Healing for the 400 Years of Slavery Takes Root in Africa

NEW YORK — Don Victor Mooney, President of H.R. 1242 Resilience Project and a resident of Flushing, Queens, ended his two-week visit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea last week.

Mooney hand-delivered a time capsule to commemorate the 400 years of African American History to H.E. Mr. Simeón Oyono Esono Angue, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

The items included artifacts, photos, letters, books, rocks, jewelry, coins, music, citations, journals, proclamations, sugar, tobacco, and cotton.The theme of H.R. 1242 Resilience Project yearlong commemoration was dubbed, 400 Years: Resilience, Faith, Healing, and Partnership.

H.E. Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea has changed the burial ceremony from Malabo to the City of Peace [Ciudad de la Paz] for a later date on the mainland. The City of Peace is located in the administrative capital in the province of Djibloho. Equatorial Guinea consists of two parts, an insular and a mainland region.

“With the historic cultural significance of the time capsule, the President of Equatorial Guinea felt it was more fitting to have the ceremony on the mainland,” said H.E. Anatolio Ndong Mba, Ambassador and Permanent Representative for Equatorial Guinea to the United Nations in New York.

Mooney became the first African American to row across any ocean. His 21-month journey started from the Canary Islands and culminated at the Brooklyn Bridge. The boat christened the Spirit of Malabo was sponsored by the government of Equatorial Guinea.