipped to Jamaica and other parts of the world. Stronger now and also free #capecoastcastle,” he posted on social media alongside pictures and a video clip of the wreath-laying.
Standing at Gorée Island’s infamous ‘door of no return’, the opening through which Africans were pushed, before being shipped to a life of slavery in Brazil, the Caribbean and America, Popcaan said, “This place and the story about it makes me very sad, honestly … #capecoastcastle GHANA. Read and educate yourself about your past and history.”
Muta told The Gleaner: “It’s good that him go there. I hope it makes a difference to his perspective and he comes back with a different attitude to himself and how he views Africa,” said Mutabaruka. “I know it did for me when I visited.”
Muta pointed out, however, that it is “a normal thing” for artistes to do.
“Nuff artistes go there last year. A lot of ones go to Africa and have house and investments, especially in Ghana. So Popcaan going there and, according to reports, even buying a house in Ghana is not unique. I could call the names of quite a few persons in entertainment who have houses there, but they prefer to keep quiet about it,” Muta said.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cape Coast Castle is one of about 40 ‘slave castles’ built on the Gold Coast of West Africa by European traders. History records that under the rule of the Dutch West Indies Company, around 30,000 slaves a year passed through the door of no return at Elmina Castle, which is a companion structure to Cape Coast Castle and almost identical in design and structure.
One visitor noted: “The most humbling experience of this trip was visiting the same door our ancestors went through when leaving Ghana to be sold into slavery, called the ‘door of no return’. This was a super heavy and emotional experience, but the greatest thing I took away was our strength and resilience. The door was supposed to be ‘of no return’, but here we are 400 years later.”