St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 6249 Canal Blvd. (corner Harrison Avenue) will host a screening of a documentary film that unearths a hidden legacy of slavery in America. The event begins with a worship service at 10 a.m., lunch at 11 a.m. and the screening at noon on Monday, Jan. 21, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North was one of the few documentaries chosen from 953 submissions to be shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January, 2008. It traces a journey by Katrina Browne, the filmmaker, and nine of her cousins into the dark past of the slave trade which enriched their White New England family.
Dain Perry, one of the nine cousins, and his wife, Constance, will screen the film and facilitate a conversation on race, reconciliation and healing. Traces of the Trade is both a geographical and psychological retracing of the industry of the largest slave traders in American history, the DeWolf family of Bristol, RI, and an exploration into racism in America, a legacy of slavery that continues to negatively impact the country today.
The film has been shown on the PBS series Point of View (POV), won the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Film in 2009, and in July 2009 was nominated for an Emmy Award for historical research.
This event is part of a year-long series of events and research projects held by the Episcopal Diocesan Committee on Racial Reconciliation. The Committee seeks to prepare the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana for a Service of Reconciliation to be held in early 2014. For more information contact Lee Crean at leecrean@yahoo.com.
