'We Call That Sankofa': Hundreds Gather On Independence Mall To Mark Beginning Of American Slavery On 400 Anniversary
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Ceremonies all across the country and in the Philadelphia area marked the beginning of slavery in North America 400 years ago. The observance took place on Independence Mall in Philly on Sunday afternoon.
"We call that sankofa, never forgetting your past," Jeffery Hart, with Avenging the Ancestors, said.
Hart says the ceremony shouldn't be a somber one -- even while grappling with the effects slavery continues to have on the United States.
"We didn't come to Ellis Island, we were drug here in chains," Hart said. "It was horrifying. And those effects linger on for hundred of years."
"Most people try to sweep it under the metaphorical rug," Drew Thompson, of West Philadelphia, said. "But I think we should remember where we came from and what happened to us, not as a hindrance but to empower us as a people."
Sunday was the 400th anniversary of the first landing of enslaved Africans to North America.
The bell ringing on Independence Hall included nine bells -- one for each slave held at the exact location.
"The first presidential home behind you, if you're not aware," Hart said. "But the stories that are told in that building are of the nine enslaved Africans -- your ancestors -- that were held against their will."
A major theme of this year's remembrance was generations. Children held signs for every single year of slavery in America beginning in 1619.
Sowelle N'air helped make them.
"The next generation needs to be reminded of what happened to their ancestors," N'air said. "Those holding the signs shows me sooner or later they'll get it. They're younger now, but when they're older, they will get it."
CBS3's Dan Koob reports.
