 Today
descendants of enslaved Africans begin a
week-long pilgramage through The Gambia
in memory of their enslaved ancestors.
The journey is part of the "9th
International Roots Festival" which
opened in the Gambia on Saturday May 31,
2008 with a carnival of jubilant ethnic
groups sharing their cultural heritage
through song and dance. The festival
ends on June 7, 2008.
Serekunda, Gambia (PRWEB) June 2,
2008 -- Today descendants of enslaved
Africans begin a week-long pilgrimage
through The Gambia in memory of their
enslaved ancestors. The journey is part
of the "9th International Roots
Festival" which opened in the Gambia on
Saturday May 31, 2008 with a carnival of
jubilant ethnic groups sharing their
cultural heritage through song and
dance. The festival ends on June 7,
2008.
The festival, themed "Celebrating
unity through culture," is a bi-annual
commemoration of the forced enslavement
of Africans to the Americas. It is a
platform used by The Gambia to build
bridges between Africans on the
continent and those in the Diaspora.
The Gambia is the smallest country on
mainland Africa, yet one of the largest
percentages of Africans enslaved were
taken along its main river -- the River
Gambia. Captives spent their last days
at Fort James slave trade post -- now a
World Cultural Heritage site. Today, the
nation is known as the "smiling coast"
for its luxurious beach resorts and warm
friendly citizens, and is frequented
mostly by European tourists.
For the first time in the festival's
history, descendants of enslaved
Africans will be given an opportunity to
experience their ancestral African life
by sleeping over in villages critical to
the Trans Atlantic slave trade. The
pilgrimage begins in Janjanbureh Village
where prisons still stand that held
captive Africans before transport to
Fort James. Another stop will be to the
village of Juffureh, homeland of Kunte
Kinte, ancestor of author Alex Haley
upon whom the book and TV miniseries
"Roots" is based.
The last stop will be at the village
of Kanilai, the home of President of the
Republic of The Gambia, Dr. Yahya A. J.
J. Jammeh. The highlight of this visit
will be a two day "rite of passage
ceremony" for men and boys. President
Jammeh will conduct the elaborate two
day ceremony entitled "Futampaf" from
the tradition of the Jola ethnic group.
African Americans participating in
the events include: John Watusi Branch,
Founder of the Afrikan Poetry Theatre;
Kalilah Allen Harris, winner of the 2007
Miss Black USA Scholarship Pageant; and
Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, Executive
Director of the Restitution Study Group.
"I hope to connect with the land,
people and culture I lost as a result of
my ancestors being brutally enslaved to
build the wealth of Western nations,"
said Farmer-Paellmann. "The United
States has done nothing to commemorate
the 200th anniversary of the closing of
its Trans Atlantic slave trade this
year. I'm grateful that The Gambia is
doing something," she said.
For more info contact: Momodou C. Joof, Chairman at:
(Gambia) 220-422-7980 or 220-422-7461.
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