Rites of Passage is an

African American History African-American history started with the forced transportation of Africans to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. The European colonization of the Americas, and the resulting Atlantic slave trade, encompassed a large-scale transpo ...

program sponsored by the

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

US public schools. The program consists of an extra day of schooling on Saturday for 12 weeks, service projects, and a culminating educational trip to

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

and

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, the ancestral homes of many African Americans. The highlight of the trip is a visit to Goree Island, and the Door of No Return. The Door of No Return symbolizes the last point of departure of African slaves being shipped to the Western Hemisphere. As Rodney Bass, the founder and director of the program describes it:

By passing through "The Door of No Return" the students invalidate the legacy of slavery and reconnect with the ancestral heritage, linking their past to their present. We have seen the positive changes in the educational performance of our alumni students, and also the greater impact they have had on our community and the possibilities for their future.

The program is open to 7th grade students. Students must apply and be accepted. Typical participation is 10 to 20 students. The program was founded by Rodney Bass, a former principal in the Stamford school system.{{Cite web , url=http://stamfordpublicschools.org/content/2182/2194/2196/default.aspx , title=The Rites of Passage Staff, Stamford Public Schools , access-date=2010-07-04 , archive-date=2011-07-28 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728053748/http://stamfordpublicschools.org/content/2182/2194/2196/default.aspx , url-status=live He was moved by his own first visit to West Africa. He and the other teachers who lead the program:

hypothesized that we can help produce healthier young people who now understand slavery was not their beginning, nor the principal means of defining the African-American experience, but instead a real, limited part of a legacy of faith, pride, and endurance that spans millennia.

The program is open to students of all races and heritages. 2010 marked its fifth anniversary.

References

External links

Rites of Passage home page
African-American history of Connecticut Education in Connecticut

See also

References

External links