Monday, March 4, 2013

F: First African Baptist Church (St. Simons Island)

Some historians trace the legend of the Flying African, the kidnapped African who flew across the ocean rather than face slavery, to an apparent mass suicide at St. Simons Island, on coastal Georgia. Per an 1803 slaver's account, men jumped at Ebo Landing, on the leeward side of the island, and drowned to their death. The story that survived in folklore, where men few away (and which Toni Morrison adapted for Song of Solomon), moves me to my bones.

A search for that legend led me to First African Baptist Church, the oldest black church on the island and the one closest one to Ebo Landing. The African-American presence on St. Simons has been plowed over. Ancestral burial grounds lie beneath the golf courses and most of the parishioners live off-island. But the congregation holds on still.

At last Sunday's meeting I was deeply moved by a ritual Blessing of the Children. Based upon some reading from the Hebrew scripture, the pastor pulls out a prayer shawl that she purchased in Israel, then gathers the children to the altar.

"I want all the brothers to come forward," the pastor instructs.

Jon and I are the only white people in the church. Children gather under the shawl, which the men hold aloft. "All brothers," the pastor says, "please come forward."

We did.

1 comment:

  1. What a wonderful experience to have! I've never heard of the legend of the Flying African.

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