We have had 'countries not to visit' and I think, 'countries to visit'.

I wanted to just add today something I have thought about on and off this morning. Places you have been to that just made you feel so proud to be black, or steadfast in your blackness (or African diaspora heritage, culture etc).

I have two, very different.

1. Lalibela in Ethiopia. I looked at those churches and said to myself (what I already knew) but that no one could ever tell me again that we aren't great. Now that I have Lalibela in my mind pocket! They chiselled those churches out of the stone in the ground. The meticulous work, planning, artistry - they are still there 800-900 years on. For those of us who do not yet know. You stand there and look across the horizon - you see nothing. You walk closer and under your feet opens up, I think 13? churches, all hewn out of the ground. They didn't take the rock out of the ground, and then lay it on the ground to build a church. They dug the churches out of the ground. Here is a link:
   
   whc.unesco.org/en/list/18/gallery/
   
   
2. Elmina Castle
   
   I'm of Caribbean heritage. The sheer evil inferred by the building, sent shivers down my spine. TRIGGER WARNING - the rape room, the starvation rooms, the minuscule door of no return that is so slim, yet grown men dragged for hundreds and hundreds of miles could easily slip through they were so emaciated. Knowing now what we know about the passage they would endure and then the generations of torture. This 400 year state sponsored human / sex trafficking expedition. It is impossible to return to England feel the same again. Very impacting.
   
   theculturetrip.com/africa/ghana/articles/ghana-s-slave-castles-the-shocking-story-of-the-ghanaian-cape-coast/
   
   So, very different experiences, but both very influential in thoughts and feelings about being black today.
   
   (I haven't watched the links, cannot vouch for them).