There are times that surprise you with the emotions you feel inworld. For me, this was one of them. On a tip from
NWN, I thought I would go to the
Saminaka sim after hearing about an interactive experience that allows you to experience the
Middle Passage--when almost 20 millions Africans were enslaved and sent to points overseas. Upon my arrival, I was instructed to choose a persona box, which came with clothing and information about the person you were portraying. Mine, "Nzinga", was a 36-year old Kongo married mother of six who was captured by the Portuguese traders in 1619...
You are instructed to go to the Door of No Return--which represents the last time that most stood on African soil before being loaded onto the ship. You are instructed to strip down to only your loincloth undergarment and I also put on the shackles that were provided. What I did not expect was my RL visceral reaction to doing so. I stood there and hesitated. I
did not want to...
I found myself actually taking a deep breath and stepped through. I passed the
Egungun--representing the ancestors. As you walk along the representation of the ship there are large flowers to touch, each containing RL narratives/accounts of experiences. When you get to the end, more boxes await and you choose the one with your persona...this time it is for when you have arrived in America...
Now in my new garments of an American slave and with the name "Mary", I find that my persona was sold to a captain in Jamestown, VA. To find out what happened to her and others, you must go and visit for yourself. I found it to be a very moving experience. This is the kind of thing SL is truly meant for and I commend
Tamsin Barzane for creating it.
I felt this inworld experience was worth it. I know that many of my RL ancestors experienced this and I am here today because they were strong enough to survive it. In 2001, RL me got a chance to stand Goree Island, Senegal's museum and memorial "Door of No Return". For me, it meant a lot to me that I
did...
You are instructed to go to the Door of No Return--which represents the last time that most stood on African soil before being loaded onto the ship. You are instructed to strip down to only your loincloth undergarment and I also put on the shackles that were provided. What I did not expect was my RL visceral reaction to doing so. I stood there and hesitated. I did not want to...
I found myself actually taking a deep breath and stepped through. I passed the Egungun--representing the ancestors. As you walk along the representation of the ship there are large flowers to touch, each containing RL narratives/accounts of experiences. When you get to the end, more boxes await and you choose the one with your persona...this time it is for when you have arrived in America...
Now in my new garments of an American slave and with the name "Mary", I find that my persona was sold to a captain in Jamestown, VA. To find out what happened to her and others, you must go and visit for yourself. I found it to be a very moving experience. This is the kind of thing SL is truly meant for and I commend Tamsin Barzane for creating it.
I felt this inworld experience was worth it. I know that many of my RL ancestors experienced this and I am here today because they were strong enough to survive it. In 2001, RL me got a chance to stand Goree Island, Senegal's museum and memorial "Door of No Return". For me, it meant a lot to me that I did...
4 comments:
Eladrienne, when I read this, I teared up. It made all those hours creating it worthwhile. We are planning, if all goes well, that Acuminious Watanabe will lead a discussion session soon, so the catharsis will be a shared and healing experience. I'm going to do more of these--this was just to the U.S., because it was in conjunction with an American sim. Another will be on the returnees to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Benin Republic. And next week an informal lecture on the amazing Olaudah Equiano, who left Nigeria for a life that took him all over the Western hemisphere. I hope you and your readers will join us again.
Oh yes, I certainly hope to attend those events! I remember reading Mr Equiano's book when I was in college, and yes...he was amazing.
One of the wonderful things about SL is being able to discuss and reconstruct and show history--even painful aspects of it--in ways you can't in RL.
Good Lord! I had never heard of this place, this project, and that is a real shame! I'll be going to it ASAP and I'll blog it too - hopefully even more people will go and be part of this.
I just happened to hear about it by accident myself! I am glad that other people now know about it and can visit this moving experience for themselves.
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