“Traces of the Trade,” A Unique Story of Family Confronting Its Slave-trading Past, Tuesday, June 24 on PBS

By Jonathan Adams Jun 23, 2008

First-time filmmaker Katrina Browne makes a troubling discovery – her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine fellow descendants set off to retrace the Triangle Trade: from their old hometown in Rhode Island to slave forts in Ghana to sugar plantation ruins in Cuba. Step by step, they uncover the vast extent of Northern complicity in slavery while also stumbling through the minefield of contemporary race relations. In this bicentennial year of the U.S. abolition of the slave trade, "Traces of the Trade" offers powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide. An official selection of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Premieres June 24, 2008 at 10PM. Check local listings.

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