"...La Gran Esperanza de Libertad del hombre del Caribe se originó en gran medida, con los negros y negras esclavas puertorriqueños quienes se confrontaron con el sistema esclavista de las haciendas, con sus dueños, con el aparato policial, la selva y el mar, en su lucha por romper las trabazones de la opresión, y de esta manera, reconquistar la Libertad perdida."

- Esclavos, prófugos y cimarrones: Puerto Rico, 1770 - 1870
Benjamín Nistral-Moret

Imagine yourself being pushed through this "door" never again to see or know what has been yours all your life. Boarding a voyage which for many ended in death. If you survived the voyage, to arrive in a land where the language, customs and the Gods are foreign to you. Where you are no longer a human being but another item to be sold at market. For years, many lives and much was lost but, through the perseverance of human spirit, dignity and pride, history would slowly take a turn...



"The Door of No Return" Go through ...

"La Maison des Esclaves" (Slave House), Gor�e Island, Dakar, Senegal, West Africa







Copyright © October 2001, Dalia Morales
Revised: August 31, 2002
URL:   Puerto Rico: My Ancestors and Their Descendants