2021 MAAFA COMMEMORATION GUIDE
The MAAFA is a racial healing commemoration of the ancestors, known and unknown, from the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
The Maafa Commemoration offers an opportunity for the entire community to pause and reflect on this horrific transgression against humanity, and how to personally, as a community, agree to distance ourselves institutionally in word and deed from that transgression, its legacy, and the evolved practice of racism in our civic, social, spiritual and personal lives.
The theme of this year's Maafa is Polyrhythmic: The Movement of Our People. We are exploring movement in 3 ways:
The embodied movement of dance and the ways that we use dance to celebrate, communicate, and connect.
The migratory movement of our people — voluntary and forced — across space and time.
The social movement to create a world rooted in freedom, equity, and justice.
MAAFA 2021 MAP
In order to be as safe as possible in this time of pandemic, Ashé Cultural Arts Center has created a digital map to guide you to historic sites of slavery in New Orleans, in lieu of traveling together in our communal processional.
We invite everyone in attendance to learn more about the history of enslavement by visiting these sacred spaces. Each Sankofa represents a different historical marker tied to enslavement in New Orleans. You can click on each icon to read about the history of each location. We encourage you to pause as you remember and bear witness.
The pink dining icons will guide you to #AshéApproved Black-owned restaurants in the area. We hope you find this map nourishing and look forward to reconvening at the river. Ashé.
2021 MAAFA PROGRAM
CONGO SQUARE | 8:00 am - 11:00 am
DRUM CALL
Led by Master Drummer Luther Gray
KUMBUKA AFRICAN DRUM & DANCE COLLECTIVE
ELDER’S PERMISSION TO BEGIN
Carol Bebelle
Co-founder, Ashé Cultural Arts Center
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
WELCOME
Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes
Chief Equity Officer, Ashé Cultural Arts Center
LIBATION
Sunni Patterson
Nana Anoa Nantambo
Sula Spirit
Reggie “Diop” Green
MAAFA HISTORY
Freddi Williams Evans
Malik Bartholomew
CALL FOR HEALING
Rev. Denise Graves
Katheleen Dorsey Bellow
Dwayne Muhammad
Rev. Paul Beedle
Rev. Gregory Manning
Rachel Dangermond
Halle Young
Sunni Patterson
SHANGOBUNMI DUROTIMI THE ARTISTÉ
SUNNI PATTERSON
GRAND GRIOT INTRODUCTION & DEDICATION
Michaela Harrison
Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes
GRAND GRIOT MAMA HERREAST HARRISON
ANCESTRAL SALUTE
N’Kafu Traditional African Dance Company
Culu Children’s Traditional African Dance Company
SPIRIT MCINTYRE
RELEASE OF DOVES
Mama Cherice Harrison-Nelson
The River | 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
DRUMS
KUMBUKA AFRICAN DRUM & DANCE COLLECTIVE
MICHAELA HARRISON
ANCESTOR CALL
ONE MIND BRASS BAND
ABOUT MAAFA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Efforts of Grace, Inc. / Ashé Cultural Arts Center is funded in part by the Ford Foundation; the W.K. Kellogg Foundation; the Nathan Cummings Foundation; the Surdna Foundation; the Kresge Foundation; the Lambent Foundation of the Tides Foundation; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the Edward Wisner Fund; the Greater New Orleans IMPACT Program; the Joan Mitchell Foundation; the David & Lucille Packard Foundation; Baptist Community Ministries; the National Endowment for the Arts; the WMG/BFF Social Justice Fund; the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures; the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation; a Community Arts Grant made possible by the City of New Orleans as administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans; and other foundations, corporations and individuals. Efforts of Grace/Ashé CAC is also supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council.
