Newsroom

 

WKRG News 5

 The Clotilda Descendants Association hosts Annual Clotilda “The Landing” ceremony

WKRG News 5

Clotilda Descendants Association hosts weekend of tribute events

WKRG News 5

Clotilda Descendants Association sets annual Landing Event Weekend

FOX 10 News

 

Annual ceremony held to remember Clotilda slave ship landing in Mobile

FOX 10 News

 

Clotilda documentary tells the story of the descendants of the survivors

June 21, 2024

FOX 10 News

 

National Geographic documentary shares story of Clotilda descendants

FOX 10 News

 

Clotilda Descendants Association to host “Landing Event Weekend”

June 24, 2024
President Jeremy Ellis represents CDA at From Mobile to Selma and the Black Belt: Economic Upliftment and Conservation through Civil Rights, Heritage Travel and Ecotourism.

Last week,  as the CDA representative, Jeremy Ellis was privileged to participate in the “From Mobile to Selma and the Black Belt: Economic Upliftment and Conservation through Civil Rights, Heritage Travel and Ecotourism.

Post CBS 60 Minutes / Request to meet with Mr. Heath Eckert and Ms. Robert Meaher

On Sunday, November 19, 2023, CBS 60 Minutes aired a historic meeting held between Clotilda Descendants Association (CDA) President Jeremy Ellis and members Patricia Frazier and Joycelyn Davis and descendants of Timothy Meaher, sisters Meg and Helen Meaher. This meeting took place on July 09, 2023, and was the first public meeting between the descendants of the 110 survivors aboard Clotilda and the descendants of Timothy Meaher, who commissioned Clotilda’s final voyage.

AFRICATOWN – Correspondent Anderson Cooper continues his reporting on Africatown, a community founded by the formerly enslaved men and women brought to Alabama on the Clotilda slave ship in 1860. The Clotilda is the last known ship to bring enslaved Africans to America and was found in 2018 in an Alabama river, a story first reported by 60 MINUTES in 2020. Cooper returns to Africatown to witness a historic meeting between the descendants of the enslaved Africans and the descendants of Timothy Meaher, the man who commissioned the Clotilda. This is a double-length segment. Denise Schrier Cetta and Katie Brennan are the producers.

CDA Officer Elections

On Wednesday, September 20th, the Clotilda Descendants Association held its annual elections for the upcoming year. Congratulations to our elected officers.

The Landing

On Saturday, July 8, 2023, at 8:15 AM CST, the Clotilda Descendants Association (CDA) presents The Landing, honoring the arrival of the 110 survivors of Clotilda.

The Landing is an opportunity for the descendants of the 110 survivors to honor our ancestors, preserve our culture, and educate future generations about descendants and the community.

The Landing will take place under the Africatown Bridge, and we are asking attendees to arrive at 8:00 am CST as the event will start on time. There is no address for the bridge, however, if you enter 101 Bay Bridge Road, Mobile Alabama 36610 via google maps, it will take you to the bridge location.

There will be parking available at Union Baptist Church. Shuttle services will begin at 7:30 AM CST from Union Baptist church to The Landing and run until the end of the program.

We are asking that all descendants wear white for this event.

Africatown Heritage House

PREMIERES THURSDAY, JULY 6 at 8:00PM

APT’s Randy Scott and Clotilda descendant Veda Robbins explore the back story of the new Africatown Heritage House.

Engaging Descendant Communities

CDA Treasurer Bill Green participated in the Sites of Conscience panel discussion spotlighting Clotilda Descendants Association and Africatown.

In post-conflict settings around the world, family members often play a galvanizing role in advocating for truth and justice for their loved ones lost to war and violence. In North America, through the use of family records, oral histories, and some formal documentation, descendants of enslaved communities have become powerful advocates for uncovering, preserving, and amplifying the history of their ancestors.

In this webinar, we will shine a spotlight on these dynamic communities – examining the importance of these vital groups and how Sites of Conscience can better engage and work with them today. We will be joined by Elizabeth Chew, of James Madison’s Montpelier, a representative of the Montpelier Descendant Committee, as well as Bill Green from the Clotilda Descendants Association.

 

Africatown Heritage House featured in Country Roads Magazine

In Mobile, Alabama, the new Africatown Heritage House honors the community built by the survivors of America’s last slave ship. Read more

CDA President Earns Scuba Certification

As part of the Africatown swim /scuba diving program, CDA President, Jeremy Ellis was able to work with Kamu Sadiki of Diving with a Purpose (DWP) and lead instructor Courtlandt Butts with DWP to get certified. Thanks to Anderson Flen and everyone involved with the Africatown swim/ scuba diving program. 

CDA President Jeremy Ellis participated in a round table discussion exploring the history of the Africatown community

Troy University Department of History 

CDA President Jeremy Ellis participated in a round table discussion exploring the history of the Africatown community of Mobile, Alabama and the recent discovery of the remains of the Clotilda slave ship which brought their ancestors to this nation. Speakers include Ben Raines, journalist and author of The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How Clotilda Was Found, Her Descendants, and an Extraordinary Reckoning; Jeremy Ellis, president of the Clotilda Descendants Association; Theo M. Moore II (BS ’12, MS ‘16), executive director of Hiztorical Visions Productions and producer of Afrikan by Way of American; Stacye Hathorn, State Archeologist for the Alabama Historical Commission; and Gen. Walter Givhan of the Alabama Historical Commission and former TROY Senior Vice Chancellor.

Full Circle

Once carried on a ship with Clotilda being her name,

One hundred and ten plus slaves unwillingly on a journey to never be the same,

Many, many miles across an unfamiliar sea,

Men, women, and children with gut wrenching and unimaginable pleas,

Battered, ignored, laughed at, and surely demeaned,

With only God to comfort them and their futures unforeseen,

Comforted and protected they were amongst one another,

They likened themselves as family and deemed as sisters and brothers,

Enduring beatings, bloodshed, and struggle, many still survived,

Creating love and community within their hearts, their spirits were revived,

Their plight to live and Cudjo’s ability to share his story,

All so amazing as he continued to give God the glory.

Now, a part of Cudjo is back home in Afficky where he longed to be,

Along with a Descendants Flag for the whole world to see.

It has been a full circle for Oluale Kossola and we are thankful.

Article and Poem written by: Dr. Maisha L. Jack ([email protected], 404-610-1506)

Descendants Flag Contact: Ms. Cassandra Lewis ([email protected], 404-625-9056

Clotilda in the News

Guest opinion: We are memory keepers


Sculpture unveiled at Africatown Heritage House as date set for opening


By 


July 2019

Last slave ship: Alabama files federal claim of ownership

Op-Ed: The Clotilda is the only American slave ship ever found. It needs to be preserved.

Press Releases

Latest Posts

Time has run out on the game
America plays with racial injustice

Having been a sportswriter my entire professional career, I have had a ringside seat to watch African American athletes be treated as nothing more than “entertainers” for rich professional sports owners or mega-bucks college athletic programs. It was only a matter of...

How would it feel if YOU were a slave?

It has been almost two months since the wreckage of slave ship Clotilda was found buried in murky  waters north of Mobile Bay. And since then, the one burning question constantly posed to we descendants of those 110 Africans aboard that last - and illegal - slave...

Clotilda wreck had been “disturbed,” but by whom?

Of all the things special about being a direct descendant of Africans who were aboard slave ship Clotilda, recently found lying under 20-feet of water in Mobile Bay, finding out what really happened to the 158-year-old relic might be the most exciting.  From the...

Clotilda in the News

Clotilda Video Reports

Clotilda Audio Reports

Subscribe to our mailing list

Make a Donation

Join the Association

Get In Touch