30th Annual Tribute to our Ancestors
Libation ceremony by, Ifakolade Atinumo Arasa of Odi Olow Kingdom, Lagos, Nigeria, Baba Taiwa Adesola, and
Menes de Groit. Photo by Tangerine Clarke
Caribbean Life, J BQ une 14–20, 2019 3
By Tangerine Clarke
Public Advocate for the City of New
York, Jumaane Williams, proclaimed
June 8, 2019, Tribute To Our Ancestors
of the Middle Passage day, in
honor of the 30th Annual celebration,
last Saturday, at Ancestor’s Circle,
Coney Island Boardwalk, at 17th
Street, Brooklyn.
The politician presented a Proclamation
to Jelani Akeem, son of Tony
Akeem, producer, of the People of the
Sun Middle Passage Collective, during
an inspiring, and honorable day
of praise to the ancestors.
Reading from the proclamation,
Williams thanked the organizers for
its exemplary service to their community,
saying the Collective has for decades
worked to educate people of the
horrors of the Middle Passage, which
enslaved men and women brought to
America, many of them not surviving,
and those who did, sold into slavery.
“This year marks 400 years since
the first Africans were caught and
enslaved,” he said, applauding the
30th annual event, intended each
year to honor lives lost, and to show
Brooklyn and the world, what took
place centuries ago.
The hours-long tribute, courtesy
SGA, Brooklyn Borough President,
Eric A. Adams’ office & Student Life,
and Medgar Evers College, was honored
in solemn reflection and prayer,
drum beats, song, dance, and deeply
moving ceremony for the lives lost in
the Atlantic ocean.
The celebration that has expanded
to include Miami, Washington DC,
North Carolina, Grenada, Jamaica,
and Panama, run concurrently, and
raises consciousness of modern slavery,
while honoring the ancestors,
said Williams.
Williams recognized the people of
the organization, for its work that
acknowledges the history in all of its
reality, and collective status. “This
institution is worthy of our highest
respect and esteem,” he said.
Menes de Groit, board member of
the People of the Sun Middle Passage
Collective — committed to erecting a
permanent monument that commemorates
the Africans who died during
one of the most horrendous period of
human history Atlantic Slave Trade —
thanked Brooklyn Borough President,
Eric L. Adams, for the Proclamation,
honoring the organization for keeping
the Ancestors tribute alive.
Keeper of the drums, Menes de
Groit, who joined Araba Ifakolade
Atinumo Arasa of Odi Olow Kingdom,
Lagos, Nigeria, and Baba Taiwa Adesola,
to pour libation, at the historic
presentation, that began at Noon,
afterward, joined performers for a
rousing day of tributes.
Haitian drum and dance ensemble,
Imamou Lele, headed by Alexandra
Jean-Joseph, called up their predecessors
in two dance sequences, that
got dedicated celebrants, in all-white
attire and African garb, on their feet,
for a spirited session fit for a commemoration.
Hosted by Jamaican-born poet and
board member, Ras Osagyefo, the
homage was captivating and emotional,
as youths played their part to
entertain the passionate crowd, while
being educated about the Middle Passage.
Artistes Sister Carole, a Drumming
Circle, consisting of Menes de Groit
Shanto Troupe, Congo Square and
the Marcus Garvey Park Drummers,
along with Queen Mother Imakhu,
and Merowe Nubyahn and RBG Girls,
all participated.
Stephanie JNote, singer of the
National Black Anthem, paid tribute
to late blues singer, Ella Fitzgerald.
Professor Dr. Mary Umolu, founder,
Tribute of Our Ancestors of the Middle
Passage, that began in 1989 —
Baba Bill Jones, Maxwell Haywood,
Dr. George Irish “and many others,
were remembered during the tribute,
punctuated by cultural offerings. The
event culminated at sundown, with
the rhythmic sounds of the African
drums, accompanied marchers down
to the water’s edge, where flowers
were put into the ocean in memory of
those who perished.
Menes de Groit thanked the NYPD
and the Parks Department, for their
extremely helpful actions in extending
the time of the tribute to complete
the program.
Celebrants at Coney Island’s water’s edge. Ras Osagyefo
Haitian Drum and Dance Ensemble, Imamou Lele, put on a stirring performance
at the 30thAnnual Tribute to Our Ancestors of the Middle Passage.
Photo by Tangerine Clarke