Gabrielle Union Recounts Spiritual Encounter In Ghana

Gabrielle Union

 

American actress and activist, Gabrielle Union, has opened up about a deeply emotional and spiritual experience during her visit to Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, describing it as both “heartbreaking and healing.”

Speaking on the YouTube series Reclaiming with Monica, Union said she felt a powerful ancestral connection while touring the 17^th -century slave fortress, which once held thousands of Africans before they were shipped across the Atlantic during the slave trade.

“Standing inside those walls, I could feel the spirits of my ancestors — their pain, their strength, their endurance. It was heartbreaking and healing at the same time,” she said.

Union recalled a particularly intense moment when her mother collapsed while walking toward the nearby “River of No Return,” where enslaved Africans were washed before being taken onto ships.

“We were going to the river, and during the walk, my mum fell out. I thought she was gone, but very clearly, I heard my grandmother’s voice — who had been gone for many years — say to me, ‘She’s alright,’” Union recounted.

Her mother later regained consciousness and insisted on completing the journey. “She was like, ‘Take me to the river.’ We weren’t at the river yet, but I was just crying,” Union added.

While at the river, Union said her husband, basketball star Dwyane Wade, also had a spiritual moment. “I had lost track of where he was, and suddenly I heard him scream. It was a bright, hot, sunny day, but the moment he screamed, the sky opened up and a downpour started. It felt like we were being cleansed.”

Cape Coast Castle, built by European traders in the 17^th century, remains one of the most significant relics of the transatlantic slave trade. Union’s emotional journey reflects a growing movement among African Americans seeking to reconnect with their ancestral roots in Ghana — a pilgrimage that gained momentum with the country’s “Year of Return” initiative in 2019.

 

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