The last three months have been full of activity. Our network of affiliates has expanded and three additional Middle Passage markers were installed: Warren, RI (June 2019); Mobile, AL (December 7, 20019); and Algiers Point, New Orleans, LA (December 31, 2019). The Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation provided funding for the Amelia Island, FL, marker scheduled to be unveiled in a remembrance ceremony/program on March 25, 2020, in Old Town Fernandina. This event coincides with the UNESCO designation of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
We have received notice that a ceremony/marker installation for both Boston, MA, and Pensacola, FL, will take place in 2020. A marker installation for Africatown, Al, is scheduled for August 23, 2020.
On February 9, 2020, MPCPMP participated in a panel discussion, “Wade in the Water: Healing, Reconciling, Revitalizing Africatown,” at the GulfQuest Museum, Mobile, AL.
Based on construction plans of the L’Aurore, a French Middle Passage ship, Professor David Eltis (developer of the Voyages: Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database and MPCPMP Honorary Board member) with a team of experts produced an informative graphic 3D video that is now available for viewing – https://slavevoyages.org/voyages/ship#slave-
During this last quarter we introduced a fund-raising process with the Network for Good that has proven to be effective. Please follow us on Facebook or the website as we launch various campaigns throughout 2020 with targeted goals.
Future publications by MPCPMP will include a QR code for easy access to the website by smart phones and the logo of the 400 Years of African American History Commission.
Systematically, by state, we are entering Middle Passage marker information into the National Historic Marker Database. Florida will be the first state to be completed. The final goal is to have each documented site with a marker on record to include a brief historical narrative, GPS information, and marker image.
State Updates
Georgia:
- Darien is in the process of planning for a marker installation in 2020.
- Tybee Island is constructing an exhibit related to African American history that includes a Middle Passage marker.
Maryland:
- Annapolis will incorporate a Middle Passage marker in planning the city dock renovation.
- Baltimore met to discuss the Douglass Meyers Museum for the Middle Passage marker location.
We appreciate your continued support, participation, and interest in the work of remembering ancestors. With this history, in this nation, truth takes time.