The third annual Vermont First African Landing Day commemoration was held at the Intervale Center in Burlington on Saturday. The day-long event, organized by the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance, was held to mark the anniversary of when the first enslaved people from Africa landed in Virginia in 1619.
About one hundred people gathered outside to pray, enjoy music, sing and listen to panel discussions based on the day’s theme of “Out of Darkness, Into the Light.”
Educational displays from the Hampton History Museum’s “Toward Freedom” exhibit and the True Black History Museum were onsite. Musical performances from artists including the Lake Champlain Mass Choir, Mikahely, The Original Moonlighters and others were interspersed with personal reflections from community members.
And, of course, there was plenty of food — served up by Harmony’s Kitchen and The People’s Kitchen.
Correction: Poet Rajnii Eddins’s last name was misspelled in an earlier version of several photo captions.
