Inheriting the Trade

This Saturday, July 19, beginning at approximately 4:45pm (eastern daylight time; this program plays live everywhere–at 1:45pm pacific time, for instance) Book TV (C-Span 2) will broadcast a panel discussion live from the Harlem Book Fair: From the Door of No Return: The Bicentennial of the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade to the U.S.

The panel discussion takes place at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, 515 Malcolm X Blvd, New York, NY.

As author of Inheriting The Trade, I am one of four authors on the panel. I will join Rosanne Marion Adderley (New Negroes from Africa: Slave Trade Abolition and Free African Settlement in the Nineteenth-century Caribbean), Sylviane A. Diouf (Dreams of Africa in Alabama: The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Last Africans Brought to America), and David Eltis (Extending the Frontiers: Essays on the New Transatlantic Slave Trade Database). The panel will be moderated by Howard Dodson, director of The Schomburg Center, and author of Ideology, Identity, and Assumptions.

From the HBF website: Although it went unnoticed, the year 2008 marks the bicentennial of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade to the United States. This American amnesia stands in stark contrast to the yearlong commemorations - costing $40 million-that took place in Great Britain in 2007 to commemorate the bicentennial of the British abolition. This missed opportunity perpetuates the general ignorance about a central aspect of American history. This panel will provide the audience with the latest scholarship on the transatlantic slave trade and its abolition, including numbers and ethnicities. It will explore the little-known illegal slave trade to the United States that continued for half a century after 1808; the re-Africanization of the Caribbean with the arrival of Africans liberated from the slave ships; and the northern involvement in the trade. This will be an extraordinary opportunity to bring to the public the latest information on and analysis of this fundamental part of U.S. history that still has immense resonance today.

Based on my past experience with Book TV, the timing can be flexible. So if you plan to record this broadcast, I’d recommend adding 15 minutes to both the start and finish times.

I’ve now had Nielsen “ratings” and “shares” of television audiences explained to me. It doesn’t mean I fully understand them, mind you, but it does allow me to pass along one significant conclusion. On the evening of the premiere of Traces of the Trade on PBS’s acclaimed documentary series P.O.V. approximately 1.1 million people tuned in to watch all, or most, of the film. As many as 1.7 million–which includes channel surfers–watched at least part of Traces of the Trade that evening. I don’t know what this means in terms of markets–like Oregon and Rhode Island, for instance–in which the film was broadcast on a date other than June 24. In other words, I’m not sure how the total audience would, or could, be calculated.

On the evening of June 24, P.O.V. received a .8 rating and a 1 share. The “rating” is calculated from metered stations in the top fifty markets that aired Traces and refers to the percentage of households who own TVs in each market who tuned in to watch. The “share” refers to the percentage of households with their televisions turned on that tuned in to watch. For comparison’s sake, on that same evening, NOVA at 8:00pm received a 1.1 rating. Frontline at 9:00pm received 0.9. Cable ratings for the 10:00pm hour (Traces was intended to be broadcast at 10:00pm in most markets) include CNN/0.8, Bravo/0.7, Comedy Central/0.8, HBO/0.3, History/1.0, and MSNBC/0.5.

At appearances I’ve made since June 24 I’ve had many people tell me they watched Traces on P.O.V. I’ve had many more tell me they saw or heard previews, interviews, or articles about it. The numbers of people logging onto the Traces website shot up significantly, as well as visitors to my blog. At the P.O.V. blog, where they offered people the opportunity to ask questions of the author here, the filmmaker here, and to comment on the film here, there are more than 750 postings.

P.O.V. is very pleased with these numbers. We’re also quite pleased. Interest in the film, the book, and the message of hope inherent in this ongoing American journey continues to grow.

I’m adding two posts rather quickly for a reason. Remember when wise people recommended that you not keep open containers of liquid anywhere near your keyboard or laptop? They were right. Consequently I am limited to blogging, or anything else requiring a computer, to when I can get onto one at a public library or the equivalent. So please excuse any typos. I only have 28 minutes left before I’m cut off here at the Charleston County Public Library… a place I LOVE by the way. Let me explain.

Lindi and I are in Charleston for a few reasons. One is that she lived here when she was a little girl. Her father was in the navy. We walked the beaches on Sullivan’s island where she lived five decades ago and we visited the graves of three of her sisters who died very young. It’s been a great trip for her to remember getting burrs caught up in her socks running from her house to the beach. She looks forward to speaking with her mom about more of what took place here.

I wrote in a previous post about what brings me to Charleston in connection with my book and Traces of the Trade, so I won’t repeat myself. Where the library comes into play is that the “Commission House” (a polite term for slave auction business) called “Christian & D’Wolf” was located at 18 Federal Street in the early 1800’s. There is no such street. The reference librarian located a book that cross-references old street names with their modern names/locations. Federal Street is now called Society Street. Lindi and I walked to the end of it, near the wharf, to see if we could fine #18.

Ironically, that address is now the site of a hardware store. It was built sometime in the past few decades. I’m told that none of the original structures that were used for slave trade businesses still exist. But it is #18. And it is close to what was once known as Gadsden’s Wharf–now home to the Charleston Aquarium and the dock where people catch a ferry out to Fort Sumter. I’ve seen newspaper advertisements from the Charleston Courier in 1807 for Christian & D’Wolf holding auctions onboard a ship in Gadsden’s Wharf.

What’s ironic about the location now being a hardware store is that the old D’Wolf Warehouse in Bristol, Rhode Island was the site of a hardware store for many years as well.

I also love this library because they carry a copy of Inheriting the Trade and it is currently checked out!

Lindi and I visited The Old Slave Mart on Chalmers Street as well. Also an auction house, this business was not connected to the slave trade. It didn’t open until decades after the slave trade was outlawed in the U.S. It traded in American-born enslaved people. It operated until 1863. This is an important place to visit, and to take your children and grandchildren, so we will remember the incredible inhumanity of the institution of slavery.

The Old Slave Mart is a sad place to be. We thought about visiting a plantation while we’re here, but I couldn’t do it. It was simply too much for this trip.

We capped off our time here with the book signing event I did at Waldenbooks in downtown Charleston–everything we did on Saturday, Gadsden’s Wharf, Society Street, The Old Slave Mart, visiting St. Michael’s Church where Dain’s and Jim’s father was rector for many years, as well as Waldenbooks, are all within walking distance of each other.

I’ve not done an event quite like this before. Waldenbooks is located in a busy mini-mall on Meeting Street. They set up a table for me in the entry hall. We piled copies of Inheriting the Trade on the table and I simply chatted with whoever came by. I had in depth conversations with dozens and dozens of people. It was wonderful. Many had seen Traces of the Trade on PBS within the past two weeks. Others had seen the previews or had read about my book. Many bought it. But it was the conversations with people that made this trip to Charleston one I won’t forget.

6 minutes to go until this computer automatically shuts down. So I’ll sign off for now. Lindi and I will make our way to Savannah, Georgia for a few days now before being reunited with all our children in Maryland later this week for our son Russell’s wedding to the long-time love of his life, Katie.

Back atcha when I can find another computer (remember, Tom, never, never place a cup near the laptop again…)

I continue to be blessed by the fact that Beacon Press chose to publish Inheriting the Trade. This past weekend Beacon chose to highlight Inheriting the Trade–along with a few other Beacon books/authors–at the Unitarian Universalist Association’s annual General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Roughly 100 people showed up for the workshop on Saturday afternoon. I was pleased by the turnout and I hope and trust that those in attendance learned a few things and were inspired to learn more on their own.

I signed more books Saturday than I have in a long time. One thing I’ve learned about UU’s is that in addition to–or perhaps more accurately stated that because of–their commitment to social justice UU’s are voracious readers.

This coming Saturday, July 5, I will be at the Waldenbooks store in Charleston, South Carolina at 6:00pm for a reading, conversation, and signing. Anyone reading this who lives in Charleston, or who knows people in Charleston, I’d appreciate you spreading the word. I’m excited about this particular appearance for a few reasons. One is that Waldenbooks is located just a few blocks from the first Unitarian Church in the South.

Another is that my cousins Dain and Jim’s father was the rector at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Charleston for more than a decade during their formative years. St. Michael’s is also just a few blocks from Waldenbooks.

Finally, the DeWolf family has another historic connection to Charleston in that Henry D’Wolf, nephew of James D’Wolf, the head of the most successful slave-trading family in U.S. history, managed the family slave auction house in Charleston in the early 19th century. The business was a partnership named “Christian and D’Wolf” and extant Charleston Courier newspapers from the era include advertisements for slave auctions by Charles and D’Wolf. I continue to be amazed at how widespread the “family business” was. I look forward to learning more when Lindi and I explore this area of Charleston this weekend.

“People often ask me what do I see as the difference between the discourse in South Africa and the discourse in the United States, and I often say that in South Africa race is on the table; in the United States it’s under the table if it’s anywhere in the room. We don’t want to talk about it publicly.” —Ambassador James A. Joseph

Several family members from Traces of the Trade participated in the Council on Foundation Philanthropy Summit in Washington, DC in early May. This was a gathering of thousands of people connected with one of the most influential segments of American society: philanthropic foundations. Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media featured a screening of Traces of the Trade at the just-opened Newseum. More than 400 people attended the screening.

The panel discussion that followed, moderated by Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree and PBS NewsHour journalist Judy Woodruff, is now available for viewing online. The esteemed panel was comprised of Dr. J. Bryan Hehir of the Kennedy School of Government, former Ambassador to South Africa James Joseph, Prof. Goodwin Liu of the UC Berkeley Law School, and Ruth A. Wooden, President of Public Agenda.

This is one stimulating panel discussion. I strongly encourage you to watch it.