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News 12 Staff

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We are talking with the co-founders of the Guided Collaboration Collective based in Hillside in Union County, Doctor Danette Green and Krishna Garlick JD. Ladies, tell me all about this trip to Ghana and the fact that you visited a castle and a special river. Yeah, so we visited the Cape Coast slave castle and the Asimansu, uh, slave River, and both days we wore the pure white. Um, and what we did that day was actually tour and got the deep rooted history of the slave castle and the door of no return, and we had the experience of being able to go inside of the dungeon. Now personally I had to stand back because I've been inside of the dungeon before and it was uh a a life changing and as I'm speaking right now I'm getting chills just thinking about that. Experience being inside of an actual slave castle, putting your hands on the walls where slaves were some of which didn't make it out uh and then there's the other lower dungeon where they were in in limbo before they actually died and so for us we were able to walk inside of that and take our volunteers and our students into the dungeon and they got to. To be able to reflect on their own understanding of what slavery was for who they are today and then in addition to that we also went to the slave river so the slave river is um uh about a quarter mile in we took our shoes off and as we took our shoes off we were able to walk barefooted as our ancestors did to the last bath and so. Going into the water they gave us um one of the things that I loved that they did is like my mom was there and so um they had and her some of her friends so we call them the elders, the young people were able to pair up and have those reflective moments with someone um I stood off by myself at one point and I could hear a student calling me but I could not respond. And I had an experience which I said I was just gonna keep to myself and then I walked over and I was standing next to Krishna and I think the picture is there where we're both just kinda listening to what was going on and as I looked down I saw my own tear drop fall into the water and the ripples gave me faces of ancestors it was. The words can't even explain and express what it is it was, but what I do know is when I spoke to Krishna, she had a very similar experience, so I felt comfortable and and and it was welcoming to know that she had that experience on another side of the river than I did on the left hand side and so. That experience for anyone you know to be able to trace their lineage and understand where you're from and where your ancestors are from and then standing in the river that slaves walked through and some of them didn't make it so if we're here we know our ancestors made it through that last bath.

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82spotlightnj3_2025-08-02-12-22-37

My guests are Doctor Danette Green and Krishna Garlick, JD. They are co-founders of the Guided Collaboration Collective based in Hillside, Union County. They went to Ghana in June, taking a whole group of kids and adults and just got back and you wanna tell us all about it and you visited a special. We did, we did the um Aronite shrine uh that was in the mountains in Ghana and so it was an amazing experience. I think it was one of those um times that we found that for those of us who maybe practice traditional um American religion being in a place and in a space where um very local tribal religion was practiced. Pulled on people's um comfortability and so for the students that we took from Rutgers University there were many of them that struggled with different pieces of um the tours that we had planned during the trip. The shrine was definitely one of them when we talked about um you know here is a group. That worshiped uh deities that are different than you know traditionally what Christians or Muslims or you know in Judaism perhaps that we are used to um worshiping in the way that we're able the practice that we're able to worship in being very different for um the shrine and the people in the shrine to play such an important role. In correcting behavior and administering punishment in community, which is very different, um, these are communities where um they hold each other accountable through this practice of how we worship together. Interesting. What the students have to say as they're watching all this. They were, they were, they asked tons of questions which was amazing. They were very, very um involved in conversation um with the priests and priestess and was able to ask questions and that was great. One of the things that made it a little challenging was that the language that was spoken at the shrine was different than the language that was spoken by our. The hosts and then of course we were speaking English, so you're translating, you know, three ways going and three ways which made for a very interesting experience. Um, I think the other place where some of the students maybe had some uncomfortability in the beginning was that we also participated in a naming ceremony um and so again when people are, you know, have like their foundation and their spirituality and that they practice that in a certain way. Being put into situations where spirituality, spirituality is a part of the culture and it's kind of ingrained in everything that's done was a very different experience for our young people. And so for some of them to have a king who then blesses them and gives them a name um as a part of their being welcomed back to um you know, their ancestry and to their native homeland. Um, it made some of them uncomfortable that how does this then challenge what my opinions are feelings are about my religion that I practice at home and about the name that my parents gave me.

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Cofounders Dr. Donette Green and Krishna Garlic, JD, joined News 12’s Della Crews to discuss their recent trip to Ghana.

Spotlight New Jersey: Guided Collaboration Collective recaps trip to Ghana

Cofounders Dr. Donette Green and Krishna Garlic, JD, joined News 12’s Della Crews to discuss their recent trip to Ghana.

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