In spite of the Covid-19 pandemic and elections affecting all of us, the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project (MPCPMP)has accomplished a great deal in the last quarter.
I. Four markers were successfully installed/fabricated;
• Fernandina/Amelia Island, FL, in March
• Camden, NJ, in September (the last of the city’s three)
• Boston, MA, at Long Wharf in October
• Pensacola, FL, installation to be determined after hurricane clean up
II. There is current planning for markers at the following arrival locations: Africatown, AL; Annapolis and Baltimore, MD; Perth Amboy, NJ; Bristol and Newport, RI; and Beaufort and Charleston, SC.
III. Adapting to the precautions necessary to safeguard against the pandemic, MPCPMP relied increasingly upon digital media to communicate and promote its mission. On August 23rd, the UN-designated International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, we live streamed the traditional, annual ancestral libation/commemoration led by Theodore Lush of Montgomery, AL, that included a panel discussion with representatives from Africatown, AL (Joycelyn Davis); Key West, FL (Rhonda Bristol); Historic Sotterley, MD (Jeanne Pirtle); and Jamestown/Yorktown, VA (David Meredith). That event/video can be easily accessed on our Facebook page.
IV. Our website www.middlepassageproject.org is updated, and in the category bar we added a tab for “Resources.” This was a recommendation made during the August 23rd panel for sources that provide information and data related to African American history and the transatlantic human trade, particularly for teachers and children.
V. This summer, a weekly series highlighting Middle Passage history by state was posted on our Facebook page. That has now been incorporated into the website blog. MPCPMP is planning to expand the information and publish this series as an e-book.
VI. We are also pleased to announce that the Executive Board of Directors has a new member, Joan Hubert of Houston, TX, who will be the coordinator of the Gulf Coast region. Her focus has been exclusively Texas and will now include Biloxi, MS, as well. Ms. Hubert coordinated the Galveston, TX, marker initiative. Our Advisory Board has also expanded to include Jeanne Pirtle of Historic Sotterley, MD, Edith Heard of Williamsburg, VA, and Regina Hartfield of Cambridge, MD. Our team is strengthening with the addition of experienced on-location coordinators.
VII. On November 22, 2020, MPCPMP will begin its end-of-year fund-raising campaign with the goal of reaching $5,000. We will post on our Facebook page cameo videos of arrival site coordinators, supporters, and board members in order to encourage donations that will enable us to continue this important work of honoring and remembering our ancestors’ arrival, presence, and contributions in developing this nation. By 2026, as the nation observes its 250th year as an independent nation, MPCPMP expects all 52 arrival locations to be marked. We’re more than halfway there – 29 so far.
Once again, we thank you for your interest and continued support.
You can support our project at https://middlepassageproject.networkforgood.com/projects/85451-mpcpmp-donation-page