We Were, We Are, We Will Be 

Cheyney McKnight 

Heed my warning from the ancestors. 

Do right by these ancestors. 

Do right by these descendants.

A fundamental aspect of many African traditions is that the ancestors are continuously linked to us and even those yet to be born. They are the intermediaries between our world and the spiritual world. Throughout the African diaspora, people honor the ancestors and seek them out for guidance, protection, and blessings. Libations is one of the ways they honor their ancestors.

In We Were, We Are, We Will Be, historical Interpreter Cheyney McKnight presents a series of photographs and videos from libation ceremonies she led for First Africans Day at Stratford Hall Historic Preserve over the past 4 years. Through exclusive tours, lectures, and activities, Stratford Hall Historic Preserve hosts First Africans Day each year to commemorate the enslaved Africans and African Americans who built, managed, and sustained the estate for generations of the Lee family.

As part of First Africans Day 2025, Cheyney McKnight and Tanyah Dadze Cotton led an opening ceremony in the morning on Stratford Hall’s burial ground to honor the enslaved ancestors with libations. In the evening, McKnight led a closing ceremony— one final action to ground the descendents. Everyone was present: descendents of those who were enslaved at Stratford Hall, descendents of the Lee family, local community members, and visitors from all over the world. They called out the names of those who were enslaved at Stratford Hall. They weaved those same names written on dissolvable paper into a raft made from locally sourced, biodegradable materials. McKnight then concluded the ceremony with a call for all of the female descendents of those who were enslaved at Stratford Hall to join together and push the raft out into the Potomac River. 

We Were, We Are, We Will Be links the past, present, and future of the African diaspora highlighting the reparative work that needs to be done in centering the spiritual and physical healing of descendants of slavery through reparations. 

The exhibition at Dyckman Farmhouse Museum features framed photographs and a projected video montage from libation ceremonies Cheyney Mcknight led for First Africans Day at Stratford Hall over the past 4 years alongside a selection of objects that hold immense value during McKnight’s libation ceremonies.

Join us for the Opening Reception of We Are, We Were, We Will Be where you’ll have the chance to meet the artist and hear more about the making of the exhibited work.

Date: Wednesday, September 3rd, 2025

Time: 5:30pm-7:30pm

(The Artist Talk portion of the Opening Reception will begin at 6pm. Can’t attend in person? Please register via Zoom for the livestream)

Cost: FREE!

Location: Livestream via Zoom or attend in person at Dyckman Farmhouse Museum (on the corner of 204th Street and Broadway) 

This program is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, through the Dutch Culture USA FUTURE 400 program of the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.