Annual commemoration to honor African ancestors returns

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A commemoration to honor African ancestors returned Saturday to Fort Moultrie after a two-year hiatus because of COVID-19.

It’s a celebration that started 25 years ago.

The Charleston area branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History Remembrance Committee hosted the remembrance commemoration to honor their history and beginnings in this country.

“This is a special time for us. It’s a time of mourning, a time of recognition, and a time of just being still and recognizing who we are as a people,” ASALH member Regina Williams said.

The annual commemoration provides an opportunity for members of the African-descended community to remember the millions who were sold, kidnapped, and shipped from their homeland, as well as those who died along the route from Africa to the Americas.

The event featured an educational program, a libation for the ancestors, and a time to go to the ocean and the creek to honor ancestors with flowers.

“That is our history. That’s our beginning in this country. We were kidnapped basically and brought to these shores, most of the coast actually,” Williams said. “Our titles taken away, our culture taken away, our language taken away. Everything that we knew, family members, everything, taken away. We don’t forget that. No people should forget their people.”

Remembrance programs are conducted here in the United States and around the world.

Williams said a lot of younger people attended the event, which will help to ensure the tradition will be continued.

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