Lerato laka le a phela pays homage to the 12 million enslaved people who crossed the Atlantic—those who survived and those who fled into the waters to seek sanctuary. Across three screens, the artist is seen submerging her hands and placing fruit, flowers, and various libations in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Jamaica. Audio elements are incorporated through Bopape’s rhythmic drumming of the water and her singing in her mother tongue, Sepedi. The work was inspired by the whip-lacerated back of an African American man known only as Peter (formerly misnamed Gordon), who escaped American slavery in the 18th century and whose story of resilience of spirit continues to be told through a widely circulated photograph.