“The Legacy Of Women’s Resistance To Enslavement: Why Northern Slavery Cannot be Ignored,” will be presented by Delores M. Walters, a cultural anthropologist from the Institute for Freedom Studies, Northern Kentucky University. Free and open to the public, the talk will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27 at the URI Feinstein Providence Campus, 80 Washington St. Free parking will be available at the RI Convention Center.
During her talk, Walters will describe the story of Margaret Garner, an enslaved Black woman in 1856, who killed her daughter rather than see her returned to slavery. Almost 150 years later, Toni Morrison revisited the story in her novel, Beloved.
Walters’ unique presentation incorporates a rap song to tell the tragic and heroic story of the Garners – a story of resistance that is relevant to struggles in our lives today.
Through a joint appointment with the Freedom Center and Institute of Freedom Studies at Northern Kentucky University, Walters has conducted a series of community workshops for the nationwide network of affiliates called Freedom Stations. These workshops have demonstrated the use of basic anthropological and archival research methods in documenting family/local history research connected to the Underground Railroad.
Walters received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from New York University. Her dissertation research in Yemen focused on a socially excluded group with African origins which led to a video documentary, called “Murshidat: Female Primary Health Care Workers Transforming Society in Yemen,” produced in 1999.
The event is co-sponsored by the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society and the URI College of Continuing Education-Brown Bag Series. For further information, please contact: Cynthia Hamilton, African and African American Studies Program, (401) 874-2536.