27th Annual Charleston Middle Passage Remembrance Commemoration, June 8, 2024, Fort Moultrie, Sullivans Island, SC

On Saturday, June 8, 2024, from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm EST, the Charleston Area Branch Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) Remembrance Committee hosts its 27th Annual Middle Passage Ancestor Remembrance Ceremony at Fort Moultrie on Sullivans Island. Admission is free, and all are welcome. Please consider bringing fresh flowers as an offering and wearing white attire as a mark of respect.

The annual commemoration provides an opportunity for members of the African-descended community to collectively remember the victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the millions sold, kidnapped, and lost during the Middle Passage. We also honor the survivors of this horrific trafficking of human beings, known as the Maafa or Black Holocaust. 

Included in the program, the welcome by Jerome Harris, CHS ASALH former President & current Remembrance Committee Chairman, remarks by Dr. Bernard Powers, College of Charleston Center for the Study of Slavery and CHS ASALH member; an educational presentation by Historian Donald West, titled “Forced Migration”, CHS ASALH Vice President & Remembrance Committee; Drum Procession to the Beach Waters and “Bench by the Road”; Remarks and Community Voices by Ty Collins, CHS ASALH President, a Special Tribute honoring the late Ruth M Rambo, CHS ASALH, and the Libations Ceremony at Noon.

The Libation Ceremony begins promptly at Noon EST, officiated by Yoruba Priestess Osun Wonuola EfunLayo pays homage to African Ancestors. This ceremony is held simultaneously at various locations across the country and internationally, including Georgetown, SC; Brooklyn, NY; Washington, DC; Hampton, VA; New Orleans, LA; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland, CA; Montgomery, AL; Miami, FL; Detroit, MI, etc. Tributes are also held internationally in parts of West Africa, The Caribbean, and South and Central America. 

By keeping the Ancestors’ memory alive, we honor the humanity of those who suffered anonymously. This remembrance disrupts our silence about the past, allowing the healing process to continue for the African-descended community, which still grapples with the trauma of fear, pain, and the legacy of slavery. We strive to reclaim their cultural identity, dignity, and pride.

IF WE DON’T REMEMBER AND HONOR THEM – WHO WILL?!

“All those Africans in the briny deep. All those people who said ‘no’ and jumped ship. All those people who tried to figure a way to steer, to navigate amongst the sharks. We don’t call upon that power… upon those spirits. We don’t celebrate those ancestors. We don’t have a marker, an expression, a song that we use to acknowledge them. We have nothing to indicate that those are our people and they mattered … we don’t tap into the ancestral presence in the waters.” ––Toni Cade Bambara (1987)

“Spirit of the Dead, rise up and claim your story.” ––Introduction to the film “Sankofa” (1993)

“If the Atlantic were to dry up, it would reveal a scattered pathway of human bones, African bones marking the various routes of the Middle Passage.” ––Dr. John Henrik Clarke’s introduction to “The Middle Passage: Black Ships/White Cargo” by Tom Feelings (1995)

This ceremony is sponsored by the Charleston Area Branch Association for the Study of African American Life History (CHS ASALH) Remembrance Committee and the College of Charleston Center for the Study of Slavery (CSSC).

The Charleston Area Branch Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) Remembrance Committee is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Middle Passage and its impact on the African diaspora. The Committee organizes annual remembrance ceremonies and educational programs to promote healing and understanding.

We look forward to seeing the community at this year’s ceremony!

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