“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.”
––From the film Sankofa (1993)
On Saturday, June 11, 2022, The Charleston Branch ASALH Remembrance Committee will host the 25th Annual Remembrance Program on Sullivan’s Island, SC from 9:00am – 1:00pm.
The annual commemoration, held the second Saturday of every June, provides an opportunity for members of African Diaspora communities to collectively remember the countless Africans — men, women, and children — who were kidnapped, sold, shipped and died along the route from Africa to the Americas. We believe that by remembering, we honor and restore the humanity of those nameless, faceless Africans. We continue the process of healing from the fear, pain, guilt and shame of the experience that continues to traumatize the African descended community today. After all, if we don’t remember them, who will?!
We also honor and commemorate those who survived the Transatlantic trafficking of African people and we stand upon their strength, courage and determination to overcome obstacles of enormous magnitude.
The program begins promptly at 9:15am in the Fort Moultrie Auditorium with greetings from ASALH Remembrance Committee Coordinator Regina Williams. Donald West (History & Humanities Department, Trident Technical College, No. Charleston, SC) will speak on the “Middle Passage, Myths and Realities.” The program includes a drum procession to the Beach and back to the “Bench by the Road” for remarks by Charleston ASALH President Jerome Harris, Marcus McDonald (Charleston Black Lives Matter) and from other community members.
At 12:00pm EST, the Libation Ceremony conducted by Yoruba Priestess OsunWonuola EfunLayo, will be held in conjunction with various locations, including: Brooklyn, NY; Washington, DC; Georgetown, SC; Hampton, VA; New Orleans, LA; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland, CA; Montgomery, AL; Miami, FL; Detroit, MI. Tributes are also held internationally in locations in West Africa, The Caribbean and South and Central America.
The program and gathering is free and open to the public; all who wish to attend are welcome. Attendees are encouraged to bring fresh flowers as an offering and to be dressed in white.
For those unable to attend a scheduled Remembrance/Tribute to the Ancestors program, we encourage you to gather with friends and family and reflect upon the occasion.
- For additional information, visit Charleston Middle Passage Remembrance on Facebook.
- Sponsored by Charleston Branch ASALH Remembrance Committee – Website: www.chsasalh.com & The National Parks Service – Fort Moultrie.
- The Charleston Remembrance Program is a member of the International Coalition to Commemorate the African Ancestors of the Middle Passage (ICCAAMP). Website: www.remembertheancestors.com
Charleston Area Branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History 