/reconstructions The Philadelphia Middle Passage Ceremony & Port Marker Project has led the movement to conduct an annual Ancestral Remembrance Ceremony at Penn's Landing to acknowledge the Port of Philadelphia, and other locations on the Delaware River, as a port of entry for Africans during the transatlantic human trade; to commemorate the nearly 2 million Africans who perished in the Middle Passage; and, to install a historical marker in their memory. Each year (formerly on June 2nd, now August 5th) we have observed Ancestral Remembrance Day with a Blessing of the River. We celebrate the triumphant survival of the descendants of those Africans, and their contributions to this nation. Finally, we call for healing and hope for future generations.