Harambe is our family’s intentional gathering — rooted in unity, legacy, joy, and connection. This year, we come together in New Orleans to celebrate family, create memories, and strengthen the ties that keep us connected across generations.
Harambee is a Swahili word often understood as “all pull together.” It reflects unity, collective effort, community care, and the power of people coming together for a shared purpose.
For our family, Harambe is both tradition and intention. It is a space to reconnect, honor our shared roots, celebrate the beauty of our many branches, and make time for one another in meaningful ways.
It reminds us that family is not only something we inherit — it is also something we nurture.
Together
This year’s theme centers on the beauty of that truth: that our differences are part of what makes our family vibrant, while our shared root keeps us grounded in love, history, and belonging.
Harambe 2026 is designed to offer space for celebration, reflection, wellness, and connection.
One of the most important parts of Harambe is the opportunity to come together and break bread in one shared space. A family dinner and/or brunch creates room for storytelling, laughter, memory, gratitude, and renewed connection. Even before final details are set, the website should communicate that this communal meal is not just another scheduled activity – it is a centering experience that allows the family to pause, gather, and honor one another through presence and shared table fellowship.
This fireside chat is designed as a family-centered brave space grounded in respect, reflection, and care. Together, participants will gather in a circle to listen, share, and consider how family members can create more room for honesty, healing, and mutual understanding across differences.
Possible reflective prompts to reference: One thing I learned or understood differently tonight is… and One way I can be a better ally in this family is…
Rooted in Wellness: Mind, Body, and Spiritual Health
A voluntary, circle-style chat on whole-person wellness – mind, body, spirit, and finances – from a Black family perspective. This experience creates space to talk about stress, diabetes, blood pressure, movement, nutrition, and planning for the winter of our lives, while also encouraging questions, reflection, and one practical next step toward stronger roots and longer life.
Each participant will be welcomed with a gift that helps ground the experience from the very beginning. This welcome moment should communicate that every person’s presence matters and that their decision to show up, travel, and participate in Harambe is meaningful. The gift can serve as both a warm arrival gesture and a symbolic invitation into the shared purpose of the gathering – remembrance, connection, renewal, and the building of something lasting together.
Although Harambe will include a thoughtful itinerary and a passport of events, the experience will also honor independent time for rest, solitude, and personal reflection. Not every meaningful moment happens in a group setting. Sometimes it is in quiet, stillness, prayer, journaling, walking, or simply being alone with one’s thoughts that people are able to fully process what they are feeling and receiving. The website should make clear that personal time is not separate from the experience – it is part of the experience.
The Harambe webpage should encourage participants to use the countdown clock as a planning tool and not wait until the last minute to finalize travel. By May, guests should aim to have both their flights and hotel rooms booked. Travelers who prefer to make installment-style payments on their rooms should be encouraged to contact the hotel directly to ask about available payment options or reservation policies.
June 24-29, 2026 • New Orleans
If you plan to attend Harambe 2026, now is the time to begin thinking about travel arrangements. Please consider your arrival and departure dates, airfare, local transportation, and any personal needs that may affect your trip.
The tentative host hotel for Harambe 2026 is Virgin Hotels New Orleans. Guests are encouraged to reserve rooms as early as possible to secure preferred accommodations during the gathering dates.
Accurate RSVPs are important to the planning process. They help us prepare welcome gifts, group experiences, reservations, and gathering materials. If your plans change, please let the planning team know as soon as possible.
A Google RSVP link was previously distributed for attendance confirmation. That form is now closed. Anyone who is still interested in participating should reach out directly to one of the planners for next steps and availability.
Participants should budget not only for airfare and hotel accommodations, but also for meals outside of scheduled group moments, local transportation, personal activities, shopping, and souvenirs. Planning ahead will help guests arrive ready to fully enjoy the experience without financial surprises.
It is a reminder that togetherness is not something to postpone indefinitely — it is something to practice with intention while we can.
Please continue checking this page for updates as additional details are finalized. We are excited to gather, celebrate, and build this experience together.
Mai Barclay | Cary Grant | Ayanna Jason | Jamari SaintCyr
New Orleans, Louisiana
All Pull Together
New Orleans
