The Living Consequences

As I returned to the U.S. from Havana last night, the Associated Press released a story on our visit, “US family finds traces of slave-trade past in Cuba.”

The article has been running prominently in the U.S. and abroad, making the A.P.’s daily top stories list as their third-listed international story in the world.

I spent ten days in Cuba with Katrina Browne and Tulaine Marshall, and the article focuses on our visit Sunday to the site of the Mount Hope coffee plantation owned by my fifth-great grandfather, James D’Wolf.

The article, written by the A.P.’s Will Weissert, is quite impressive, and I’m particularly pleased with the way it ends:

While both she and Perry have worked to uncover their family’s role, they say no Americans – even those whose descendants came to the U.S. after slavery was abolished – should feel unaffected. The early U.S. economy so relied on slavery that it fueled a boom, making America an attractive destination for immigrants ….

“None of us,” Perry said, “are untouched by the legacy of slavery today.”

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I can now share that three of us from Traces of the Trade—director Katrina Browne, Tulaine Marshall, and I, are scheduled to travel to Cuba next week for the visit of the Amistad.

We are scheduled to sail into Havana’s harbor on board the Amistad on March 25, in conjunction with the United Nations International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

We also expect to hold the Cuban premiere of the documentary, which was filmed in part on location in Cuba, in Havana on March 27.

Katrina and I have not been back to Cuba since filming Traces of the Trade, and we are eager to share the film with the Cuban people, as well as to engage in further historical research on the D’Wolf slave trade, continue the search for slave plantations owned by the D’Wolfs, and look for descendants of those enslaved by the D’Wolf family. We are also looking forward to reuniting with those who helped us make the film, including Cuban filmmaker Boris Crespo, who was our Cuban line producer.

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It’s official: The Amistad will sail to Cuba next week.

The schooner Amistad, the replica of the famous ship which experienced a slave revolt in 1839 and a subsequent court case, will sail to Cuba next week for a ten-day visit at the conclusion of its 2010 Caribbean Heritage Tour.

Amistad is scheduled to arrive in Cuba on March 22. The vessel will first visit Matanzas, a port that is closely associated with slavery in Cuba and the site of a UNESCO-sponsored slavery museum. On March 25, Amistad will sail to Havana for a week-long port call and a variety of public events.

The Amistad‘s visit to Cuba coincides with the United Nation’s International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade on March 25. Activities will include a three-hour simulcast to the United Nations in New York. This will also be the tenth anniversary of the launching of the replica Amistad from Mystic Seaport in Connecticut.

Those of us associated with Traces of the Trade and the Tracing Center on Histories and Legacies of Slavery are proud to be partnered with Amistad America in support of this tour.