2023 MAAFA COMMEMORATION GUIDE
The MAAFA is a racial healing commemoration of the ancestors, known and unknown, from the Transatlantic & Domestic Slave Trades.
The annual New Orleans Maafa Commemoration is a community remembrance event, a moment to reckon with the horrors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and a release from the chains of its legacy. Maafa is a Kiswahili word meaning “horrific tragedy” and refers to the period known as The Middle Passage. This year’s event is presented by Ashé Cultural Arts Center on Saturday, July 1, 2023 at 7:00am, beginning at Congo Square (701 N Rampart St.)
This year’s theme coincides with the Ashé 25th Anniversary theme of unASHÉmed, where we unapologetically acknowledge and honor our ancestors, history, and the traumas they endured for their survival and our existence. Maafa identifies historically-significant locations of New Orleans’ own history as a major slave market, such as Esplanade Avenue and The Tomb of the Unknown Slave in Tremé. In closing, we say the names of those enslaved and free, victims of tragic events, senseless violence, as well as all those who were, so that we might be.
All white attire is preferred. The local community and visitors are invited to attend this commemoration event of healing, testimony, and celebration of our ancestors, existence, and survival.
2023 MAAFA PROGRAM
CONGO SQUARE / THE RIVER | 7:00 am - 1:30 pm
LIGHT DRUMMING
Led by Zohar Israel
DRUM CALL
Led by Master Drummer Luther Gray
KUMBUKA AFRICAN DRUM & DANCE COLLECTIVE
ELDER’S PERMISSION TO BEGIN
PRAYERS/LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Jamilah-Peters Muhammad & Jeffery Darensbourg
WELCOME
Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes
HISTORY OF CONGO SQUARE
Cierra Chenier
PERFORMANCE
”The White Cloth” choreographed by Kelly S. White
Daniel Gray (Dancer), Amari James (Dancer), Amaya Smith (Dancer), Melana Loyd (Vocalist and Dancer), Shangobunmi McAlpine (Vocalist and Dancer), Brad Brumfield (Drummer), Jawara Simon (Drummer), Bro. Tyrone Henry (Drummer)
CALL FOR HEALING
Rev. Lisa Green Derry (Christian Unity Baptist Church)
Jess Araten (Avodoah)
Dwayne Muhammad (Nation of Islam Mosque #46)
Shawn Lewis (Soka Gakkai International)
Jibril “Bean” Smith
HISTORY OF MAAFA
Carol Bebelle
PERFORMANCE
Jean Appolon Expressions Dance Company ft. Jean Appolon, Artistic Director (Haiti), Mambo Marie Lourdes Simeon (Haiti), Mambo Marie Garlele Dupoux (Haiti), Josie Joseph Rebert (Haiti), Arnaud Lauture (Haiti), Titos Sompa (Kongo)
INTRODUCTION OF GRAND GRIOT
Introduced by Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes
Grand Griot: Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah
CIRCLE OF YOUTH
Collective prayer
RECOGNITION OF GUESTS
PERFORMANCE
Sunni Patterson & Jarrell Hamilton
PROCESSION TO THE RIVER
SITE HISTORY + ACTIVATIONS
Frederick “Wood” Delahoussaye
Gia Hamilton (New Orleans African American Museum)
St. Augustine Church Choir
Jyna Roots (Le Musée de f.p.c.)
Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes
Jamilah Peters-Muhammad
Baba Tito
Malik Bartholomew (KNOW NOLA Tours)
Akilah Toney
Nkiruka Drum and Dance Ensemble
ANCESTOR CALL
Troy Sawyer
NEGRO NATIONAL ANTHEM
Uptown Music Theater
RELEASE OF DOVES
MAAFA 2023 MAP
Below, Ashé Cultural Arts Center has created a digital map to guide you to historic sites of slavery in New Orleans. 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.
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.
