Africatown celebration: ‘It is not about slavery ... It is about us’

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Members of the Innergy dance company perform during the first Africatown Middle Passage Convening ceremony, held at Lewis Landing in Mobile on July 10, 2026.

Canoeists explore the waters around Lewis Landing, a new park on Three Mile Creek north of downtown Mobile, on July 10, 2026.

Africatown elder Lorna Gail Wood speaks on the importance of the Lewis Quarters neighborhood to the Africatown community during during the first Africatown Middle Passage Convening ceremony, held at Lewis Landing in Mobile on July 10, 2026.

Ann Cobb, left, and Ann Chinn speak during the first Africatown Middle Passage Convening ceremony, held at Lewis Landing in Mobile on July 10, 2026.

Canoeists explore the waters around Lewis Landing, a new park on Three Mile Creek north of downtown Mobile, on July 10, 2026.

Ruth Ballard delivers an elder permission during the first Africatown Middle Passage Convening ceremony, held at Lewis Landing in Mobile on July 10, 2026. The elder permission is a ceremonial recognition of the authority of community elders to give their blessings to proceedings.

Eugenia Rankin leads the crowd in

A view of Three Mile Creek from the new Lewis Landing park on Conception Street Road north of downtown Mobile.

Members of the Innergy dance company perform during the first Africatown Middle Passage Convening ceremony, held at Lewis Landing in Mobile on July 10, 2026.

Members of the Innergy dance company perform during the first Africatown Middle Passage Convening ceremony, held at Lewis Landing in Mobile on July 10, 2026.

A historical marker at Lewis Landing park north of downtown Mobile provides information about the transatlantic slave trade.

Liz Smith-Incer speaks on behalf of the National Park Service at the first Africatown Middle Passage Convening ceremony, held at Lewis Landing in Mobile on July 10, 2026.

Canoeists explore the waters around Lewis Landing, a new park on Three Mile Creek north of downtown Mobile, on July 10, 2026.

A vehicle crosses a bridge on Conception Street Road near Lewis Landing Park, a new public access site on Three Mile Creek.

Mobile City Council member Samantha Ingram serves as master of ceremonies at the first Africatown Middle Passage Convening ceremony, held at Lewis Landing in Mobile on July 10, 2026.

Pastor Demond Campbell of Olivet Missionary Baptist Church speaks during the first Africatown Middle Passage Convening ceremony, held at Lewis Landing in Mobile on July 10, 2026.

Canoeists explore the waters around Lewis Landing, a new park on Three Mile Creek north of downtown Mobile, on July 10, 2026. The ramp in the foreground is a kayak launch.

Participants read a

Tyra Jackson Ike-Asogwa, founder and co-director of the Innergy dance company, speaks during the first Africatown Middle Passage Convening ceremony, held at Lewis Landing in Mobile on July 10, 2026.

For Lorna Gail Wood, a descendant of Charlie Lewis, a Clotilda survivor and Africatown founder, a first-time celebration at a brand new waterfront park was an occasion to get in touch with some old truths.

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