For Candace Mickens, what began as a spiritual trip to Senegal in 2000 has blossomed into a lifelong journey of return.
After 24 years of traveling between her home in Washington D.C. and the African continent, the African American woman has officially purchased a home in Ghana, transforming a deep ancestral calling into a living reality.
In a moving conversation on the Ivy Prosper YouTube channel, Mickens shared the profound motivation behind her move. She recalled standing in the “Door of No Return” at a former slave dungeon with three generations of her family, a moment that cemented her path.
“I have returned. I have returned again and again and again,” she declared. “I am one of my ancestors’ greatest prayers… There was an enslaved ancestor, and his greatest prayer was, ‘If I can make it home, let one of my children come back to the continent.’ I am that grandchild.”
Mickens’ story is a powerful narrative for Black women seeking connection and a sense of belonging beyond the Western world.
She highlighted the joy of raising her son in a majority-Black nation, stating, “I feel so confident that my son, my black son, is being raised around people that are black, too.”
While her story is inspiring, Mickens, who has visited over a dozen African countries, offers crucial, sisterly advice for women dreaming of a similar leap. She draws a clear line between visiting and moving.
“Visit. Holiday. Tour. Wonderful. Come do it. Free yourself, free your mind, come restore yourself here,” she encourages. However, she cautions against relocating to a country you’ve never set foot in. “Moving… what I’m seeing on these chats and groups, people are picking where they want to move they’ve never even stepped foot on the continent. And that, for me, it’s like, who does that?”
Her journey demonstrates that the path home isn’t always easy, but for her, the challenges are outweighed by the spiritual fulfillment and the peace found in being surrounded by her community—both the living and the ancestral.
