Four hundred years after American slavery and democratic self-rule were born almost simultaneously in what became the state of Virginia, ceremonies will mark the arrival of enslaved Africans in the mid-Atlantic colony and seek healing from the legacy of bondage that still haunts the nation.
Yet the weekend ceremonies in Tidewater Virginia will unfold against the backdrop of rising white nationalism across the country, racist tweets by President Donald Trump, and a lingering scandal surrounding the state’s governor and a blackface photo.
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The commemoration will include Sunday’s “Healing Day” on the Chesapeake Bay where two ships traded men and women from what’s now Angola for food and supplies from English colonists in August 1619. A bell will ring for four minutes, while churches across the country are expected to join in.
Virginia’s two U.S. senators and its governor will make remarks at a Saturday ceremony. And a family that traces its bloodline to those first Africans will hold a reflection at its cemetery on Friday.
Source: Virginia marks pivotal moment when enslaved Africans arrived
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