"End of Slavery"
1/20/2009
In honor of Martin Luther King Day, an assembly was held in Our Lady's Chapel called "End of Slavery". Fr. Richard Gross arranged for Mr. Chandler B. Saint, the President of the Beecher House Society for Humane Rights, to speak to our chancellors.
Mr. Saint began the lecture with his memories of having once been in the same room Dr. King. He felt an amazing electricity as Dr. King spoke. Unfortunately he was unable to join Dr. King's war for racial equality; he was called to join the "wrong war" -Vietnam.
He went on to outline of the life of a slave called Venture Smith. Mr. Smith was born in 1729 in Dukandarra in "Guinea" -- at term that at the time referred to much of West Africa. At the age of six he was kidnapped by a tribe of Africans who worked for slave dealers. A man named Robertson Memford purchased him for four gallons of rum and a piece of calico. He was then put on a ship to Barbados.
Mr. Smith remembered that over 60 of the original 260 slaves on board died of smallpox during the voyage. Some of the surviving slaves were sold in Barbados, but he and a few others ended up in Rhode Island. Later, Mr. Smith went to work in Mr. Mumford's house on Fisher's Island in CT where he worked harder and harder and was punished more and more severely.
He met and married a fellow slave named Meg and they had a daughter Hannah. Then they were separated when Mr. Smith was sold to Mr. Thomas Stanton in Stonington, CT. About a year later, Mr. Stanton purchased both Mrs. Smith and Hannah.
After having two more children, sons Solomon and Cuff, Mr. Smith was sold again to Colonel Oliver Smith who eventually granted him his freedom. By living frugally and working hard, he was able to buy the freedom of his loved one's back.
Mr. Saint then went on to conclude that slavery still exists and we must continue Dr. King's fight to end it. Slavery is still rampant in both the sex and textile industries. He instructed people to use their cell phones to video copies of slavery. He also called on large cooperation such as Walmart to help bring an end to slavery by ensuring the products they purchase are not made with captive labor.
