The complex legacy of the first European ’slave castle’

Elmina is a place in Ghana that poet Sarpong Osei Asamoah describes as a "two-sided wonder." A bustling, lively fishing town in contrast to the painful history of a 400 year old 'slave castle' that towers near the sea — a UNESCO World Heritage site. Asamoah sees Elmina as "choosing to be resilient" beyond the tragedy to make way for life and prosperity.

Guests in this episode:

Philip Amoa-Mensah is an Elmina tour guide with more than 20 years of experience.

Ato Quayson is chair of the department of African and African American studies and professor of English at Stanford University. He is the author of Oxford Street, Accra: City Life and the Itineraries of Transnationalism.

Bayo Holsey is a professor of African American studies at Emory University. She is the author of Roots of Remembrance: Refashioning the Slave Trade in Ghana.

Sarpong Osei Asamoah is a Ghanaian poet. His poetry includes At Elmina Castle, I Bleed.