Were you taught about the Igbo Landing?

In May 1803, one of the largest mass suicides of enslaved people took place.

Igbo captives who had been taken from what is now known as Nigeria were being forcefully migrated to a plantation on the Georgia coast.

They had been taken....kidnapped from Igboland, forcefully migrated across the Atlantic, and were now being transported to a plantation which was to be their final destination.

This was during the peak of chattel slavery.

These Igbos rose up in the strength of their righteous resistance and took control of the Slave ship causing the ship to capsize at the Dunbar creek and drowning their captors in the process.

They then marched ashore, led by their high chief, line by line chained together singing with one loud voice and in unison:

“Orimiri omambala bu anyi bia, orimiri omambala ka anyi ga ejina”

Which means

“The Omambala River brought us here, the Omambala River will take us home”

At the chief priest's directions, they walked into the waters of Dunbar Creek, committing mass suicide.

Determining their own fate.
They chose to be buried in the ocean, rather than live a life of bondage 

May 1803, will forever be remembered and venerated in African history as a symbol of resistance, revolution, and freedom of choice in spite and despite of ...

We retell these histories so we never forget 🙏🏽