Kamala Harris gets emotional in Ghana as she visits slave trade siteVice President Kamala Harris spoke Tuesday while traveling through the African nation of Ghana.
Harris made a brief address from Cape Coast Castle, a 17th-century Swedish military fort later used by British forces to hold slaves.
"Being here was immensely powerful and moving," Harris said, her voice cracking. "When we think about how human beings were treated by the hundreds of thousands in this very place where we now stand — the crimes that happened here, the blood that was shed here."
A pool reporter said Harris "was clearly moved and wiped her nose, composing herself as she walks around with the tour guide and second gentleman."
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"The horror of what happened here must always be remembered. It cannot be denied. It must be taught. History must be learned," Harris said. "And we must then be guided by what we also know to be the history of those who survived in the Americas, in the Caribbean. Those who proudly declared themselves to be the Diaspora."
Harris wrapped the speech back toward a message of hope, encouraging people around the world to take inspiration from the African Diaspora that descended from the slave trade and planted roots in the new world.
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"But yet they survived. And they tell another history — a history of endurance, a history of faith, a history of believing in what is possible," Harris said.
The speech — which was kept brief — went somewhat smoother than her previous public remarks on the African trip.
Harris stumbled over her words during a speech in Ghana Monday in a series of remarks that didn't end up connecting.
"There are a number of things on the issue of the economy as a whole that we must do … and a lot of that work is the work that I am here to do on the continent," Harris said during a joint conference with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Harris has been in Africa this week to strengthen U.S. ties to the region.
China has increased its influence on the continent as part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
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Kamala Harris gets emotional in Ghana as she visits slave trade site
