"The Most Power Pages On The Planet"
November 5, 2010
Volume 3, Number 13
Darwin Campbell, Executive Publisher
An Exclusive Report Publication
Black History:
Sankofa Caravan To Ancestors Celebration Promotes Strong Connection to African Roots
Thirteenth Annual Observance Pays Tribute To Imari Obadele
Darwin Campbell
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“.... We Cannot Escape History...” Abraham Lincoln
Galveston Island, Tx - Sankofa Caravan of the Ancestors is one of the most premier African ancestral remembrance ceremonies in the United States.
In Texas, it means an annual pilgrimage to Galveston Island to the site where Black ancestral fathers and mothers were once bartered and sold as chattel.
The remembrance is a series of ceremonies that include prayers offered by the various faiths in attendance; African dance and drumming; words from various speakers and the performing of an IFA ritual in honor of our "Holy Afrikan Ancestors".
It is a call for African-Americans to reach back into their past and connect with that which link us to our rich African history.
The Sankofa: Caravan to the Ancestors seeks to give praise and thanksgiving to the almighty creator; give praise and thanksgiving to our Holy African Ancestors; educate our community on African and African-American spirituality, history and culture; and to invoke the power of our spiritual traditions for blessings on our community in all worthy endeavors.
Those attending gather on Galveston's beach all dressed in white to commemorate and salute their African ancestors.
This year's ceremonies on the island paid tribute to Imari Obadele, a teacher and writer whose commitment to black empowerment was known nationally and internationally.
Obadele fought for reparations for slave descendants and started the advocacy group National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. He championed what he called the Republic of New Afrika, a country that existed as an idea. His provocative proposal was to have Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina — the heart of the old Confederacy — removed from the union and given over to Black Americans.
Obadele also taught at several colleges, including Prairie View A&M University in Texas. He died Jan. 18 in Atlanta.
Sankofa is a word from the Akan people of West, Africa which means : Go Back To Your Past and bring to the present, past values needed now. Often the concept of Sankofa is symbolized by a mythical bird which moves forward while looking backward.
Research reveals that Galveston beach was a port of entry for our enslaved African ancestors. The Moor Estevanico or Esteban came to the shores of Galveston as a servant, navigator and guide to Portuguese explorers in the year 1528. It is recorded that in the 1780 's reports traffic in enslaved Africans flourished by way of Morgan's Point across the bay from Galveston Island. This barbaric practice of profiting from human cargo was plentiful in Galveston for many years with slave traders skillfully circumventing laws banning the uncivilized practice.
Galveston is also the place where General Gordon Granger delivered his decree of the emancipation of Africans held in slavery on these shores on June 19, 1865. Today, that date is marked by the annual observance of the Juneteenth.
According to the National Black United Front records, the celebration originated from the 1998 convention that focused on the Sankofa.
During that convention, members suggested a retreat to Galveston. The research was done to uncover little known history of Afrikans in Galveston and Texas and a decision was made to hold an ancestral remembrance, including performing an IFA ritual in honor of our "Holy Afrikan Ancestors".
A location was chosen near a market where our ancestors were bartered for and sold as chattel.
The ceremony not only honors aspects of African traditional religion, but also includes various faiths that attend and are granted an opportunity to speak and offer prayers from their tradition.
“This allows Black people a chance to do a spiritual sojourn to Africa,” said Dallas Activist and N'Cobra member Fred Ghaffer. “It also gives African-Americans an opportunity to get in touch with our history and understand ourselves better.”
Galveston Island, Tx - Sankofa Caravan of the Ancestors is one of the most premier African ancestral remembrance ceremonies in the United States.
In Texas, it means an annual pilgrimage to Galveston Island to the site where Black ancestral fathers and mothers were once bartered and sold as chattel.
The remembrance is a series of ceremonies that include prayers offered by the various faiths in attendance; African dance and drumming; words from various speakers and the performing of an IFA ritual in honor of our "Holy Afrikan Ancestors".
It is a call for African-Americans to reach back into their past and connect with that which link us to our rich African history.
The Sankofa: Caravan to the Ancestors seeks to give praise and thanksgiving to the almighty creator; give praise and thanksgiving to our Holy African Ancestors; educate our community on African and African-American spirituality, history and culture; and to invoke the power of our spiritual traditions for blessings on our community in all worthy endeavors.
Those attending gather on Galveston's beach all dressed in white to commemorate and salute their African ancestors.
This year's ceremonies on the island paid tribute to Imari Obadele, a teacher and writer whose commitment to black empowerment was known nationally and internationally.
Obadele fought for reparations for slave descendants and started the advocacy group National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. He championed what he called the Republic of New Afrika, a country that existed as an idea. His provocative proposal was to have Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina — the heart of the old Confederacy — removed from the union and given over to Black Americans.
Obadele also taught at several colleges, including Prairie View A&M University in Texas. He died Jan. 18 in Atlanta.
Sankofa is a word from the Akan people of West, Africa which means : Go Back To Your Past and bring to the present, past values needed now. Often the concept of Sankofa is symbolized by a mythical bird which moves forward while looking backward.
Research reveals that Galveston beach was a port of entry for our enslaved African ancestors. The Moor Estevanico or Esteban came to the shores of Galveston as a servant, navigator and guide to Portuguese explorers in the year 1528. It is recorded that in the 1780 's reports traffic in enslaved Africans flourished by way of Morgan's Point across the bay from Galveston Island. This barbaric practice of profiting from human cargo was plentiful in Galveston for many years with slave traders skillfully circumventing laws banning the uncivilized practice.
Galveston is also the place where General Gordon Granger delivered his decree of the emancipation of Africans held in slavery on these shores on June 19, 1865. Today, that date is marked by the annual observance of the Juneteenth.
According to the National Black United Front records, the celebration originated from the 1998 convention that focused on the Sankofa.
During that convention, members suggested a retreat to Galveston. The research was done to uncover little known history of Afrikans in Galveston and Texas and a decision was made to hold an ancestral remembrance, including performing an IFA ritual in honor of our "Holy Afrikan Ancestors".
A location was chosen near a market where our ancestors were bartered for and sold as chattel.
The ceremony not only honors aspects of African traditional religion, but also includes various faiths that attend and are granted an opportunity to speak and offer prayers from their tradition.
“This allows Black people a chance to do a spiritual sojourn to Africa,” said Dallas Activist and N'Cobra member Fred Ghaffer. “It also gives African-Americans an opportunity to get in touch with our history and understand ourselves better.”
Sankofa Caravan to The Ancestors Connects With True African-American History
