PHASE 3: Campaign Overview

Phase 3 (September’08—May’09) continues community conversations around love & forgiveness, and begins a dialogue on race and healing.

Description of Activities

Teacher Workshop
On January 17, 2009, eighteen middle and high school teachers came together in the spirit of love and forgiveness for a Saturday workshop about Traces of the Trade. Hosted by the Maryland Historical Society, the teachers were able to watch the film, and learn about lesson plans developed around it and primary source documents. They could then discuss what they saw with Tom DeWolf, author of Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History, and Juanita Brown, co-producer of Traces. Across the board, the participating teachers rated the workshop as "excellent," and plan to use the film and lesson plan in their classrooms, allowing their students to confront the history of slavery in the United States, and hopefully begin to forgive and take action.

Screening and Discussion Event
At the Reginald F. Lewis Museum for Maryland African American History & Culture , 80 individuals attended the January 18th public screening of Traces of the Trade. The screening was followed by a lively panel discussion, which addressed topics including possible reparations for slavery, the European and African historical perspectives on the slave trade, and the potential impact of the country's first black president on racial relations. Conversations continued into the reception following the event, and served as a reminder that the process of forgiving does not involve forgetting. Audience members reported that they found the event personally useful, and were inspired by the film and the panel discussion.

Phase 3 grantee projects

Nyame-Nti Cultural Healing Arts Therapy held a series of discussions for young men in a residential treatment facility. The teens were able to discuss forgiveness and unforgiveness in a safe environment, and how their lives related to these concepts. The sessions began with a screening of Traces of the Trade, and using the Conversation cards to spark discussion, the teenagers could talk about their own experiences, and explore their attitudes toward forgiveness and what they might understand as unforgiveable.

Facilitators described these conversations as "transformative." Many of the young men had a more detached understanding of slavery, and were impressed, rather than angry, with the filmmaker. They were able to explore their own stories, just as the filmmaker explored her family's story, which allowed them to better understand how they ended up in a residential treatment facility, and begin to forgive.

Northeast Interfaith Peace Garden held four sessions in March and April 2009, consisting of two films and two conversations. They first screened Ten Questions to Ask the Dalai Lama, a documentary about forgiving China for the takeover of the Tibetan government, followed by Traces of the Trade. There were 19 conversants this year, diverse in terms of age, religion, marital status and gender.  Each participant was given two Love and two Forgiveness cards to pray or meditate with between sessions, and discuss in longer conversations. The group reported learning that forgiveness is a process one can choose to engage in, and plans to continue to gather and record their thoughts.

The Interfaith Fairness Coalition of Maryland hosted between twelve and sixteen participants in a series of four discussions focused around themes of love and forgiveness. Clips from both The Mystery of Love and Traces of the Trade, in conjunction with the conversation cards, were used to spark stimulating conversations about difficult personal and societal issues in a safe space. At the conclusion of the last session, all participants received a set of conversation cards to bring discussions of forgiveness to others in their communities.

Fusion Partnerships, Inc. screened Traces of the Trade for a racially diverse group of nine, and facilitated a 90 minute discussion of the film afterward. Facilitators attempted to draw on past conversations about love and forgiveness to connect these concepts to racial justice, in order to encourage both forgiveness and action. The conversation proved to be very controversial among the participants, and demonstrated how much racial healing still needs to take place in Baltimore. The conversation cards are currently being used by two other programs sponsored by Fusion Inc.: Power Inside, which works with women impacted by incarceration and homelessness, and Finding Our Wings, which facilitates girls in East Baltimore creating a documentary about the transition from middle school to high school.