Greenwich Village Gazette

Let My People Go: A Service of Liberation”
Observance of Bicentennial of US Abolition of Transatlantic Slave Trade

By Donna Lamb

On Sunday, January 13th, an observance of the bicentennial of the US Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade was held at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Harlem. This commemoration was in response to the Episcopal Church’s 2006 resolution asking each diocese to hold a service of repentance for the Church’s support of and participation in the institution of slavery.

The observance began with a Service of Lessons and Carols, which got off to a very moving start with a rendition of “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” sung by Janet Aiken, followed by “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me” performed by Tyrone Aiken (above left) with Derrick D’Cross doing beat box.

The program also included a blues selection on slide guitar by Karlus Trapp (left), the Indigo Arts drum chorus and dancers, and an audience participation piece “Take This Hammer” led by Jeannine Otis (below left), who also sang “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free,” danced by Caren Calder. (below right)The children of Trinity Lutheran Church in Staten Island sang “Follow the Drinking Gourd” and the Mass Choir presented several selections. There was also a traditional African libation led by the Rev. J. Lee Hill, Jr. of Riverside Church.

Not mincing words, in his welcoming remarks Dr. James Kowalski, Dean of St. John the Divine, spoke of the Church’s complicity in slavery. “Make no mistake about it, the Church played a role,” he declared. “Verses from the Bible were used to justify slavery.”

As the service continued, actor Jason Robards, III read from the journal of the Quaker abolitionist Jonathan Woolman, and Norman Thomas Marshall presented a piece from the one-man play John Brown. Joy Kelly read from Harriet Tubman’s writings, while Vinie Burrows interpreted a slave narrative telling of being beaten for eating a biscuit because she was so hungry. Her back was cut to pieces and salt rubbed into it. “I still got those scars on this old back right now, and I reckon I’ll be taking them to my grave,” she stated.

Among the other readers were Cynthia Copeland, who read from the Abolition Act of 1808, Cheryl Howard who performed as Zora Neale Hurston, Sarah Wadelton who told the story of Williana Johnson, the first Black female doctor, and Dawn Crandall who presented her spoken word piece, “I Am Becoming Myself.”

A highlight of the afternoon was the closing statement by the Right Reverend Catherine Roskam (right), Bishop Suffragan of New York, who is white.

She began, “I am sorry, Africa. Of all the places we have exploited – and we have exploited many – it is only from you that we have also stolen the people. I am sorry that we took your people and held them in bondage for centuries, a holocaust of perhaps twenty million souls. Africa, we transported your children in conditions unfit for any living creature. When they became sick or died, we threw them overboard, like so much unwanted ballast. Those that completed the excruciating journey, we sold like cattle, auctioning them off to the highest bidder.”

Stirring everyone present with her honesty, Roskam concluded, “As you know, I, too, am a racist, dear Africa, but I hope I am in recovery a day at a time. My eyes have been opened to so much by my Black friends both here and in Africa, who, by the grace of God, have risked telling me the truth. Then I was able to see Martin’s truth more clearly, and Malcolm’s also.”

She ended, “I have been called to repentance, and I do repent and pledge amendment of life, so help me God.” Bishop Roskam was given a standing ovation.

Following the Service there was a reception during which people viewed a multi-media display that included material on slavery on loan from the Brooklyn Historical Society, updates on the latest attempts by Congress to pass a Reparations Bill, and information from the Harriet Tubman House in Albany, NY. Clips were also shown from the film Traces of the Trade: A Story of the Deep North by Katrina Browne, retracing and documenting the triangle slave route taken by her ancestors who are said to have been the largest slave traders in the history of the United States. Also on hand with a mock up of his new book, Inheriting the Trade, was the filmmaker’s cousin Tom DeWolf.

At 6 pm the commemoration continued with a traditional Episcopal Evensong. In his sermon, Bishop Mark Sisk spoke of Moses and the burning bush, with Moses not wanting to look into the fire and accept the task God was calling him to perform. Sisk related it to people’s reluctance to end slavery, saying, “One human being buying and selling another – what a strange idea! Yet, it went on decade upon decade, century after century because people were afraid to look into those fires.”

Referring to the racism that is the aftermath of slavery, Sisk asked, “Where today are the smoldering embers of the burning bush of slavery? Slavery scarred our country’s history and warped our conscience.”

The observance concluded with a beautiful organ mediation by William Randolph, Jr.

The commemoration was sponsored by the Episcopal Dioceses of Long Island, Newark, New Jersey, and New York, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Riverside Church.

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