37th annual Black Heritage Festival holds opening commemoration

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The Savannah Black Heritage Festival opened with a commemoration ceremony at the African-American Monument along the river after weather forced organizers to reschedule from the previous Sunday.

The kickoff included prayer, music and storytelling as crowds gathered for the 37th year of the festival. The commemoration honors the African men and women who were brought to Savannah in bondage.

“We open up here with an amazing story about the folks who built this area and came to this land and how they rose,” said Amanda Hollowell, co-coordinator of the Savannah Black Heritage Festival.

Master storyteller Lillian Grant-Baptiste led the ceremony, speaking of the lives and legacy of the first Africans who came to Savannah as slaves. She said her stories focus on honoring and respecting what they endured.

“How do I best respect and pay tribute to those ancestors that came here, under not the best of circumstances but in bondage. How do I honor and respect that memory,” Grant-Baptiste said.

This year’s theme is “The Tapestry of Us,” which honors the past, present and future of the Black community in Savannah. With each story, Grant-Baptiste poured out water as a symbol of remembrance.

“It is in remembering that we build the strength and the fortitude that we need to move forward into the future,” she said.

After her address, Grant-Baptiste led the crowd in a Harambee circle. People joined hands and participated in a call and response, speaking of love, joy and honoring their ancestors.

Hollowell said the festival offers education, culture and community through nearly 28 days of free events across the city.

“I think this is probably the best classroom you can have outside of a classroom, it’s almost twenty eight days of free events that range from different locations over the city and different types of art, music and literature, dance even. I think what it does more than anything is bring our community back together,” Hollowell said.

Grant-Baptiste will close out the festival Feb. 28. The full list of events can be found on the festival’s website.