To commemorate the 400-year anniversary of the first enslaved Africans’ arrival in the United States, NAACP leaders, activists and entertainers will travel from Jamestown, Virginia, to Jamestown, Accra, as a part of Ghana’s “Year of Return” initiative.
“Jamestown to Jamestown represents one of the most powerful moments in the history of the Black Experience,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “We are now able to actualize the healing and collective unity so many generations have worked to achieve in ways which bring power to our communities in America, Africa and throughout our Diaspora.”
The trip, which kicks off on Aug. 18 in Washington, D.C., is open to the public. Participants will travel via bus to Jamestown, Virginia, for a prayer vigil and candle-lighting ceremony that marks the African “Maafa,” a term that describes the suffering embedded in the past four centuries related to enslavement.
Participants will then travel back to D.C. for a special gathering at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, designed by Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye, prior to departing to Ghana on a direct flight for seven to 10 days of rich cultural, spiritual and cathartic experiences.
For more information and itinerary details, visit Jamestown2Jamestown.com
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Ebony
