Sons & Daughters of the United States Middle Passage (SDUSMP) is a lineage society for descendants of individuals enslaved in English colonial America and the United States of America from 1619-1865. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of our freed and enslaved ancestors. The organization was started in 2011 and incorporated in Washington, D.C. SDUSMP is a non-profit, charitable 501(c)3 organization.
Why we started the organization
- We want to identify and acknowledge all of our ancestors who were enslaved. They were our grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. They endured the horrors of the Transatlantic slave trade and the inhumane American chattel slavery. Their forced, unpaid labor over a 246 year period developed the United States of America. We owe them our gratitude and our remembrance.
- We want to uplift the memory of our enslaved ancestors with other descendants who share our love for them.
- We want to encourage the “New Patriots,” descendants and non-descendants, uncover the truth and bring awareness concerning this history.
What is the organization’s mission?
Our Mission is to:
1. Commemorate the memory of our enslaved ancestors;
2. Connect ourselves to our ancestors and each other through genealogical research; and
3. Educate others about American slavery and its impact on today’s society.
What are the objectives of the SDUSMP?
The objectives are to:
- To promote the connection of descendants of the Forced American Heroes, the enslaved people of African descent, to their ancestors through genealogy research;
- To proclaim, through education, the role played by the Africans forcibly brought to the United States in creating our nation, including their endurance of the cruelties of American slavery, their resourceful intellect; their unyielding will and spirit, and their connections to their descendants who have gone on to make our country greater;
- To educate the nation and world about the contribution of the enslaved and their descendants;
- To cherish and to strengthen the family ties among the members of the SDUSMP; and
- To collect, protect, and preserve the materials necessary for a complete history of slavery and to mark the places of the sacrifice of these men, women, and children; our ancestors. This includes but is not limited to historically significant sites such as churches, battle sites, freedom trails, gravesites, plantations, and museums, lest we forget.
Who is eligible for membership?
Any person is eligible for membership in the National Society of the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage (SDUSMP) who is not less than eighteen years of age, and who can prove direct lineal descent from a man, woman, or child who was of African-descent and was forced into slavery in the United States of America, including its colonial days, prior to the end of slavery as marked by the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, effective December 1865.
For more information, email info@sdusmp.org or see the Prospective Member page.
See a featured segment about SDUSMP on ABC7 WABC Here and Now.