Homecoming: Finding the Future in the Past
In 2023, Black Future Co-op Fund returned to the motherland. Over two trips to Ghana, Black leaders from across Washington state had the opportunity to reconnect with their ancestral past and gather inspiration and wisdom to chart a radically free Black future.
Promoting truthful Black narratives
“Ghana was home … The land, the hoodoo, the people, the joy, the heartache, the wonder, the answers — all of it was home” – Sean Goode, Ghana trip participant
One of the central goals for the trips to Ghana was to offer a fuller context around Black history. “The trip was important because it is the beginning of the next. It’s the beginning of our journey to understanding our origin story. A story that began before we were enslaved. So many of us in the diaspora were taught that our history began as slaves. This trip refuted that mentally, physically, and spiritually,” shares Andrea Caupain Sanderson, co-architect of the Black Future Co-op Fund.
Understanding the true history of Black people is essential to conceiving a liberated future. Participants were able to trace their present experiences to ancestral practices. For example, during one of the trips, local chefs were invited to share the connections between traditional African foods and meals enjoyed throughout the diaspora, showing how Black people have remained deeply aligned across space and time.
The trips also included opportunities to explore ancestral spiritual practices that predate Islam and Christianity and unpack preconceived notions. “We’re taught a lot of negative things about African spirituality. We hear the terms ‘voodoo’ or ‘black magic,’ and are admonished that it’s dark, terrible, and devilish,” Andrea reflects. “But truly understanding how our ancestors worshipped before the time of slavery or colonization was an excellent grounding to understanding who we are and where we came from. A lot of people left this experience thinking ‘Oh my God, what I’ve been told was a lie!’ or ‘Now I see the ways in which I am still deeply colonized.”
Connecting Black communities for collective power
“It was important to experience this journey with women and folks I did not know prior. The process of bonding with others with whom I share a country, in a place linked to our origins, was a high point for me.” – Vivian Phillips, Ghana trip participant
One of the pillars of Black Future Co-op Fund is to serve as a container for Black connection. The participants were intentionally selected to create a diverse cohort of Black leaders actively involved in freedom work in Washington state. “The participants had not only been observed ‘doing the work,’ but they also demonstrated a specific type of readiness. These are folks actively rethinking about how to be of greater support and impact for their communities. We felt this trip was an important conduit to allow for that level of thinking,” reflects Andrea.
The trip also represented a potent opportunity for healing and repairing relationships between Black people in the diaspora and those on the continent. “There has been a lot of sadness, a sense of remorse around the separation of the people who were taken versus the people who got to stay,” Andrea says. “A lot of us have believed that Africans gave us over or didn’t care about us. But then we heard stories from so many people in Africa about the sense of powerlessness and grief they felt about the separation. And, we were able to turn that story on its head.”
“Many people in Africa recognized us as family, telling us ‘our family has come home.’ But there was also a call to action, “We need you to know that in order for Africa to thrive and to never go back to that part of history, we need you to work with us. We can’t do this alone.’ That was really powerful.”
Investing in Black generational prosperity
“It was a lesson in manifesting a desire on behalf of good for others.” – Vivian Phillips
Knowledge is power, and relationships are wealth. The trip to Ghana offered all these things in abundance. Witnessing thriving Black people in fully Black spaces enables all Black people to dream bigger dreams.
“A lot of us don’t have experience with generational wealth. We have not seen it in the Caribbean. We have not seen it in Europe. We have not seen it in the U.S. What we have seen is the opposite — economic segregation,” Andrea shares. “Are there impoverished places in Africa? Absolutely, but there are places where communities have thrived and been able to pass down generational wealth. We wanted people to see that firsthand.”
Shifting the philanthropic paradigm
“Who I brought back as self from that trip was the biggest takeaway. Who I became and have continued to become sticks with me in all things.” – Sean Goode
Black Future Co-op Fund is committed to shaping a new model for philanthropy that elevates Black genius and shares power with Black people to substantially increase resources flowing into our community. We believe the healing that took place over the course of the trips is central to that mission.
By walking the paths of our ancestors, we share power with all Black people living and departed. During the trips, participants visited several locations along the path of the slave trade to re-contextualize that history through the lens of survival and resilience.
“We visited the Assin Manso River, where people took their last baths on the continent. We actually stepped into the river to embody all that has flown through those waters. Although the history of Black people does not begin or end with slavery, honoring that experience opens doors for a new understanding of ourselves and opens doors for new futures.”
“We went to the slave dungeons, Elmina and Cape Coast castles. Naturally, those places were hard. We’ve heard of these stories, we see them in textbooks, but to actually be there, within those walls and spiritually feel that communion with our ancestors was entirely different,” Andrea reflects.
“We walked through the Door of No Return, where people would get onto the slave ships. We had a moment of reflection, turned around and returned. So many of our ancestors never got to do that. They never got to return. It was a prolific and powerful feeling in our bodies.” says Andrea. “This is a responsibility that we have been given. This is the justice that we are living into, that our ancestors fought for, that our ancestors dreamed of. What they sacrificed created a level of privilege for us to be able to walk back through those doors, to be able to visit Ghana by choice, and leave Ghana by choice. We are our ancestors’ dreams come true.”