Praising the Past
By Ann Chinn
originally appeared in the November 2008 - January 2009 Issue
 Throughout time man has used burial and related rituals to aid survivors of the deceased to find closure and to respect the dead. In every society one of the highest forms of desecration is dishonoring the deceased. Individuals and groups have long performed ceremonies in Europe, Africa and the Americas to honor those who died during the brutal trans-Atlantic passage. However, we need a collective effort to respect the dead and to bring us closure.
While I was visiting Brazil in 2002 a Condomble priest asked me, "Who are these spirits who surround you and fill this room?" I responded, "A friend gave them to me in 1986 saying, 'Something must be done about all those who died in the Middle Passage; I can't handle this so I'm passing it to you. Happy Birthday."'
Initially uncomfortable, I now regard these six to ten million souls as my familiars. However, these ancestors haunt each of us. All who are part of the African Diaspora, and those living in Africa, I believe, are related to at least one person who died during the Middle Passage.
Part of the answer to, "Why can't we (Blacks) ever get it together anywhere?" may be that the ancestors inhibit our progress because we (as a people) have denied them. No other people have ever walked away from such a large number of their dead; and we continually pay the price for taking that walk.
I propose that by 2019 (400 years after the first documented landing of Africans in English-America) we place markers commemorating slave ship survivors and those lost in passage at all major slave ports in the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe. And for all who died in the Middle Passage, I propose on a designated day we celebrate with a formal generic burial ceremony on Goree Island, Senegal with representation by each current African, American, Caribbean, and European, nation for all who died in the Middle Passage.
Goree is selected because it has a research and archival center dedicated to the Atlantic slave trade, and is the point furthest west in latitude that all passed on their journey from Africa. Those unable to make it to Goree on that day could participate by going to any one of the marked slave ports to pray and perform libations, or simply remain at home, lighting a candle and remembering an ancestor.
This could become an annual event, a memorial day, a day of the dead, an all souls' day specific to us. It is only a portion of what must be done to sustain our progress, to insure a positive vision of the future and to deliberately recognize our contributions in developing the world. For those who describe this effort as racist, hateful or myopic I say their opposition negates our humanity. We are bringing closure to a horrific portion of our heritage, the loss of a people's most valuable resource the most gifted, strongest and young of Africa for more than 350 years. The impetus is not shame, bitterness or spite but faith, hope and a responsibility to reinforce a people with a distinct history in the human family.
As my youngest child goes to college I plan to assume a more active role in The Middle Passage Project. I have given my word to the ancestors to be a catalyst to involve churches, schools, community groups, national organizations and individuals in this important undertaking. In our lifetime we have seen Apartheid end, Mandela released and Obama breaking glass ceilings; that is only the tip of possibilities if we satisfy our forgotten ancestors.
Middle Passage Project Blog
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