all best,
//faith f.

Just so you know, I did precisely what you are suggesting before I posted this entry. Specifically, I spoke with Liz Clayton, the primary contact for the press release sent out by the Drinking Gourd Project, two days ago. I had a very nice and informative conversation with her about this evening, about the project, and about my concerns and intention to blog about the advance framing of the event.

It was precisely my purpose to make sure that I wasn’t misunderstanding anything about how the event was being billed, and to better understand the organization’s activities and intentions. I deeply respect the Drinking Gourd Project’s efforts to bring to light lesser-known aspects of Concord’s history, especially ones, like the early history of slavery, the struggles of black residents, and the abolitionist movement, which are near and dear to my heart.

My goal was simply to share with my readers a common obstacle in the work that we do with Traces of the Trade, and the framing of tonight’s event in its publicity appears to illustrate that difficulty, and common popular perceptions of New England history, quite well. Nothing in my conversation with Liz Clayton suggested that I was misunderstanding the general plan for the evening, and more importantly, its advance publicity, and I did not intend to imply anything further about the work of the organization or what will be said tonight.

Liz did invite me to speak at this evening’s event, and while I declined to do that, since two other members of our organization will already be speaking, I would be delighted to talk with you or anyone else this evening about my perspective on these issues and about the work that you and your organization are engaged in.

Please feel free to post anything here that you’d like, to illuminate my readers about any aspects of your group, its origins, motivations, and activities, which might give them a better understanding of who you are and what you do. We could also talk about that further tonight if you’d like.