Colin Kaepernick visited some truly historic sites in Ghana to rediscover himself

kwame

July 5, 2017 10:49 AM

Colin Kaepernick traced his ancestry and went home to mother Ghana.

Colin Kaepernick visited some truly historic sites in Ghana to rediscover himself

American sports most polarising figure decided to use his downtime to find a bit of his identity.

Yep.Colin Kaepernick went “home” to Ghana after tracing his ancestry to the West African country that was first to gain independence south of the Sahara.

The former star quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers gained infamy at the height of deepening racial tensions in America after several race-related shootings between civilians and law enforcement. His preference to take a knee rather than stand for the national anthem during football games to draw attention to the situation might have cost him his day job after he was cut by his franchise.

Given his penchant for statement making, his Instagram post about his visit to his roots on July 4 cannot be a coincidence.

Here’s what Kaepernick wrote:

“In a quest to find my personal independence, I had to find out where my ancestors came from. I set out tracing my African ancestral roots, and it lead me to Ghana. Upon finding out this information, I wanted to visit the sites responsible for myself (and many other Black folks in the African Diaspora) for being forced into the hells of the middle passage. I wanted to see a fraction of what they saw before reaching the point of no return.

“I spent time with the/my Ghanaian people, from visiting the local hospital in Keta and the village of Atito, to eating banku in the homes of local friends, and paying my respects to Kwame Nkrumah’s Memorial Park.

“I felt their love, and truly I hope that they felt mine in return.”

kwame