AFRICATOWN’s eventful weekend adds about $6,000,000 to Mobile’s Economy

Saturday morning The Plateau Pacers started things off with their 5th annual Community Walk. Next The CDA conducted their annual Africatown Bridge Landing Ceremony at Clotilda Landing – underneath The Africatown Bridge. The Mobile Baykeepers pitched in by conducting a Fishing and Kayaking clinic at Africatown’s Lewis Landing Park. Food Trucks were available all day at Kidd Park’s Swimming Pool as more than 100 swimming certificates were handed out later at The Hope Community Center (Pictured Below). The Africatown Swim Program, sponsored by The Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation, has awarded over 500 swimming certificates in it’s 4 years of existence, thus making it the largest swim program in the city of Mobile. Some of their graduates are currently taking scuba lessons. On Saturday afternoon, The CDA packed Mobile’s Riverboat with visitors as they took a riverboat cruise to Twelve Mile Island (where The Clotilda was burned and sank) and back. Also on Saturday afternoon The AHPF convened three very important summits. First, a group of college students who are part of “Operation Understanding” from Washington, D.C. conducted a Young Leaders Summit at The Africatown Hall titled “Social Justice and Strategies for Engagement”. Next, The Middle Passage Conference conducted a workshop concerning the Preservation & Documentation of the more than 100 middle passage sites from Maine to The Caribbean Islands and finally, The Closing Convening discussed the next steps for The Port Markers and Middle Passage Project Sites.