Second Burial

African Diaspora, African literature, ancestors, burial ceremonies, descendants of slaves, ethnic studies, Middle Passage, transatlantic slave trade

Among several West African ethnic people, death does not immediately entitle a person the status of ancestor. Traditionally there is a space of time between physical burial, which is quick, and the ceremonial burial that requires an established ritual, after which an individual joins or becomes an ancestor to the community. Among the Igbo, even issues surrounding inheritance and property cannot be settled until the elaborate second burial is completed. Read More

Florida

African American History, African ethnic groups, Afro-Caribbeans, Afro-Latinos, ancestors, captured Africans, descendants of slaves, ethnic studies, Middle Passage, slave ports, slave ships, slavery, transatlantic slave trade

As the state with the nation’s longest history of documented African presence, the Project is interested in highlighting Florida’s Middle Passage sites. We intend to honor ancestors and highlight the influence of Africans and their descendants in developing Florida. This is not an easy task since those in power in a region long considered an outpost or frontier, traditionally supported a pattern of smuggling and unregulated business. Those who invested Read More

Widening the Field

African American History, African Diaspora, captured Africans, Middle Passage, slave ports, slave ships, slavery, transatlantic slave trade

Recently, the Project was contacted by Jonathan Highfield, Professor of Postcolonial Studies at the Rhode Island School of Design’s (RISD) Department of Literary Arts and Studies, to explore the possibility of collaboration with us on Middle Passage history.  Fifteen members of his class, Dialogue across the Diaspora, will travel to South Africa to assist students at the Centre for African Studies at the University of Cape Town to mount an Read More

The Gathering at Fells Point

ancestors, descendants of slaves, Middle Passage, slave ports, slavery, transatlantic slave trade

There are moments in life when one tries to remember if there are many more important moments than the one that is being presently experienced. The 23rd of August 2012, was such a moment for most of us who gathered on the Broadway Pier at Fells Point in Baltimore. As dawn’s golden light spread across the water, voices, led by Reverend Cecil C. Gray accompanied by African drums and other Read More

Reflections

African Diaspora, ancestors, burial ceremonies, captured Africans, descendants of slaves, Middle Passage, slave ports, slavery, transatlantic slave trade

This week is so deeply personal for me that I am departing from our usual format on the blog postings. We think that not often in a lifetime is there an opportunity to be a part of something that we know is bigger than our individual self and immediate communities, but of course that is not true. There is the commitment to another person in a partnership, there is the Read More

An Elder: Vincent Harding

African American History, African American literature, African Diaspora, American politics, ancestors, captured Africans, descendants of slaves, Middle Passage, slavery, transatlantic slave trade

The formal public inauguration of The Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project in Baltimore, Maryland is quickly approaching.  As we come close to that first commemorative event in August, we want our readers and supporters to become acquainted with members of our advisory and honorary boards. We believe that with a better understanding of the people who have chosen to be affiliated with the project, our vision and mission Read More

Source Documents for Blog Posts (February – April, 2012)

African American History, African American literature, African Diaspora, Afro-Caribbeans, Afro-Latinos, American legal system, American politics, ancestors, captured Africans, descendants of slaves, ethnic studies, Middle Passage, slave ships, slavery, transatlantic slave trade

Audio/Visual: “First Time I Saw Big Water” Composed and produced by Bernice Johnson Reagon, performed by Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon for the PBS-WGBH film series Africans in America, Executive Producer, Orlando Bagwell “Betye Saar, National Visionary”: National Visionary Leadership Project: African American History. The video consists of ten interviews in which Ms. Saar personally relates her artistry, family background, professional experiences and influences during a life time dedicated Read More

Limbo

African American History, African Diaspora, Afro-Caribbeans, captured Africans, Middle Passage, slave ships, slavery, transatlantic slave trade

How low can you go? We are talking “limbo.” Is this a dance? A competition? A workout? An historical artifact? Any and all of the above? An essay written by the late French scholar Genevieve Fabre about the limbo recently crossed our radar. We were well aware through research that during the Middle Passage voyage a routine of daily exercise was established by slave traders for captive Africans. Movement, primarily Read More

Digging Up the Story

African Diaspora, African ethnic groups, captured Africans, Middle Passage, slave ships, slavery, Tom Feelings, transatlantic slave trade

Four years ago (2008) archeologists began to excavate a portion of an African burial ground in preparation for building a road to a new airport financed by the British government. This site is just uphill from the capital city, Jamestown. This is not Jamestown, Virginia but on St. Helena Island in the South Atlantic. Ironically it involves the same people, same story – British settlers and African slaves. The cemetery Read More

Saltwater Africans

African American History, African Diaspora, captured Africans, Middle Passage, slave ports, slave ships, slavery, transatlantic slave trade

The term “saltwater African” is not familiar to many. It specifically refers to Africans who survived the Middle Passage. They had come across the ocean, the salt water. For the first two hundred years in the Americas there was a continuous supply of this population. Until Africans in the Diaspora were able to maintain fertility rates that lessened the demand to import, a majority of the black population, particularly in Read More