MAAFA
Is a Kiswahili word, used to describe real calamity, catastrophe, tragedy or disaster as it refers to the period in world history, identified as the Middle Passage or Transatlantic Slave Trade. It is Dr. Marimba Ani (Donna Richards), an African American professor at Hunter’s College, NYC, who first introduces the concept of MAAFA now being used to reclaim our right to tell our own story. It is our contention that in order for the African-American family to engage in a liberation process, it must face the trauma and consequences of its bondage in America.
Evoking the Pain of the Past… Building a Strong and Powerful Future.
The MAAFA Suite Production was originated and first executed under the instruction of Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood and congregation of the Saint Paul’s Community Baptist Church, in East Brooklyn, NY, as a spiritual and mental psychodrama to begin the healing and educational process regarding the effects of an overlooked chapter of history that has affected people of all races and cultures and is a means of furthering our awareness of and efforts to undo institutionalized racism.
The MAAFA Influence is an extension of the MAAFA Suite Production. Performed at the Mount Aery Baptist Church in Bridgeport since 2004, this production has been seen by thousands of attendees from all across the country and by at least 3000 students of several different school districts and the Diocese of Bridgeport Catholic Schools. Everyone who experiences the MAAFA will be educated by our history, moved by the music and dramatic reflections and reminded of the hope!
“The MAAFA Commemoration is a weeklong celebration of events that are performed the last week of October culminating on the 1st Sunday in November.”