To commemorate the 496th anniversary of the first shipment of captive Africans to arrive in North America, the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project (MPCPMP) will broadcast “Africans on the Mississippi ‘Cuttin’ Cane.” The broadcast will be via ZOOM and Facebook Live, Thursday, September 29, 2022, from 7p-8p ET.  After the film, the creators and film makers, Darryl Hambrick and Spencer Howard, will join viewers in a conversation.  

The first captive Africans arrived at Sapelo Sound, Georgia, September 29, 1526, almost 100 years before the 1619 Point Comfort/Jamestown arrival. The Spanish imported the Africans to help build San Miguel de Gualdape.

MPCPMP identifies documented Middle Passage arrival sites in the U.S. At these sites, MPCPMP holds ancestral remembrance ceremonies and install historic markers honoring captive Africans and their descendants. Port of Harlem magazine was the first to announce the founding of MPCPMP in the Nov 2008-Jan 2009 issue, when the magazine was in print and MPCPMP project founder Ann Chinn was one of our co-editors.

This event will show a short film introduction to the five-part, IndieFest Film Award docuseries that explores the African American connection to water, extending from the Senegal and Gambia Rivers to the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. Register now to participate via Facebook or ZOOM.