Standing in Our Names

The 14-day route follows the Atlantic coast — the same geography along which millions of enslaved Africans were marched to waiting ships. We travel it by chartered bus, not plane, making the geographic continuity felt in the body. The ocean is not metaphor here. It is present. It is witness. It is the thread connecting every site we visit.

Transformation without integration is an experience. Integration is what makes it a life change. The six months following the journey are not debrief — they are the real work. This is where participants take what happened in West Africa and weave it into their families, their communities, their work, and their sense of who they are.

Each reunion follows a similar structure: grounding and check-in, thematic focus, community accountability, and a closing practice. As the months progress, the focus shifts from personal processing toward outward transmission — because each participant has covenanted to pass this experience to three others.