Island of No Return

Richard Harrison Gorée's search for his African roots becomes a historical novel about women, slavery and power in West Africa.

DETROIT

Richard Harrison Gorée first ran across a description of the griot when he was immersed in researching his family history.

In African history, he explains, "the griot was the person assigned to keeping the oral history. These old men would have ceremonies where people would play music and they would recite who was born to whom, what events took place."

Reading the descriptions, Gorée identified with the griot. "I would tell the story [of my ancestors] to anyone who would listen," says the 43-year-old member of AFSCME Local 1640 (Council 25).

With the publication of his first book, Gorée has told his story to the world. His historical novel Gorée Island: Island of No Return — Saga of the Signarés was published in February 1997 by Gold Leaf Press.

"It was a vision from God," the Detroit native says of the novel. He adds, "It’s been a struggle. It’s been 26 years."

While in high school, Gorée was given a picture of his great-grandparents that inspired him to start asking his family members about their past. However, it wasn’t until he was 23 and saw Alex Haley’s search for his own ancestors dramatized in the television drama Roots that Gorée felt compelled to begin his own search.

"I wanted to get in touch with my African bloodline," he says.

He took the photo of his great-grandparents to the Detroit public library. While thumbing through a book of historical maps of Africa, he saw a small island off the westernmost point of the continent labeled Isle of Gorée.

"This island was very significant for some reason," Gorée recalls. "My curiosity — wanting to know what the island was, the history of the island — started me on a journey."

Through travel, correspondence and research, he learned that Gorée Island had been the last stop in Africa for many of the men, women and children brought to the Americas as slaves. It had been inhabited by women called signarés — the daughters of male European colonists and African women — who served first as consorts and translators for the colonists, and later controlled the island.

Descendants of these women — like Gorée’s ancestors who came to South Carolina in the 1700s not as slaves, but as settlers — often took the name of the island as their own.

"The women were noted throughout Europe as being beautiful, shrewd businesswomen," Gorée says. He traced their history through sociology books, in chapters titled "African Female Entrepreneurs" and through sketches made at the time. Upon looking at these sketches, Gorée felt a shock of recognition.

"I found this picture of a young signaré that looked exactly like my youngest daughter," he says.

Then, when he came across pictures of a griot, Gorée found himself back where he had begun. "I found these characters in the old books," he says, "The griot looked exactly like my great-grandfather" — the man whose picture had started him on this search.

From there, he says, the story just came to him. Gorée Island is the story of Sasha — named for Gorée’s daughter — a signaré who grows up on Gorée Island after her mother jumps into shark-infested waters rather than leave her homeland as a slave.

Gorée spent several years corresponding with editors and publishers before a local press accepted his novel for publication. It is available through major bookstores across the country.

The author is pleased with the book’s reception. One reviewer has called it "a masterful blend of storytelling ... must reading for all." Gorée reports that Gorée Island has been featured in several major African-American magazines and that he is talking to the Discovery Channel about a documentary based on the book.

Right now, Gorée is working on a sequel to the novel. He credits AFSCME with giving him the peace of mind necessary to do his research and writing. A job placement counselor with Goodwill Industries, Gorée says: "I really have to compliment my union. The foundation of having a job and knowing that I’m with a union that cares about the people provides me with a sense of security."

By Alison S. Lebwohl