2019 marks the 400th anniversary of the first Africans arriving on America’s English-claimed shores as enslaved people with the first such Africans recorded as being in Middletown in the 1660s, only 10 years after the city’s founding. The Middletown Middle Passage Ceremony and Port Marker Project Committee will hold a ceremony and the unveiling of a plaque of remembrance on Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 10:00 am on the riverfront in Harbor Park.
Our city has been designated as a Site of Memory by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, 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 to Middletown’s harbor with their human cargo that 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 Arts, 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. Nation-calling and ancestor-calling by youth groups from the Cross Street AME Zion Church, Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, and First Congregational Church will be incorporated into the ceremony, which will end with the unveiling of the port marker plaque and a floral tribute.
Enslaved people helped build Middletown and this ceremony is being held to honor their contributions and the thousands who perished on the Middle Passage. It will be a chance to promote local and personal community healing.
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