Unlocking the Door of no Return: OTU People of African Ancestry Reunion, NYC 12 August

Deadria Farmer-Paellman, genetics scientist Dr Rick Kittles and others are planning the August 12 OTU ceremony in New York. On March 4 I posted an entry about Gina Paige's Atlanta, Ga lecture on Africa, DNA and Genetics. Now Farmer-Paellman and her colleagues are organising the first annual OTU African Ancestral DNA Ceremony: "Unlocking the Door of No Return." See below Dina Kraft's photo of the actual Door of No Return in Senegal, west Africa. Tens of millions of our African ancestors were forced out of Africa through those corridors and deported to the Americas. Scores of other African deportees met their deaths in "the middle passage" of the icy cold Atlantic Ocean. OTU - the Organization of Tribal Unity: Reuniting People of African Ancestry: www.theotu.com. With a keynote address by Dr. Rick Kittles, PhD geneticist and founder of African Ancestry DNA testing company. Dr Kittles did special research for the 2003 BBC tv documentary, Motherland: a genetic journey.

Dina Kraft photo. The haunting Door of No Return, Goree Island, Senegal, West Africa

August 12 performances by The Great Day Chorale, directed by Louvinia Pointer. Ceremony, 10 am to noon, reception, noon to 2 pm. Church Center for the United Nations, 777 United Nations Plaza, 1st Avenue at 44th St, New York. "Join us in recognizing those who have unlocked the "Door of No Return" through DNA testing. Learn more about these powerful tests and network with others who share our African ethnicity and nationality." Free admission but limited seating - rsvp by July 20. Co-Chair/Founder, Deadria Farmer-Paellmann; Co-Chair/Chief Genealogist, Antoinette Harrell-Miller; Chief Elder, Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely; Chaplain, Reverend Al Sampson. This takes place 11 days before annual 23 August International Day of Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition, recognised by UNESCO.