Middle Passage ceremony, marker unveiling marks anniversary

MIDDLETOWN — The year 2019 marks the 400th anniversary of the first Africans arriving on America’s Englishclaimed shores as enslaved people, with the first such Africans recorded as being in Middletown in the 1660s.

The Middletown Middle Passage Ceremony and Port Marker Project Committee will hold a ceremony and the unveiling of a plaque of remembrance at 10 a.m., Sept. 28 on the riverfront in Harbor Park, Middletown.

Middletown has been designated as a Site of Memory by UNESCO as part of the international project “The Slave Route: Resistance, Liberty, Heritage.”

Two ships, the Martha & Jane and the Speedwell, are documented as having arrived from Africa in Middletown’s harbor with their human cargo who survived the treacherous transatlantic trade voyage that was the Middle Passage.

The event will feature an African drumming and libation ceremony by Ron Edens and Nia Art, Native American permission by Wangunk tribal elder, Gary O’Neil; prayer by Rev. Dr. Kim Cotten, speakers Dr. Demetrius Eudell and Mardi Loman; and welcome by Mayor Daniel Drew.

Nationcalling and ancestorcalling will be incorporated into the ceremony, which will end with the unveiling of the port marker plaque and a floral tribute.

In 1619, the first Africans stepped ashore in Jamestown, Va., as enslaved people. Four hundred years later, the legacy of slavery is still felt throughout the country.

Many Americans believe that slavery existed only in the South, but some of the most notorious slave traders were from New England.

Middletown sea captains, merchants and farmers amassed their fortunes trading Connecticut River Valley agricultural products with the West Indies sugar barons. Ships returned with sugar, molasses, rum, and slaves.

Enslaved people helped build Middletown, and this ceremony is being held to honor their contributions and the thousands who perished on the Middle Passage.

Limited seating will be provided. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. For further information, contact committee chairwoman Deborah Shapiro at 8603440033.