Co-presenters: Beyond Boundaries and the Cultural Resources Council
Co-Sponsors: Le Moyne College, Matilda Joslyn Gage Center, Community Folk Art Center, SU’s African American Studies, Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility, Inc., Fayetteville Free Library
Program: Slavery and Our Roots: A Community Dialog – 11-event series
Friday, Feb. 27 — Opening Lecture on Radical Black Abolitionism
Mondays, March 2, 9, 16 — Mini-series Slavery Today
Wednesdays, March 4, 11, 18 — Mini-series Northern Slavery & Racism
Thursdays, March 5, 12, 19 — Mini-series Slavery’s Legacy
Saturday, March 21 — Closing Ceremony Exploring & Celebrating Who We Are
*Venue(s) see individual event lists for detailed venue information
Contact: 478-4571
Email: [email protected] or www.beyondboundariescny.org
Slavery and Our Roots is a rich offering of 11 events and facilitated community discussions. We’ll address the hidden and the distorted, helping us to think through together what keeps us from achieving social justice, both locally and globally. Slavery and Our Roots is a call to explore subjects festering beneath the surface of our everyday lives. As we listen to hitherto hidden stories we can better grasp our roots, who we are today and where we need to go.
This Community Dialog builds on the effort of many local groups working towards healing and consciousness-raising. It also grows out of Beyond Boundaries’ mission to encourage cross-cultural understanding and self-awareness. The Dialog will happen at various venues in Syracuse and Fayetteville and will consist of opening and closing events that bracket three mini-series, each dedicated to an aspect of slavery. All events are open to the public and, except for the March 21 closing celebration, are free.
PROGAM SCHEDULE
Radical Black Abolitionism
Reilly Room, Le Moyne College
1419 Salt Springs Rd, Syracuse, NY 13214
h Friday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m., our Dialog will open with a lecture by author and Professor Graham Hodges of Colgate University. Prof. Hodges will talk on David Ruggles and Radical Black Abolitionism in New York.
Slavery Today
Fayetteville Free Library, 300 Orchard St., Fayetteville
*Monday, March 2, 7 – 8:30 p.m.: A dialog on Patricia McCormick’s book, SOLD. This compelling, fast read presents the contemporary story of a Nepalese girl bought by a Calcutta brothel. The book is sensitively directed at young adults and has won many awards. Participants will have a chance to share their experiences of this book in small groups and are asked to pre-register by calling the Gage Center at 637-9511. Books will be sold at the Feb. 27 lecture and are available from the library, the Gage Center or local bookstores.
*Monday, March 9, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.: The feature-length film, TRADE (2007) tells the story of a 13 year-old Mexican girl sold as a sex slave into the United States.
* Monday, March 16, 7 – 8:30 p.m.: This mini-series concludes with a panel discussion on human trafficking in Central New York. This program offers us an opportunity to understand the vulnerabilities that foster this predatory activity and learn how we might prevent or hinder this hideous practice.
Northern Slavery and Racism
Syracuse University Warehouse Auditorium, 350 West Fayette St., Syracuse
*Wednesday, March 4, 7- 8:30 p.m.: The film Unearthing the Slave Trade documents the struggle to save the African Burial Ground exposed during the building of New York City’s Federal Building in 1991. Local activist Aduke Branch will share her involvement in the movement to honor the graves of her people.
*Wednesday, March 11, 7 – 8:30 p.m.: The documentary Traces of the Trade follows present-day DeWolfe family members as they uncover the roots of their family’s wealth and status. Starting in Bristol, R.I. they trace their family’s involvement in slavery. They journey the slave triangle – from the US, across the Atlantic to Ghana, then to Cuba and back home again. Guy Swenson, a local DeWolfe descendant, will encourage us to look into family secrets connected to US slavery.
*Wednesday, March 18, 7 – 8:30 p.m.: The film Teach Our Children shows Northern inner city poverty and oppression, the 1971 Attica prison uprising and the ensuing brutal state assault. SUNY Oneonta history professor William Walker will lead us in discussion on social conditions that keep so many people of color locked away.
Slavery’s Legacy
Community Folk Art Center, 805 East Genesee St., Syracuse NY
*Thursday, March 5, 6 – 7:30 p.m.: Race, Class & the Creation of Power and Privilege in the 20th Century will begin with a short film. Then, computer mapping information will expose how the government and our attitudes created white suburbs and black ghettos. SU African American Studies Professor Herb Ruffin will lead the discussion.
*Thursday, March 12, 6 – 7:30 p.m.: Using images from the Fenimore Art Museum exhibit Through the Eyes of Others: African Americans and Identity in American Art, the exhibit’s curator and professor Gretchen Sorin of SUNY Oneonta will show us how art influences how we see each other. We will sell the beautiful 72-page color exhibit catalog ($20) at the Feb. 27 opening lecture and Thursday, March 12.
*Thursday, March 19, 6 – 7: 30 p.m.: With the guidance of Le Moyne Professor Douglas Egerton, we will explore the racist theories embedded in our founding fathers’ thought. To prepare for this discussion we will read the chapter A Suspicion Only: Racism in the Early Republic from Professor Egerton’s new book Death or Liberty. (Besides getting a free copy of the chapter there, the public can also buy his book at our Feb. 27 opening lecture at Le Moyne. A copy of the chapter can be printed from www.beyondboundariescny.org).
Our Closing: Exploring and Celebrating Who We Are
St. Claire Theater
1119-27 North Townsend St., Syracuse
*Saturday, March 21 from 7 – 9 p.m., Beyond Boundaries will hold the series’ closing event. This celebratory evening will honor African Americans in Syracuse, their life and culture. It will be historical and cultural – full of photo memories, stories, song, and dance sweetened by desserts in the Southern tradition. $10 for adult; $5 for children 12 and under.
