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What an
amazing day. The journey to James Island really made me understand
why Cecil, Janette, and the hundreds of others on the boat,
feel its so important for them to travel to Africa and reconnect
with their past.
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| James
Island |
There were
people from Cuba, Jamaica, America, Holland and the all over
the UK. It took on the air of a pilgrimage, and the mood changes
in the passengers seemed to swing from celebration to sadness
to even a kind of fear.
James Island
and its fort was used for several hundred years to hold the
slaves before they were transported to the new world. It would
have been the last piece of African soil they would have walked
on before their journey into the unknown, which for many resulted
in an early death. At one point a group of people just started
singing.
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| An
emotional event for Cecil Watley |
Its never
happened to me before. In almost fifteen years of reporting
I’ve always managed to remain detached from what ever I was
covering, but today it was impossible. At one point on the island
the emotion of the event meant that I just began to cry. I couldn’t
believe it. I looked over at Neil and saw him wiping his eyes
as well.
What had
began as a prayer for the millions sold into slavery quickly
erupted into condemnation of the Church for its part in what
many call ‘the black holocaust’. Cecil appealed for calm, it
was an incredible sight.
I only
hope were are able to convey in our film something of the emotion
and feeling that we all felt.
Read
Devon's diary for today
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