In shackles, slavers' descendants offer apologies

Thanks to Ronnie for sending a pointer to this story about The Lifeline Expedition. The Lifeline Expedition is a group of descendants of slave traders whose mission is to promote reconciliation between Europeans and Africans. Since 2000, members of the group have been traveling the routes that their ancestors used to run the triangle slave trade through which Africans were dragged to the Americas in chains to cultivate the land to produce commodities on which European and American industries were built. The travellers have put on the yokes and shackles that their ancestors used on Africans and dragged themselves through the ports of call in Europe and the Americas through which Africans were once paraded like livestock.

This week, a delegation that included a descendant of England's first slave trader went to the Gambia to offer apologies. As the story in the Daily Mail tells it, the vice-president of The Gambia was on hand to receive Andrew Hawkins' apology. The story quotes Hawkins' description of the moment that he kneeled in chains before VP Isatou Njie Saidy and 25,000 onlookers:

"I apologised on behalf of my family. I apologised for the adults and children taken.

"Then there was a long pause and we really didn't know what to expect - it was very nerve-wracking.

"They could have said 'We don't accept your apology, go away', and we were ready for that - it would have been understandable.

"But the vice-president came forward and accepted the apology very graciously. She offered her forgiveness and then came forward and took the chains off. That was entirely impromptu and very moving."

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