By Will Flagg

Mr. Alter had talked about Goree island the whole trip. It was present in our minds since the first real orientation meeting, weeks before I had even made up my mind on going. The dull bells of curiosity quietly rang in the back of my mind the whole time we were in Senegal. How would this island fit into my understanding of the place and the people? Before I understood what this trip was actually all about, I imagined Goree as one of many interesting stops on our vacation; our pleasure voyage of Senegal. 

As our chugging boat slid into the docks at Goree, a picturesque scene unfolded before our eyes. Goree was a paradise. Looking over the bow, the shimmering turquoise ocean enveloped darting baitfish as they raced from coral to coral. On the beach, towering palms gave shade to small Senegalese children taking breaks from playing soccer. All along Goree’s conglomerated stone roads, tourists meandered at a snails pace, taking in the sights. On both sides of the road, there were absolutely beautiful sailboat shaped buildings. Each had a different colored outer wall making the town look like a mosaic painting floating on top of the deep blue sea. Inside these houses, the upper terraces opened to spacious wood floored rooms akin to a prestigious beachside Airbnb. From the top floor you had the perfect view of the shimmering crystal blue waters. But just below the master’s quarters, multitudes of people had passed through hell.

Many years ago, the Empire of Mali would trade human stock from the Yoruba, Igbo, and Mandika peoples to the French, Portuguese, Spanish, British and Dutch. In the houses on Goree, African captives were held against their will in the basements of these beautiful beachside houses. As many as two hundred African captives stayed at once in the same amount of space offered to the master’s family. With what little space they had, the dark dank cells were divided. One for men, women, boys, and virgin girls who were kept separate to be regularly raped by the monsters living upstairs. Deeper into the dungeon, lay the door to no return. An estimated 250,000 – 20 million captives passed through those gates (the number is debated but irrelevant to the impact). From the man sized hole in the wall the captives would walk a pier to the slave ships waiting in the waters outside. Once stolen from Africa, and brought to the Americas and Europe, they would never return. In this town European slavers would commit atrocities each and every day, before going to the Catholic Church on the island to repent, and repeat. The priests would just forgive them for their sins, not standing up for what was right. How men who call themselves Christians could stand by without action against such unspeakable acts against God is particularly astounding.

But that was a long time ago, right? Slavery has been outlawed for hundreds of years; and there are no captives going through Goree anymore. On the streets just outside of these slave houses, Senegalese children dance and sing. Groups of them walk up and down the streets playing games with each other like nothing ever happened. Above the historic dungeon where Nelson Mandela sat to relive his time imprisoned, and where Pope John Paul sat to apologize for the church’s complicity, a beautiful  multicolored mural stands. This mural, The Door of Return, represents the stolen people of Africa returning to the very point they left their home continent to go to the new world. So everything must be fine then. The transatlantic slave trade is no more. Goree Island now stands not just as a scar of slavery’s horrible impact but also as the healing process….

But in truth, things are no where close to being fine. In fact, there are more slaves today than in any point in history. In America, our constant consumption of consumer goods has had disastrous effects. iPhones, lithium batteries, chocolate, clothing, and multitudes of goods are produced every second come from forced labor across all the continents. To put things in perspective, there are more people in slavery than any point in time in history. Our consumer desires directly affect this. In truth we are just as complicit as the same Catholic priests who chose to do nothing again and again. We forgive the big companies for not caring about who gets paved over in the path of progress- we even buy their products over and over without question. America is the land of liberty, justice, and equality, but intentionally choosing to profit off of slave labor does not align us with these principals. It didn’t hundreds of years ago and it doesn’t today, but we continue to spend without consideration. We are just as addicted to growth and comfort.

Even on the island of Goree, the cult of consumerism has taken root. While eating and walking around, we were bombarded by locals trying to sell us things. They were peddling little drums, clothes, and bracelets; most all of which were mass manufactured in China. Even the experience of Goree, which should be a place to remember the atrocities of the past, is being diluted via the presence of consumer interest. Why not buy the trinket on your way to the slave house? The local vendors are dependent on the income created by western interests, but buying things in Goreé turns the eye opening experience into another tourist trap. 

To whomever is reading this, please be cognizant that your actions directly affect the lives of other people. Buying that new IPhone could quite literally send demand for new people to die in the cobalt mines to make more of them. Do you really need a new one? If you want things to change, the solution is just to consume less. It won’t only help things change in countries like the DRC – Senegal has shown us that it could create space for so many important and positive things. You do not need endless possessions to be happy. Senegal is living proof of this. The people we met in the village of Niognani quite literally slept outside on beds made of sticks, with a simple thatch perimeter wall being the only thing separating them from the outside- and they were the happiest people I have ever met, living healthy and satisfied lives. They derived their happiness from each other, not from meaningless comforts.  Being on Goree Island, I thought about that community often. Their model stands in contrast to the consumerism that is pillaging the world, and in support of understanding human experiences both positive and negative that have taken place and continue to take place around us.

This was not a tourist vacation at all in the end, but a chance to understand life. Shouldn’t more things be that way?

Consume less, live more.