The West African coast was invaded in the 17th century at the start of the Atlantic slave trade. Lives were halted and families were destroyed, but Dr. Johnston Njoku, an associate professor of folklore, said freedom existed there before enslavement.

And he has made it his mission to share that history with the world.

“They had their eyes on freedom,” he said. “They wanted to get back to what they had at home.”

Njoku initiated the Freedom to Freedom project, featuring a documentary of his field work in his native Nigeria. The documentary follows Njoku and other native Igbo people down the trail from Nigerian hinterland to the coast where slave ships docked.

Njoku travels to Nigeria a few times a year for research, and he said the response is always helpful.

“The people are incredible — it gives me goosebumps,” he said.

People are able to walk the centuries-old trail that captured Africans walked and explore the culture of the Igbo, who Njoku said is the most common ancestral link. He said 90 percent of blacks in the U.S. can trace their roots to the West Coast of Africa.

“I like to teach people about where they come from, so they’ll appreciate who they are,” he said. “It’s a challenge, because many of them have been exposed to these things, but I’m teaching truth and being faithful to it.”

Njoku came to Western in 1992 and said the lack of black presence was a challenge. But he also saw it as a positive; with his perspective, students could learn about things they’d never experienced.

After taking a Cultures of Africa class, Tompkinsville graduate student Matt Hale was impressed.

“That class was shocking,” Hale said. “There was so much out there that I’d never even heard of, and I was excited by it.”

Hale took all of Njoku’s classes and is now his assistant.

“I’ve always respected him,” Hale said. “Now I get to see the other side of things, and it’s like we kinda hang out now.”

Along with the Freedom to Freedom documentary, Njoku is working closely with the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia in Staunton, Va. According to its Web site, it is a living history museum focused on those who emigrated to Virginia from the 1600s to the 1800s, including the Igbo, who were prevalent in the 19th century.

An Igbo village replica is being built and is scheduled for dedication in September 2010.

“We have a list of people from Farrakhan to T.D. Jakes who will be there,” Njoku said. “We will share wine, dance, sing and have a ceremony to reconcile with those who sold slaves. Then my dream is for every African-American family to make the pilgrimage from there to the trail in Nigeria.”

Njoku said he’s wanted to teach since childhood, and the responses he gets from his students motivate him to do more research on lesser known African history.

“It makes me feel like I was sent to do this. I’m not just a teacher. It’s bigger than me,” he said.