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Film “Traces of the Trade” to be screened Nov. 1


Last updated October 24, 2018

By Tina Underwood

Furman University will screen Emmy-nominated film “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North,” by Katrina Browne Thursday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. in Patrick Lecture Hall of Plyler Hall on campus.

The CLP screening is free and open to the public and is presented by the Furman Office of Academic Affairs in conjunction with the Task Force on Slavery and Justice.

In the documentary “Traces of the Trade,” filmmaker Katrina Browne discovers that her New England ancestors (the DeWolf family) were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine cousins retrace the Triangle Trade and gain new perspectives on the black/white divide.

Furman Professor of Communication Studies Brandon Inabinet moderates a panel discussion  following the screening. The discussion includes commentary by Tom DeWolf (whose family is featured in the film), Sharon Morgan and Felicia Furman, who will provide context and explanation about the steps they have taken to heal the harms associated with slavery and come to reconciliation and justice in the wake of trauma. They will explore how the issue is held in common by all Americans, not only those from the South, and more broadly, all citizens of the globe.

DeWolf serves as executive director for Coming to the Table (CTTT), an organization established in 2006 that aims to “take America beyond the legacy of enslavement.” He is co-author with Sharon Leslie Morgan of “Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade” (2012), named Best Nonfiction/Biography & Memoir by the Phillis Wheatley Book Awards.

A trained STAR (Strategies for Trauma Awareness & Resilience) practitioner, public speaker and workshop leader at universities, corporations, and conferences throughout the United States, DeWolf is author of “Inheriting the Trade” (Beacon Press, 2008), the story of his experiences during the making of “Traces of the Trade.”

Morgan is the founder of Our Black Ancestry.com. She is a genealogist, writer and marketing communications professional whose ancestors were enslaved in Mississippi and Alabama. Her 30 years of research led her to create Our Black Ancestry in 2007 to help others trace their family histories.

Felicia Furman helped spur Furman’s reconsideration of its past in relationship to slavery. She conveyed to Furman’s Task Force on Slavery and Justice, and publicly in a program last year, the important work of Coming to the Table and their framework for reckoning with historical harms.

For more information, contact Brandon Inabinet in the Department of Communication Studies, 864-294-3058 and brandon.inabinet@furman.edu. Or contact the Furman News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107.

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