wfn.org | UCC delegates, local leaders dedicate bell in Providence

[BARBARA_POWELL.parti@ecunet.org (BARBARA POWELL)]

June 21, 1999
Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
Barb Powell, press contact
(216) 736-2217
powellb@ucc.org
On the Web: http://www.ucc.org

A D V I S O R Y :
Local civic leaders and UCC General Synod delegates
to dedicate bell in Abbott Park in repentance for slavery

EDITORS AND PRODUCERS:  On Monday, July 5, local civic
leaders, community members and United Church of Christ
members attending the church's General Synod will gather at
Abbott Park at 12:15 p.m. to dedicate a bell of freedom.

The dedication's purpose is two-fold: it is an act of repentance for
African-American slavery and a celebration of human freedom,
says the Rev. Daehler Hayes, conference minister of the UCC's
regional Rhode Island Conference.

"Rhode Island, especially Newport and Bristol, was a central
source of the Atlantic slave trade, and part of the 'triangle trade'
that ferried slaves and rum to various locations," says Hayes. 
"Even after slavery became illegal in the United States, the 'triangle
trade' continued.  Just the destination changed.  The slave ships
were outfitted and loaded with rum in Rhode Island, which was
traded for slaves in Africa, who were sold in Cuba and the West
Indies."

Among the participants in the dedication will be UCC General
Synod delegates.  The Synod, the main deliberative body of the
1.4-million-member denomination, has a long history of speaking
out on justice issues at the location of its biennial meeting.  "With
that tradition," says Hayes, "we thought it was appropriate to have
this dedication."

The event will be highlighted by an address from Keith Stokes,
Executive Director of the Newport County Chamber of
Commerce.  Stokes, who is African American, will relate the
history of the area as it pertains to the slave trade of the 18th and
19th centuries and the abolition movement in Rhode Island.  Other
speakers will tie in local history to the work of the
Congregationalists, one of the predecessor bodies of the United
Church of Christ.  "We must take responsibility for our history,"
says Hayes, "both the good -- such as Congregationalists
defending the Amistad slaves -- and the bad, including those times
in our history when we were participants in such oppression."

The dedication will be preceded by a march from Providence
Convention Center to the park.  Enroute, they will pass historic
Beneficent Church, a United Church of Christ congregation that
that traces a part of its history to the underground railroad.

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact the UCC
press room at the number listed at the top or the Rev. Daehler
Hayes at (401) 724-7700.

JUNE 1999*