Items

Africa Door of No Return

White door with louvers, doorknob removed. Painted red lettering covers most of the surface, reading horizontally from top to bottom on the horizontal rails: "AFRICA / DOOR - OF / NO - RETURN." On the louvers, reading: "50 / [sad face] / YRS WHY." On the vertical rails, left to right flanking top louvered panel: "SLAVERY / LOST - FREEDOM." On vertical rails, left to right flanking bottom louvered panel: "AGONY - MISERY / DEATH." Title recalls the Door of No Return, the physical and mythical doors at slave fortresses along the coast of West Africa. Both literal and commemorative, there are Doors of No Return in Gorée, Senegal, and Elmina, Ghana, as well as memorials in Benin and Nigeria. The other side of the door has painted wooden planks meant to look like prison bars that are dark grey. Written on them are letters in yellow and black paint that read "R-E-P-A-RA-TIONS / CONVICT-LEASE / SYSTEM-200-YRS / JIM / CROW / 200 / WH-Y-U.-S.-A. / S-L-A-V-ERY".