On
Sunday morning, June 23, 2013, beginning at 5:45 a.m., Miami’s Annual Sunrise Ancestral Remembrance of the
Middle Passage Ceremony will be held at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park,
4020 Virginia Beach Drive (off Rickenbacker Causeway), on Virginia Key
island. (The entrance to the Historic
Beach Park is a left turn at the second traffic signal on the island, just
before the Bear Cut Bridge to Key Biscayne.
Gates will open at 5:30 a.m.)
Remembering and Giving Thanks
The
Ceremony, now in its 24th year, pays tribute to all Ancestors who
endured the Middle Passage (or so-called Atlantic “slave trade”): the millions of
men, women, and children who senselessly perished, and those who survived to
give life to present and future generations.
It
also honors and gives thanks to the Ancestors of these lands (including the
three who were killed at this very site on the island during the Second
Seminole War), through an “Opening of the Way” Native American ritual performed
by Carib Tribal Indian Queen Mrs. Catherine Hummingbird Ramirez, a longtime
advocate who was highly instrumental in saving the Miami Circle.
Historical Connections
The
Annual Ceremony, which is held on the Sunday closest to the summer solstice,
has come to be linked over the years with the growing nationwide observance of
Juneteenth, the June 19 commemoration of the date in 1865 on which the last of
the enslaved population in the US, in East Texas, received word of the
Emancipation Proclamation, and therefore marks the true end of slavery.
It
should be also noted that Historic Virginia Key Beach Park is a fondly
remembered, recently restored environmental and historic treasure, which was
once Miami’s only legal “Colored Beach” during the segregation era, which
brought together all neighborhoods and social classes at a site of rare scenic
beauty.
All Are Welcome
Aside
from the Native American blessing and the traditional African pouring of a
libation, the Ceremony is a very informal gathering at which all are welcome to
share thoughts, prayers, art and artifacts, performances, and offerings of
fruits, grains, flowers, and other appropriate items which are carried out to
the ocean to culminate the event. Drums,
music, and refreshments to be shared among participants are also welcome.
Admission
is free and open to the public. (There
is a $1.75 toll per vehicle on Rickenbacker Causeway.) For further information: 305-904-7620 or
786-260-1246.
***
http://www.causes.com/actions/1722148-urge-congress-to-exonerate-civil-rights-leader-marcus-garvey
We are also petitioning President Barack Obama to exonerate Marcus Garvey:
http://signon.org/sign/exonerate-marcus-garvey?source=c.url&r_by=4631897
Thank you for your support.
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