Around the Diocese
Posted Saturday, April 05, 2008
Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North
A film by Katrina Browne
Apr 26 | 1pm – 4:30pm | Lutheran Theological Seminary
Download the Poster
This special screening of an important film on the legacy of slavery for the Diocese of Pennsylvania will be followed by a conversation for people of faith: The Legacy of Slavery: The Church’s Role Then and Now with the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, XXV Presiding Bishop.
Film Screening: Traces of the Trade
Discussion with Bishop Griswold, Katrina Browne, and the Rev. Renee McKenzie-Hayward
In the documentary, Traces of the Trade, native Philadelphian and filmmaker Katrina Browne discovers that her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine cousins retrace the Triangle Trade and gain a powerful new perspective on the black/white divide. At each stop the family grapples with the contemporary legacy of slavery, not only for black Americans, but for themselves as white Americans. Browne pushes them forward as they make their way through the minefield of race politics and debates about reparations.
The issues the DeWolf descendants are confronted with dramatize questions that apply to the nation as a whole: What are the legacies of slavery? Who owes who what for the sins of the fathers of this country? What history do we inherit as individuals and as citizens? How does Northern complicity change the equation? What would repair – spiritual and material – really look like and what would it take?
Traces of the Trade had its world premiere in competition at the Sundance Film Festival. The film is being released in 2008 as part of the Bicentennial of the U.S. Abolition of the Slave Trade with a national PBS broadcast on the series P.O.V. on June 24 (check local listings). The film makes its Philadelphia premiere at The National Constitution Center on April 24.
Challenging the Church to face its complicity in slavery in the past and the persistence of racism today, while celebrating the role of Absalom Jones, the first African-American man ordained in the Episcopal Church, a special 15-minute “companion segment” features Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold. In 2006, General Convention approved Resolution A123 acknowledging the past involvement of the church in slavery, expressing regret for supporting and justifying slavery, and calling dioceses and parishes to study their history and delve into the question of how to “repair the breach” – materially and relationally.
Location
Saturday, April 26, 2008
The Brossman Center at The Lutheran Theological Seminary. The Lutheran Theological Seminary is located at 7301 Germantown Avenue. There is no fee. A free will offering will be collected to offset expenses.
For more information about this event contact: laughlin@stpetersphila.org
For more on the film visit www.tracesofthetrade.org
Sponsors
St. Peter’s Church, Philadelphia, The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Overbrook, Christ Church, Philadelphia, The Anti-Racism Commission of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, The Union of Black Episcopalians