So when we were in Porto Novo, Benin in West Africa, the king blessed and poured libation over a piece of a plate fragment from the 18th century quarters of a South Carolina plantation, a plate our Ancestors ate their rice from. He became the second African royal to do so.

Everyone in the court held and blessed the plate fragment and they all passed it around for the children to see, at the end the King said that he was sorry for those African rulers who participated in the trade and said by fragment represented a value more precious than gold.

As soon as they were done the drums commenced and the Ancestral spirits entered. And I was surrounded by the women of the court including the Queen Mother who offered me an extra blessing.

It was one of the most profound moments in my life. The entire time I was in Benin I felt like I was on the other side of the looking glass looking at earth from the realm of spirit.

I keep that fragment in a sacred pouch around my neck. Everywhere I go the Ancestors of that rice plantation go with me and the blessings and Egun of the Chief of Bankim/Tikar village and the royal court of Porto Novo. They are always close to my heart.

When I go to Sierra Leone I will be taking that fragment to be blessed as well as my return to Senegal and first visit to Gambia. Sierra Leone is the home of my mother's roots and I will be bringing the remainder of her ashes there for a traditional burial.