Maafa Commemoration Ceremony

Sunday, October 12, 5:30AM (before dawn)

Ocean Beach, Great Highway at Fulton Street, San Francisco

Free, all black people are invited

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“The term ‘Maafa’ is Kiswahili for ‘terrible occurrence’ or ‘recurring disaster’ and has been used to describe the European slave trade or the Middle Passage. The term ‘Maafa’ also references the Black Holocaust historically and currently. In the San Francisco Bay Area, October is Maafa Awareness Month – it is a time to reflect on the legacy of slavery: victims and beneficiaries in the short and long term, and look at ways to mend, repair and heal the damage to Pan African descendants of the enslaved and their New Afrikan societies. The toll has been tremendous: psychological, economic, social, physical, emotional and spiritual.

The Maafa ritual, October 12, 2014, is an honoring of our past and a prayer for our future. All black people are invited to come and share in this time of remembrance. We ask for this one event, those who support the well-being of black people respect our desires about the commemoration ceremony and mourning ritual.

Attendees are encouraged to wear white, to dress warmly, bring their children, flowers for the ceremony, vegan or vegetarian breakfast items to share afterwards, (along with dishes to serve them on), hot beverages and cups, drums, chekeres, rattles, and positive energy. Firewood is useful for the bonfires Sunday morning. The organizers will not be responsible for security if attendees decide to spend the night.”