Sunlight masks a sober sculpture
The cruel shadowed history of slavery
Men and women, wrapped in chains
Trapped in dark cellars
Whipped to test endurance
Silence increasing their price
Shipped far away
A legacy of lost heritage
Pain, Courage, Endurance
This is written and inspired by my friend Kristin and all her fellow African Americans whose ancestors suffered similar fates.
This memorial to the slaves is in Stone Town, Zanzibar. The site of the old whipping point is behind the altar of the Anglican Cathedral, and the former cellars under a nearby building.
This post is my contribution to this week’s Shadow Shot Sunday.
Tropical Territory & Travel 
Thank you. That must have been a powerful and sobering experience, being in that place. Looking at the photographs and thinking back to my unnamed Ancestors, listening to the pouring rain outside… very moving post.
It was certainly sobering Kristin. you were very much in my mind when we were there and when I wrote this, and other families who share this history.
Reblogged this on http://www.newsafrica.co.uk and commented:
Shadows of Slavery
A rather shameful piece of history. And this memorial ensures that it is not forgotten. The first photo is so sad.
You’re right Gemma, it’s simple yet powerful.
Both photos and verse combine to portray a time which must be remembered, so that it us never repeated.
Thanks Chris, and yet I fear that there are still essentially enslaved.
That is a very powerful sculpture and your poem depicts it moviingly.
thanks Liz. it is indeed a sobering and powerful, memorial.