‘My ancestors were brought to the Caribbean as slaves’: Lewis Hamilton reminiscences the difficult times his forefathers had to go through
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Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton is one of the best and greatest drivers to ever grace the Formula 1 grid. Not only that, but he is the first and so far, the only black driver to compete in the racing series. He’s well known for his campaigns against racism in motorsport and sport, and society in general and has many times highlighted such incidents.
He has at many times talked about the difficulties of being the only black driver in the sport. Despite that, Hamilton has risen up against the difficulties and became one of the greatest of all time – statistically, probably the greatest. 2022 has not been up to his standards, but there is not much blame to assign to him for that: the car has not been good enough.
This time around for summer break, Lewis Hamilton is on a journey through Africa, something he has called ‘tracing his roots’. Lewis Hamilton, obviously, has African descent. More precisely, he has Grenadian descent. Grenada is an island in the Caribbean – the region where the first European-enslaved Africans were taken to work on plantations. Recently, Hamilton addressed precisely this with an Instagram story.
Lewis Hamilton: “I’m not the same man I was before this trip”
In his journey through Africa, as of yet, Lewis Hamilton visited: Namibia, which he called a ‘life-changing reset’ and said that it helped him gain a new perspective on life. The second was Rwanda, which he called a ‘profound and truly moving experience’ and his most recent stop was in Kenya, where he spent time with the Pokot people.
Later, Hamilton once again took to Instagram to talk about his trip, and said: “These past two weeks have been some of the best days of my entire life. I’m not the same man I was before this trip, all the beauty, love, and peacefulness I experienced has me feeling fully transformed.” concluding by saying that he and his brothers who joined him on this journey will be talking about this forever.
He also wrote on an Instagram story: “My ancestors and so many others had their beautiful culture interrupted and destroyed when they were stolen from their home and brought to the Caribbean as slaves. I am so grateful to have been able to gain a deeper understanding of where I come from on this trip.”
Slavery changed the world: It was what the civilizations in America were built upon. It scarred generations upon generations of people and still hangs over like a dark cloud over race relations. The human impact of it cannot be talked about enough Being a black man, tracing your roots in the continent where your ancestors came from must be a very moving experience for Hamilton, and surely one he will not forget.
Also Read: “A great all-round competitor”: Lewis Hamilton gushes over Sebastian Vettel’s prowess in F1
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)