The Philadelphia Middle Passage Ceremony & Port Marker Project  is leading the movement to conduct an Ancestral Remembrance Day Ceremony at Penn’s Landing. The purpose is to acknowledge Penn’s Landing on the Delaware River as a port of entry for Africans during the transatlantic human trade; to commemorate the nearly 2 million Africans who perished in the Middle Passage; and, to install a marker in their memory.  We celebrate the triumphant survival of the descendants of those Africans, and their contributions to this nation. Finally, we call for healing and hope for future generations.

The inaugural ceremony takes place June 2, 2013, beginning with a Blessing of the River at 10:00 AM, on the pier at the Independence Seaport Museum, Penn’s Landing. Activities from dawn to dusk will include libations, community performances, art exhibition, a screening of the film Toussaint Louverture and reception.

The Philadelphia Middle Passage Ceremony and Port Marker Project  is organized in support of a larger effort by Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project, Inc. to sponsor remembrance ceremonies at each of more than 175 middle passage ports in 50 nations of North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe. Ports in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia are listed in ”Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database,” Emory University, as places where Afrikans were disembarked and sold.

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Ancestral Remembrance Day Schedule: Sunday June 2, 2013

Dawn 5:30 AM

Gather on the pier at Sunrise for Silent Observance
Or
5 minute Reflection from wherever you are.

• 10:00 AM  Drummers begin procession to the Seaport Museum’s dock

• 10:30 – 11:30 AM  Ancestral Remembrance Ceremony and Blessing of the River

• 12  Noon   Benefactor’s Reception @ Independence Seaport Museum (Ticketed event)

• 2:00 – 5:30 PM    Screening the Philadelphia premiere of TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE at Independence Seaport Museum, 211 S. Columbus Blvd. & Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA (*Ticketed event)

• 6:00 PM: Open Mic and Closing Ceremony

Community Performances and Art Exhibition throughout the day.

Activities will conclude at Dusk (7:30 pm)

For more information contact Ancestral Remembrance Day Project Coordinator Denise Valentine @PhiladelphiaMPC