ADHT To Present Series Of Lectures In March

The African Diaspora Heritage Trail [ADHT] Bermuda Foundation will launch a series of lectures in commemoration of the United Nations International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery & the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which will be held from Tuesday 25 March to Thursday 27 March 2014 at the St. Paul Centennial Hall, one of the sites of memory on the African Diaspora Heritage Trail.

The ADHT said, “The International Day of Remembrance was adopted by a UN Resolution in 2007 and is observed on 25 March of each year to honour and remember the over 15 million men, women and children who were the victims of the transatlantic slave trade, one of the darkest chapters in human history. The International Day, first observed in 2008, also aims at raising awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice today.

“The ADHT shares the UN vision in commemorating this event and sees it as an opportunity to also remind our community of the positive impact that persons of African descent have had on Bermuda in particular and the world in general,” said Maxine Esdaille, the chairman of the ADHT Board of Directors.

“Our mission for the 2014 commemorative is to continue to position the ADHT as an organization that shares with the Diaspora events that highlight the importance of the presence peoples from the Diaspora in countries around the world.”

The Foundation has chosen as this year’s theme: “The Triangular Slave Trade: Connecting Then and Now”.The focus of the first lecture on 25 March will be on the city of Liverpool in the UK and its connection with the slave trade as the jump off point for the Triangular Slave Trade.

This lecture, entitled “Liverpool – The Trade and The Traders” will be delivered by Dr. Mark Christian, who is from Liverpool but is now Professor & ChairDepartment of African & African American Studies at Lehman College, City University of New York.

On Wednesday 26 March, Nigerian-born physician, Dr. Femi Bada will speak on “Africa – Capture and Enslavement”. Dr. Bada, who lives in Bermuda and has lived and worked in many other parts of the world, grew up in Bristol in the UK.

He once lived in a house on the banks of the River Avon in thecentre of Bristol, which had a basement that was the ‘holding cell’ for African slaveswho had been brought into the city for sale.

The final lecture on Thursday 27 March will focus on “The Americas – The Middle Passage and Beyond” and will be delivered by Bermuda’s very own Dr. Clarence Maxwell, assistant professor of Caribbean and Latin American History at Millersville University in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. USA. Dr. Maxwell was formerly employed at the Bermuda Maritime Museum [1999—2005] as Registrar and Director of Historical Research.

The lectures cost $20 each for adults and $10 for seniors, but will be free to children under the age of 18. These lectures form part of the education component of the commemorative events which begin with the annual commemorative service at 4:00 P.M. on Sunday 23 March at the Cobb’s Hill Methodist Church.

The ADHT Bermuda Foundation was established in 2007 to educate residents and visitors and to safeguard the core values and creativity of African cultures and history. It is run by a Board of Directors comprising local and international volunteers.

The Foundation aims to provide inspiring educational experiences and produce quality cultural products that expose visitors to authentic African Diaspora history and culture, and motivate local populations to become active participants in the preservation and dissemination of their history and culture

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