MAAFA 2019 was a
beautiful, if chilly, 24th Annual Commemoration Ritual, Sunday, October
13. The majority of those present seemed to appreciate the
opportunity to honor and remember African Ancestors of the Middle Passage and
beyond.
I loved Uzo’s choreography—it
embraced all the elements of the MAAFA Song Cycle from Opening the Way,
Healing, A Love Supreme, Freedom to Giving Thanks. It was so lovely and it
warmed us up inside and in our spirits.
Uzo sang with Akanke in "Bring It Up" another high moment in the ceremony. People loved the song and its accompanying gestures. I liked how Ebun Akanke told everyone these words and movements could be a meditation elsewhere when our spirits needed lifting.
The Black Pledge read in Kiswahili by Baba Bamidele Agbasegbe Demerson, Chief Curator & Director of the African American Museum and Library, was an awesome bonus. In 2018, we didn’t have anyone present who could read the language and could not share it.
It is really powerful and others in the audience knew many of the words like Uhuru—Freedom! and Umoja.—Unity!
The smaller circle concept continues to resonate with me—I just love being in the circle with the babies. I remember last year a few really little ones sat in the sand and played. I remember a few times when the mics didn’t work we circled up to hear better. I thought about starting in the smaller circle sooner, but the Ritual of Forgiveness needed more physical space. Brother Sidney and the Wo’se drummers provided a sweet soundtrack. It was good to see them back. It was like old times.
We didn’t have anyone under five in the center, but two brave teens joined us and then younger children with their siblings and parents also joined us. Then the circle grew as the other men and women literally had our backs. I was happy to see Dr. Nunley present; her father is really ill. I was glad we were able to give her love and support.
It was the beginning of MAAT, so Neter Aameri came early and set up the altar and then left it with his friend to take apart once the ceremony was complete. Last year, the tent that covers the altar blew off. He got a new one for this year.
From Kym's reflection on MAAFA to Karla's meditation to Bisola's "Hallelujah- Heavy Heavy-- Ship a Sailin'" to Melanie Demore's beautiful song-- "Mother Africa -- My Children Are Beautiful, Black Ebony Brown--They Are My Crown," felt good. We were close, we were warm. Ringing the bells for the ancestors was also really fun. 1 minute is a long time. Imagine that 1 minute times 100 years of 1 minutes times 4 for 400 years (1619-2019).
When I applied for the First Amendment Permit, the administrator told me that she didn’t know if Golden Gate Recreational Area participated in the National Day of Healing August 25, at 3 p.m. ET, so we would do it for this region on Sunday, Oct. 13. What I thought was amazing was the synchronicity given the date of the California Constitutional Convention in Monterey 170 years ago that day.
I went to the Buffalo Soldier galleries at Fort Point after the Ritual. There is also a lighthouse there. It is one of the first lighthouses in the state.
Ebun Akanke and I drove to the Presidio and I took a free shuttle to Fort Point. It didn't get any warmer. I learned more about the National Cemetery and who's buried there at the Fort when I spoke to the NPS Ranger. I also saw the cemetery on my way to the Fort, which is not walking distance, but the cemetery is.
Fort Point looks like the slave dungeons in El Mina and the Citadelle Henri Christophe near Cap Haitian built to fight the French. I guess a fort is a fort is a fort. On the roof we were almost directly under the Golden Gate Bridge and the view of the beaches and San Francisco and the East Bay and Marin country was amazing. So were the Blue Angels aircraft in their acrobatic chorography. I had never watched the performances before and what I liked was the colored smokes ending each flight—red white and blue. My friend said the money spent on such displays could house a lot of under and unhoused people on San Francisco streets.
For this Veteran's Day, given the 400 Years of African American History Act, I'd like to develop 4-5 teams of people who can place flowers on these men’s graves and join us to ring bells for the 400+ years of African history at the National Museum that day. We can divide the 450 into groups of 75 and cover the entire property. Let me know if you are interested in developing a team for the Veteran’s Day Libation for Buffalo Soldiers. I have 1 person on my team so far (smile).
Uzo sang with Akanke in "Bring It Up" another high moment in the ceremony. People loved the song and its accompanying gestures. I liked how Ebun Akanke told everyone these words and movements could be a meditation elsewhere when our spirits needed lifting.
The Black Pledge read in Kiswahili by Baba Bamidele Agbasegbe Demerson, Chief Curator & Director of the African American Museum and Library, was an awesome bonus. In 2018, we didn’t have anyone present who could read the language and could not share it.
It is really powerful and others in the audience knew many of the words like Uhuru—Freedom! and Umoja.—Unity!
The smaller circle concept continues to resonate with me—I just love being in the circle with the babies. I remember last year a few really little ones sat in the sand and played. I remember a few times when the mics didn’t work we circled up to hear better. I thought about starting in the smaller circle sooner, but the Ritual of Forgiveness needed more physical space. Brother Sidney and the Wo’se drummers provided a sweet soundtrack. It was good to see them back. It was like old times.
We didn’t have anyone under five in the center, but two brave teens joined us and then younger children with their siblings and parents also joined us. Then the circle grew as the other men and women literally had our backs. I was happy to see Dr. Nunley present; her father is really ill. I was glad we were able to give her love and support.
It was the beginning of MAAT, so Neter Aameri came early and set up the altar and then left it with his friend to take apart once the ceremony was complete. Last year, the tent that covers the altar blew off. He got a new one for this year.
From Kym's reflection on MAAFA to Karla's meditation to Bisola's "Hallelujah- Heavy Heavy-- Ship a Sailin'" to Melanie Demore's beautiful song-- "Mother Africa -- My Children Are Beautiful, Black Ebony Brown--They Are My Crown," felt good. We were close, we were warm. Ringing the bells for the ancestors was also really fun. 1 minute is a long time. Imagine that 1 minute times 100 years of 1 minutes times 4 for 400 years (1619-2019).
When I applied for the First Amendment Permit, the administrator told me that she didn’t know if Golden Gate Recreational Area participated in the National Day of Healing August 25, at 3 p.m. ET, so we would do it for this region on Sunday, Oct. 13. What I thought was amazing was the synchronicity given the date of the California Constitutional Convention in Monterey 170 years ago that day.
I went to the Buffalo Soldier galleries at Fort Point after the Ritual. There is also a lighthouse there. It is one of the first lighthouses in the state.
Ebun Akanke and I drove to the Presidio and I took a free shuttle to Fort Point. It didn't get any warmer. I learned more about the National Cemetery and who's buried there at the Fort when I spoke to the NPS Ranger. I also saw the cemetery on my way to the Fort, which is not walking distance, but the cemetery is.
Fort Point looks like the slave dungeons in El Mina and the Citadelle Henri Christophe near Cap Haitian built to fight the French. I guess a fort is a fort is a fort. On the roof we were almost directly under the Golden Gate Bridge and the view of the beaches and San Francisco and the East Bay and Marin country was amazing. So were the Blue Angels aircraft in their acrobatic chorography. I had never watched the performances before and what I liked was the colored smokes ending each flight—red white and blue. My friend said the money spent on such displays could house a lot of under and unhoused people on San Francisco streets.
For this Veteran's Day, given the 400 Years of African American History Act, I'd like to develop 4-5 teams of people who can place flowers on these men’s graves and join us to ring bells for the 400+ years of African history at the National Museum that day. We can divide the 450 into groups of 75 and cover the entire property. Let me know if you are interested in developing a team for the Veteran’s Day Libation for Buffalo Soldiers. I have 1 person on my team so far (smile).
Slavery ended officially in CA in 1872 (7 years after the end of the Civil War).
I am also planning to participate in the Slave Rebellion in New Orleans, Nov. 8-9. I need someone here to be co-lead on this since I will be out of town and unavailable the weekend before. I have been trying to connect with folks who are pushing for a Buffalo Soldier Museum in San Francisco and a statue of Col. Charles Young, first African American Superintendent, but I haven't had much luck. Everyone is too busy.
Maafa Commemoration Ritual
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Continue the Wolosodon / Djondon* rhythm/dance as people go
through the dungeon past the imagined Doors of No Return…voices whisper:
“Remember”
Call their names . . .
We remember the recent transition of Queen Diahann Carroll (July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) American actress, singer, model and activist. We remember her as the first Black woman with a primetime show, Julia. Husband killed in Vietnam, she was a registered nurse, taking care of a male child—witty and wise, I remember running home from school to watch the show. Ms. Carroll received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for the film Claudine (1974). She was a founding member of the Celebrity Action Council, a volunteer group of celebrity women who served the women's outreach of the Los Angeles Mission, working with women in rehabilitation from problems with alcohol, drugs, or prostitution. She helped to form the group along with other female television personalities including Mary Frann, Linda Gray, Donna Mills, and Joan Van Ark.
Call their names . . .
We remember the recent transition of Queen Diahann Carroll (July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) American actress, singer, model and activist. We remember her as the first Black woman with a primetime show, Julia. Husband killed in Vietnam, she was a registered nurse, taking care of a male child—witty and wise, I remember running home from school to watch the show. Ms. Carroll received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for the film Claudine (1974). She was a founding member of the Celebrity Action Council, a volunteer group of celebrity women who served the women's outreach of the Los Angeles Mission, working with women in rehabilitation from problems with alcohol, drugs, or prostitution. She helped to form the group along with other female television personalities including Mary Frann, Linda Gray, Donna Mills, and Joan Van Ark.
We remember Toni Morrison (February 18, 1931 - August 5, 2019) — who wrote in her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Beloved (1987), “Those white things hab taken all I had or dreamed,” Baby Suggs said to Sethe, her daughter in law, “and broke my heartstings too. There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks” (89).
Morrison, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming the first black woman of any nationality to do so. In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Morrison the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
– Call your names . . . Ashay.
We also hold close the memory of others who worked locally for the liberation of our people and those who were victims of recent natural disasters --
We also remember recent victims of the bloody Maafa on US soil. Say their names and they live on. Ashay.
Stolen Lives Project and the October 22 (Oct. 22, we honor those killed by police.)
http://stolenlives.org/ and http://october22.org/
1664 Police Killings in 2018 https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/police-shootings-2019/
. . . May their souls rest in peace. Ashay, Ashay, Ashay-o. Blessings to the rebels such as Nat Turner, an enlightened, fearless warrior for the Creator(s)’ Justice.
Do not forget the past. Also remember our kinfolk in Ayiti (Haiti) and the Southern states recovering from hurricanes and other storms and kinfolk in the Diaspora in Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Mozambique and here in the San Francisco Bay Area who are unhoused and under housed and in San Francisco subject to municipal conservatorship.
While we wait for our sisters and brothers to make it to the other side, the shores where we were taken, dance dundunba—the Warrior Dance or create your own. We will not let these shackles break our spirit. Call on the ancestors in this mighty dance and be free. . . .
An Ancestor note:
Toni Morrison writes in Beloved:
“Baby Shugs is speaking to the community who has gathered un the woods for a service she officiates. “[Baby Suggs] does not tell them to clean up their lives or to go and sin no more. She did not tell them they were the blessed of the earth, its inheriting meek or its glorybound pure.
“She told them that the only grace they could have was the grace they could imagine. That if they could not see it, they would not have it.
“Here,” she said, “in this place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard. Yonder they do not love your flesh. They despise it. They don’t love your eyes; they’d just as soon pick them out. No more do they love the skin on your back. Yonder they flay it. And O my people they do not love your hands. Those they only use, tie, bind, chop off an leave empty. Love your hands! Love them. Raise them up and kiss them. Touch others with them, pat them together, stroke them on your face ‘cause they don’t love that either. You got to love it, you! And no, they ain’t in love with your mouth. Yonder, out there, they will see it broken and break it agin. What you say out of it they will not heed. What you scream from it they do not hear. What you put in it to nourish your body they will snatch away and give you leavins instead. No they do not love your mouth. You got to love it. This is flesh I’m talking about here. Flesh that needs to be loved. Feet that need to dance; backs that need support; shoulders tht need arms, strong arms I’m telling you. And O my people, out yonder, hear me, they do not love your neck unnoosed and straight. So love your neck; put a hand on it, grace it, stroke it and hold it up. And all your inside parts that they’d just as soon slop for hogs, you got to love them. The dark, dark liver—love it, love it, and the beat and beating heart, love that too. More than eyes or feet. More than lungs that have yet to draw free air. More than your lifeholding womb and your life-giving private parts, hear me now love your heart. For this is your prize. Saying no more, she stood up then and danced with her twisted hip the rest of what her heart had to say while others opened their mouths and gave her the music. . . ” (88-89).
– Call your names . . . Ashay.
We also hold close the memory of others who worked locally for the liberation of our people and those who were victims of recent natural disasters --
We also remember recent victims of the bloody Maafa on US soil. Say their names and they live on. Ashay.
Stolen Lives Project & the October 22 (Oct. 22, we honor those killed by police.)
http://stolenlives.org/ and http://october22.org/
1664 Police Killings in 2018 https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/police-shootings-2019/
. . . May their souls rest in peace. Ashay, Ashay, Ashay-o. Blessings to the rebels such as Nat Turner, an enlightened, fearless warrior for the Creator(s)’ Justice.
Do not forget the past. Also remember our kinfolk in Ayiti (Haiti) and the Southern states recovering from hurricanes and other storms and kinfolk in the Diaspora in Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Mozambique and here in the San Francisco Bay Area who are unhoused and under housed and in San Francisco subject to municipal conservertaship.
Welcome: Iya Wanda Sabir
As we process through the Doors of No Return give thanks for what we remember . . . trauma induces amnesia, yet the body remembers what the mind forgets. Intuition is another name for Divine Spirit. The bones which lie between Alkebulan and the West, link black people genetically through this liquid experience: sweat, blood, feces, urine, milk, afterbirth, death.
The transcontinental passages, our ancestors packaged as if they were inanimate cargo, connects our souls and scarred bodies to this day. The Maafa Commemoration acknowledges this. The yokes and chains and shackles many of us still bear speak to this, as does freedom.
Maafa Theme Song (Call &Response): Brotha Clint, composer/singer
Dedication: for the Millions
MAAFA we remember you. The Middle Passage/ And All that we’ve been through/ We’re still here/ Lest we forget/ Our heads to the sky/ We cry . . . why? – (© Clint Sockwell II, Dana Sockwell and Roberta Robinson)
Libations and Prayers: Min. Imhotep Alkebulan; Min. Alicia
Teasley; Mama Ayanna Mashama
A Liberating Black People’s Prayer (Call and Response--youth volunteer)
(for Justice and Peace) By: Frances Cress Welsing, M.D., © 1996
To say and envision when in prayer
Thou who art Blacker than a trillion midnights,
Whose eyes shine brighter than a billion suns
Thou whose hair doth coil tighter than a
Million springs, radiating all energy throughout the universe,
A Liberating Black People’s Prayer (Call and Response--youth volunteer)
(for Justice and Peace) By: Frances Cress Welsing, M.D., © 1996
To say and envision when in prayer
Thou who art Blacker than a trillion midnights,
Whose eyes shine brighter than a billion suns
Thou whose hair doth coil tighter than a
Million springs, radiating all energy throughout the universe,
We
beseech THEE, ONE and ONLY ONE,
To
give to us total strength, to carry out
THY will for the universe!
THY will for the universe!
To establish JUSTICE on planet EARTH and live in PEACE.
Yoruba Prayer -- Val Serrant
Oṣunfemi Wanbi Njeri – Song for the Ancestors; Call for Osun
Ebun Akanke Adeṣoka –Bring It Up
Bryant “Mr. B” Bolling and Zakiyyah Capehart Bolling and The Prophet Samuel (guitar), will present a call and response rendition of "Redemption Song" and "We Must Remember, Lest We Forget” (poem).
Yoruba Prayer -- Val Serrant
Oṣunfemi Wanbi Njeri – Song for the Ancestors; Call for Osun
Ebun Akanke Adeṣoka –Bring It Up
Bryant “Mr. B” Bolling and Zakiyyah Capehart Bolling and The Prophet Samuel (guitar), will present a call and response rendition of "Redemption Song" and "We Must Remember, Lest We Forget” (poem).
Drumming: Led by consensus
Black Pledge: From Brother Kumasi, Prison Movement Historian
Recited by Mama C – Call and Response
Nina mweusi ( I am Black)/ nina mtu mweusi ( I am a Black person)/ wa akina weusi (of Black blood)/ na amini weusini (and I believe in Blackness)/ najua ueusi ni uzuri/ (and I know that Black is Beautiful)/ na ninatakabari sana wa ueusi wangu (and I am very proud of our/my Blackness)/ na urithi mwafrika wangu (and our/my Afrikan Heritage)/ kwa haikosi (for surely)/ tuna watu waroho (we are soul people)/ na sasa (and now)/ na fanya ( I make)/ rehani hii (this pledge)/ nitakumbuka daima huu ( I will always remember that)/ uzuri wa umoja ni nguvu (the Beauty of Unity is Strength)/ na pamojana umoja maambo yote, yana weze kana (and with Unity, all things are possible)/ ushinde!....(Victory!)/ uhuru! (Freedom!)/ na amani daima! (and Everlasting Peace!)/ taifa eusi sifa! (Praise the Black Nation!)/ lazima tushinde mbilashaka! (We shall Conquer without a Doubt!)/ kwa nguvu za weusi, (for Black Power,)/ ni rehani wetu weusi (is our black pledge)/na zingo! (and Revolution!)/ na zingo! (and Revolution!)/ na zingo! (and Revolution!)
Talk Back: Other prayers and offerings. 1-2 minute limit per person up to 10-12 people (10-20 minutes). Prayers requested from those assembled in traditional African and African Diaspora (which includes English languages) –
Poetry:
Mama C from Tanzania – THOSE LEFT BEHIND
Tongo Eisen Martin—Blood in My Eye
Primal Release – Facilitators: Sister Lola and Brother Clint: Take a deep breath from your abdomen or stomach. Reaching deeply into your soul, let those things which do not belong to you – go. Let it fly from your mouth. Release the anger, the pain, the resentment.
Ritual of Forgiveness Call and Response (Red Roses passed out) – Iya Wanda Sabir
Some confuse forgiveness with amnesia and reluctantly remain bound to a millstone and drown in a sea of regret. Children of the fishermen know the sea to be primarily a place of nourishment, renewal and fond farewells.
We will always cherish the memory of those who go before us
Our ancestors walk through the corridors of our minds setting sign posts to guide us into our rightful legacy, and so/ We will always cherish those torn from us in the middle passage by corporate greed, / Those torn from us by Jim Crow violence still speak to us as we weave our own destinies,
The bitter taste of unripe fruit felled by drive-by shootings still linger in the recesses of our souls, and we can hear the cries of youth stolen by neglect, pestilence and starvation, / Yet, we must go forward if we are to honor their memories,/ We must cast away all impediments to progress if we are to honor lives lost to greed and fear
And so today we choose . . .
We choose compassion of our own free will and we consciously reject the lure of revenge.
Today
we choose understanding over blame,
And like our South African cousins we choose truth and reconciliation over ignorance and bigotry
And like our South African cousins we choose truth and reconciliation over ignorance and bigotry
We
choose to be confident and to have confidence in each other, for we are not
victims, but warriors.
We
choose to acknowledge our choices, as we acknowledge that our determination to
do so is the foundation of our freedom.
As
you recite and agree with the words above invest the red flower with any
negative energy you choose to cast off, removing petals as you do so. Let
the petals fall to the ground, and bury them in the sand along with the remains
of the flower— © Sister Sheba Makeda Haven
Community: Maafa Song Cycle with Interpretive Movement: Sister Kharyshi Wiginton, MAAFA 2019 choreographer
Chorus leader: Min. Mxiolisi (Recorded)
Maafa Chants/Songs/Prayer (these are not literal translations from the Yoruba)
Community: Maafa Song Cycle with Interpretive Movement: Sister Kharyshi Wiginton, MAAFA 2019 choreographer
Chorus leader: Min. Mxiolisi (Recorded)
Maafa Chants/Songs/Prayer (these are not literal translations from the Yoruba)
1)
Olulana o,
Olulana
(Opening the Way)
– wa lana-fun-mi o
– oti lana-fun-mi o
2) Iwosan re o, iwosan (Healing)
– emi ti gba’ wosan
– iwo ti gba’ wosan
– awa ti gba’ wosan
3)
Ife-loju o,
Ife-loju
(Love supreme)
– ore mi ife-loju
– ara mi ife-loju
4)
A ti
d’on-nira
(Freedom)
– ominira di t’awa
– awa ti d’on-nira
5)
Ope l’awa
nda
(Giving thanks)
– ope mi lo repete
– ope lo ye mi-mo dupe
Chant/Song—
© 2004 Lyrics by Wanda Sabir & Candido Obajimi,
Arrangement revised Yoruba translation and additional lyrics by Kola
Adesokan. All Rights Reserved
Embracing our Youth (16-24) and anyone currently in need of support (spiritual, psycho-social-emotional)
Embracing our Youth (16-24) and anyone currently in need of support (spiritual, psycho-social-emotional)
Inner Circle
Kym Upton – MAAFA
Karla Brundage—Conquered
Mama C—Ancestors
Alice Walker
Sister Bisola Marignay, Ph.D.: Circle of Life Ritual that centers on the Pan-African belief of the circle of life consisting of the living, the departed, and the unborn would be the one to do. It would consist of the following:
1. A call consisting of song & sounds to the ancestors with responses from everyone.
Karla Brundage—Conquered
Mama C—Ancestors
Alice Walker
Sister Bisola Marignay, Ph.D.: Circle of Life Ritual that centers on the Pan-African belief of the circle of life consisting of the living, the departed, and the unborn would be the one to do. It would consist of the following:
1. A call consisting of song & sounds to the ancestors with responses from everyone.
2. Individuals are asked to envision the content of their
overcoming and how it reflects the strength and intelligence we have inherited
from our
ancestors;
3. How have we expressed love for
kin? Individuals are asked to place a hand on our kins’ shoulders on both sides
of us.
4. Gratitude humming will start. The humming is a mediation for our inherient riches ending in silent appreciation.
Reflections – Iya Wanda Sabir & Brother Michael Khubaka Harris – 400 Years of African American History – CA
CA African Ancestors Remembered – Say their names
Announcements I
11 AM: National Cemetery Visit after the Ritual
Visit to the National Cemetery to honor the 450 Buffalo Soldiers buried there. We will drive over to the Visitor Center to get directions to visit the National Cemetery and other landmarks—The Barracks East Cantonment and The Stables, tracing the legacy of African American soldiers in the segregated Union Army. These men were the early stewarts of the what became the National Park Services, Dept. of the Interior. Col. Charles Young was the first African American Superintendent. He wrote the manual.
https://www.nps.gov/prsf/learn/historyculture/the-visitor-center.htm
https://www.nps.gov/prsf/learn/historyculture/buffalo-soldiers.htm
4. Gratitude humming will start. The humming is a mediation for our inherient riches ending in silent appreciation.
Reflections – Iya Wanda Sabir & Brother Michael Khubaka Harris – 400 Years of African American History – CA
CA African Ancestors Remembered – Say their names
Announcements I
11 AM: National Cemetery Visit after the Ritual
Visit to the National Cemetery to honor the 450 Buffalo Soldiers buried there. We will drive over to the Visitor Center to get directions to visit the National Cemetery and other landmarks—The Barracks East Cantonment and The Stables, tracing the legacy of African American soldiers in the segregated Union Army. These men were the early stewarts of the what became the National Park Services, Dept. of the Interior. Col. Charles Young was the first African American Superintendent. He wrote the manual.
https://www.nps.gov/prsf/learn/historyculture/the-visitor-center.htm
https://www.nps.gov/prsf/learn/historyculture/buffalo-soldiers.htm
https://www.nps.gov/prsf/learn/historyculture/buffalo-soldiers-in-the-national-cemetery.htm
Healing Bells
400 Years of African American History Act– 4 minutes total; 1 ring for each 1 hundred years
https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1892/africanamericanhistorycommission.htm
Conclusion
Walk to the water now and spend time with your ancestors in Quiet Meditation and Prayer at the water’s edge—toss flowers on the waves –
Healing Bells
400 Years of African American History Act– 4 minutes total; 1 ring for each 1 hundred years
https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1892/africanamericanhistorycommission.htm
Conclusion
Walk to the water now and spend time with your ancestors in Quiet Meditation and Prayer at the water’s edge—toss flowers on the waves –
Ashay, Ashay, Ashayo.
On the Beach Today
Feel free to drum, fellowship, sing and dance afterwards. Enjoy the food people have brought to share
Donations:
On the Beach Today
Feel free to drum, fellowship, sing and dance afterwards. Enjoy the food people have brought to share
Donations:
There are costs incurred hosting this community event.
Right now the folks you see in the program are coming out of pocket each year.
This year costs were for materials for the altar, the port-a-potty, bus
charters, food, flowers, candles, gas, photocopying, generator, security
honorarium, postcard printing and design, website design (in the past venue
rental costs, postage, video camera and tapes, advertising). For some of us,
this has been a 24 consecutive year libation. Please send donations to: Maafa San Francisco Bay Area, P.O. Box
30756, Oakland, CA 94604. Make checks out to Wanda Sabir.
Announcements II
Register to VOTE online or have a ballot sent to you: https://registertovote.ca.gov/
Ancestor Chat & Chew Thurs., Oct. 24, 6-8 PM
1. The MAAFA Commemoration Dinner and Conversation is at the Health and Human Resources Education Center (HHREC), 1905 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, Thursday, Nov. 1, 6-8 PM. It is a potluck this year, so bring substantive entrees and we can provide beverages and plates, cups and cutlery. Come out and reflect and share your experience with others. For more information and to RSVP call 510-499-9349.
FILM
2. Check in for date for the November screening: Maafa Commemoration Film and Discussion of True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality, directed by Peter Kunhardt, George Kunhardt and Teddy Kunhardt https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/true-justice-bryan-stevensons-fight-for-equality/about
2. Claudine Screening and Sister-Social in honor of Queen Diahann Carroll later this month. Check maafasfbayarea.com or follow https://www.facebook.com/maafabayarea/
3. ODC Theater presents Àse Dance Theatre Collective in the West Coast premiere of Have K(NO!)w Fear: A Bluessical with Adia Tamar Whitaker: Artistic Direction, Choreography. . .
Announcements II
Register to VOTE online or have a ballot sent to you: https://registertovote.ca.gov/
Ancestor Chat & Chew Thurs., Oct. 24, 6-8 PM
1. The MAAFA Commemoration Dinner and Conversation is at the Health and Human Resources Education Center (HHREC), 1905 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, Thursday, Nov. 1, 6-8 PM. It is a potluck this year, so bring substantive entrees and we can provide beverages and plates, cups and cutlery. Come out and reflect and share your experience with others. For more information and to RSVP call 510-499-9349.
FILM
2. Check in for date for the November screening: Maafa Commemoration Film and Discussion of True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality, directed by Peter Kunhardt, George Kunhardt and Teddy Kunhardt https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/true-justice-bryan-stevensons-fight-for-equality/about
2. Claudine Screening and Sister-Social in honor of Queen Diahann Carroll later this month. Check maafasfbayarea.com or follow https://www.facebook.com/maafabayarea/
3. ODC Theater presents Àse Dance Theatre Collective in the West Coast premiere of Have K(NO!)w Fear: A Bluessical with Adia Tamar Whitaker: Artistic Direction, Choreography. . .
October 17 – 19, 2019, Thursday – Saturday at 8
p.m. at ODC Theater, 3153 17th Street, San Francisco. Tickets are: $15 –
$30. To purchase tickets, call 415-863-9834. Or online visit
odc.dance/Bluessical. To listen to an interview with Whitaker visit Wanda’s
Picks Radio Show, Wed., Oct. 9, 2019 (http://tobtr.com/s/11530597).
4. Film
“Always in Season” (89 min.), Oct. 23, 7 p.m., Big Roxie with director, Jacqueline Olive and editor Don Bernier in person for Q and A at special advanced screening on October 23 and opening night, November 1.
https://www.roxie.com/ai1ec_event/always-in-season/?instance_id=37189
“Always in Season” (89 min.), Oct. 23, 7 p.m., Big Roxie with director, Jacqueline Olive and editor Don Bernier in person for Q and A at special advanced screening on October 23 and opening night, November 1.
https://www.roxie.com/ai1ec_event/always-in-season/?instance_id=37189
Synopsis for Always in Season:
Claudia Lacy wants answers. When her 17-year-old son, Lennon, was found hanging
from a swing set in Bladenboro, North Carolina, the authorities quickly ruled
his death a suicide. In light of suspicious details surrounding his death, and
certain that her son would not take his own life, Claudia is convinced Lennon
was lynched.
5. 400 Years of Resistance to Slavery and Injustice
Series
As a part of its 400 Years of Resistance to Slavery and Injustice Series https://400years.berkeley.edu/home, a coordinated response to the creation of a federal commission to study the impact of Black lives on the making of America and the impact this system had and has had on African people then and now.
As a part of its 400 Years of Resistance to Slavery and Injustice Series https://400years.berkeley.edu/home, a coordinated response to the creation of a federal commission to study the impact of Black lives on the making of America and the impact this system had and has had on African people then and now.
UC Berkeley adopted an initiative to look at
scholarship that engages community in critical discussion around this “taboo”
topic. The series began in August and continue through Spring 2020.
Events include film and author events, poetry readings and lots of
conversations which invite a collective interrogation of the 21st century
freedom dance African people continue to perform despite all the legislation
that says slavery is past. The events are all free.
TODAY
Tongo Eisen-Martin, award-winning poet, movement worker, and educator Tongo Eisen-Martin, has an event this afternoon, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019, 1:30 PM at the Berrkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive. Other poets are: Bay Area Poetry Marathon curator Eric Dolan, Salvadoran-American rapper/actor Fego Navarro, https://400years.berkeley.edu/events/oct-13-reading-eric-dolan-fego-navarro-tongo-eisen-martin
TODAY
Tongo Eisen-Martin, award-winning poet, movement worker, and educator Tongo Eisen-Martin, has an event this afternoon, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019, 1:30 PM at the Berrkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive. Other poets are: Bay Area Poetry Marathon curator Eric Dolan, Salvadoran-American rapper/actor Fego Navarro, https://400years.berkeley.edu/events/oct-13-reading-eric-dolan-fego-navarro-tongo-eisen-martin
6. Pan African Global Trade and Investment Conference in
Sacramento 2019 Oct. 15-17
The 9th Annual Pan African Global Trade and Investment Conference will focus on expanding the State of California’s multilateral trade, commerce and cultural exchange programs with Africa and the Caribbean through a modification and expansion of the current programs of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-BIZ). Oct. 16-17 will be at Sacramento State University. Visit https://www.panafricanglobaltradeconference.com/
The 9th Annual Pan African Global Trade and Investment Conference will focus on expanding the State of California’s multilateral trade, commerce and cultural exchange programs with Africa and the Caribbean through a modification and expansion of the current programs of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-BIZ). Oct. 16-17 will be at Sacramento State University. Visit https://www.panafricanglobaltradeconference.com/
For other events visit:
Visit wandaspicks.com and listen to blogtalkradio.com/wandas-picks with cultural events related to African Diaspora people
Clean up: We always want to leave the beach more pristine than when we arrived. There is no designated clean-up crew. You are it (smile). Take trash or other debris with you when you depart.
Questionnaire on website: maafasfbayarea.com
Sign-in sheet (pass clipboard during the larger circle) so we can know who was here. Please include your contact information and email address. We need help during the year leading up to the Ritual Commemoration. For information or to get in contact with us: maafasfbayarea.com@gmail.com or call Iya Wanda Sabir at 510-255-5579 and leave a message.
Affiliate Organization: International Coalition for the Commemoration of African Ancestors of the Middle Passage (ICCAAMP), RemembertheAncestors.com
Thanks
The MAAFA Planning Council: Brother Kwalin Kimaathi, Sister
Kym Upton; Michael Khubak Harris; Sister Karla Brundage, Sister Carol Afua
Yates, Sister Colette Winlock, Sister Lola Hanif, Brother Sidney and the Wo’se
drummers, Sister Ebun Akanke Adeṣokan, Brotha Clint Sockwell, Brother
Neter Aa Meri, Brother Anyika Nkulukelo (official photographer), Shaheer Y.
Givens, Mighty Four Films/Video (415.305.5149); HHREC and Downtown TAY,
organizers of the “Get on the Bus” chartered transportation from Oakland;
Community Ready Corps for Self Determination (security) http://www.crc4sd.org/;
Sister Wanda Sabir (wandaspicks.com),
Tongo Eisen-Martin, Mama Charlotte Hill O'Neal,
Minister Imhotep Alkebulan, Min, Alicia Teasley, Brother Val Serrant, Oṣunfemi
Wanbi Njeri, Joan Mama Ayana Mashama, Sister Bisola Marignay, Bryant Bolling,
Zakiyyah Capehart Bolling, The Prophet Samuel, Ms. Alice Walker, Joan Miura and
Dr. Gail P. Myers (welcome back).
Donors: Brother Kwalin Kimaathi and Dr. Delene Richburg, Sister Wanda Sabir, Sister Karla Brundage. Blessings and thanks, of course to the Egungun –Ancestors (or angels) and to all who are present.
Please share any personal footage taken with us: mail@maafasfbayarea.com Facebook.com/maafabayarea Include a description and your name. We are always interested in stories and reflections to post on the website. Please send those as well to mail@maafasfbayarea.com
Donors: Brother Kwalin Kimaathi and Dr. Delene Richburg, Sister Wanda Sabir, Sister Karla Brundage. Blessings and thanks, of course to the Egungun –Ancestors (or angels) and to all who are present.
Please share any personal footage taken with us: mail@maafasfbayarea.com Facebook.com/maafabayarea Include a description and your name. We are always interested in stories and reflections to post on the website. Please send those as well to mail@maafasfbayarea.com
Announcements III:
Check the website:
MAAFASFBayArea.com for upcoming gatherings such as Maafa Commemoration Film
and Discussion next month and the Ancestor Chat and Chew at HHREC.
We would also like to get together quarterly to have Diaspora Talks and MAAFA
Issues Forums – Strategy Salons are another plan and a Book Discussion Group.
Here are titles we’re thinking
about: Beloved by Toni Morrison; Barracoon: The Story of the Last
Black Cargo by Zora Neale Hurston; If Beale Street Could Talk by
James Baldwin. We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For by Alice Walker.
What would you suggest?
What films are you watching that you’d recommend? Museums, galleries, music, plays . . . Art is how we remember who we are despite the distances that separate us from kin, homeland—it is the rememory that sits in place waiting for us to return. It is the language we speak without translation. We are whole despite temporary fragmentation. Nothing goes away or disappears.
Send your titles and descriptions to maafasfbayarea.com@gmail.com
Sound Track Mix – Brother Kwalin and Brotha Clint:
Wolosodon / Djondon
Wolosodon (Wolosedon, Wolosodan, Djondon, Jondon, Djonfoli) comes from the Kayes region (Stephan Rigert) or from the South - East part of Mali, near the border with Burkina Faso (R.Clark). It means "Dance of the Woloso", dance of the slaves. It concerns the slaves who used to serve at the royal courts of the Mandinka Kings and their families. The dance shows the family honor and family solidarity.http://www.realafrica.net/cdata/2324/docs/549889_1.pdf
Photography and Taping (NO)
Improvisational at its core like African people historically –This program is subject to change, so stay loose. This is holy space, so no photography during ritual unless previous arranged. No permission is granted on the beach. NO EXCEPTIONS.
[1] Gye Nyame" (jeh
N-yah-mee) is the name of the camouflaged adinkra symbol. Its native
African translation means: No one lives who saw its beginning and no one
will live to see its end, except God. Gye Nyame (except god) is revered as
one of highest Akan adinkra or spiritual symbols (http://originalscientist.blogspot.com/2010/08/is-african-symbol-gye-nyame-spiral.html).
