William H. Hamilton, Jr.
William H. Hamilton, Jr., is a retired associate professor of English and a former journalist. He assists in communication tasks, blog posts, and photographs. Distant Shore, the symbol of the Middle Passage in our promotions and publications, is his work. “I am proud of the photograph taken at sunrise on the Atlantic Coast facing eastward that is now associated with this Project. We might visualize the African Continent beyond the horizon, and that is hopeful to me.”
Personal Statement
I have been a Director on the Executive Board of the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project since its inception in 2011 and served as Secretary through 2022. In addition, I have also taken photographs at commemorative ceremonies and been part of promoting our activities at many of the seaports where we organize local support.
I am particularly honored to work to commemorate the lives of ancestors who died during the Middle Passage and their descendants who share that legacy. My small contributions to the text of MPCPMP blogs about the issues that still face Africans in America and how those issues derive from our shared history are important to me. Black Lives Matter; always have, always will.
This Project is important to me because my training and experience as a journalist and as a teacher is now being put to great use in honoring and commemorating my own ancestors, known and unknown. I continue to learn about my culture and heritage and to share those things, all that through this Project. This is a great historical moment. This is my own great benefit.