For the 22nd consecutive year, New York-based and nationally recognized Pastor Rev. David K. Brawley of East New York’s St. Paul Community Baptist Church, presents The MAAFA: “Speaking The Truth.”
The theatrical production recognizes and reflects the journey of African slaves to America from 1500-1900. Attracting more than 3,000 people every year, the play follows the journey of more than 100 million slaves through the “Middle Passage” during a period of history known as the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The MAAFA offers people from all walks of life a chance to understand the nature of the treatment the ancestors of black Americans went through upon generations of Africans in America.
As part of the annual MAAFA Presentation, the SPCBC campus also transforms into The MAAFA Museum. The visual/interactive walking tour is employed to expand participants’ knowledge-base on the period in history known as the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Visitors experience “Africans in America” in a new and enlightening way with galleries of art, authentic artifacts, wood carvings, quilts, historic vignettes and more. The MAAFA Museum tour is appropriate for adults and students grades 4 and higher.
The term MAAFA (pronounced Mah- AH-fah) is a Kiswahili word which gives definition to the catastrophic event experienced by millions of African people during the Middle Passage journey. The word MAAFA is the concept of Dr. Marimba Ani, African-American scholar and author, and has been adopted in contemporary scholarship. St. Paul Community Baptist Church first introduced The MAAFA under the leadership of Pastor Emeritus Rev. Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood as a way to heal the community and bring awareness to racism in American society.
St. Paul Community Baptist Church is a nonprofit ministry dedicated to serving the borough of Brooklyn and the needs of its congregants who reside across the borough as well as the five boroughs of New York City, Long Island and northern counties of New York and New Jersey. The organization was established in 1927 and is currently led by Pastor David K. Brawley. Located in the East New York section of Brooklyn, one of the roughest neighborhoods in the Tri-State area known for its history of gang violence, crime, drugs and poverty, has grown to be a safe haven and resource organization ministering to communities around Brooklyn and the NYC area and through its African Justice Ministry, provides aid and assistance to the continent of Africa and islands in the Caribbean. Pastor Brawley is full of passion, love and fervor for the Word of God and his obedience to the call of ministry is evidenced in his leadership. He started
his ministry as a youth minister at the age of 16 at First Baptist Church in Deer Park, NY and served in that ministry for 13 years. He began his full time career in ministry at St. Paul in 1994.