At a point in our collective history when many have long declared our nation “colorblind,” yet we can no longer ignore the fact of race, comes along a significant documentary film. Traces of the Trade: A Story of the Deep North illuminates the legacy of slavery through descendants of the DeWolf family of Bristol, R.I., the largest slave-trading family in United States history. An official selection at the Sundance Film Festival this past January, the national television premier of Traces is set to air on Tuesday, June 24 at 6 p.m. on KRMA Channel 6. The film will appear as the season premier of the P.O.V. documentary series. There will be a preview screening and reception on the evening of Monday, June 23 at the Shadow Theatre Company in Aurora.

In 2000, after researching her family history and discovering her ancestors made a fortune in the triangle slave trade, Katrina Browne contacted over 200 other DeWolf descendants. She informed them about what their ancestors had done, and invited them to participate in the making of a film that would document a family journey to Rhode Island, Ghana and Cuba, to learn and dialogue about their shared history. Over 60 people responded with interest, yet the ability to pay their way inhibited many. The product is a pointed glimpse of 10 individuals struggling to deal with the fact that their ancestors profited from facilitating a brutal oppression deeply rooted in our national history.

Keila Depoorter, who resides outside of Boulder, was one of the 10 descendants who participated in the project, and hopes the film will ignite new and more productive conversations about race.

“We had a ‘no talk’ rule in my family – there were things that we did not speak about,” Depoorter said. “I hope that this film will help white people start conversations about how they benefit from the legacy of slavery and oppression. We take for granted what we have – we don’t see how it is oppressive to people of color.”

The film has indeed ignited dialogue. All seven screenings of Traces of the Trade at the Sundance Film Festival were sold out and after each screening, people stayed to speak about what they had seen – many times until they were kicked out of the theater for the next film. Additionally, the documentary was shown at the Episcopal National Convention in the summer of 2007, and it was responsible for moving the convention to pass two resolutions to issue an apology for the church’s role in slavery.  These resolutions had been raised before, but always failed. The film is also slated to be shown to all students in Rhode Island, as a part of their history curriculum.

Harold Fields, a resident of Denver and racial dialogue facilitator, became involved in the project in its early stages. He facilitated race dialogue groups at the Tattered Cover book store in 2000, attended by one of the DeWolf family members, Holly Fulton, who had just moved to Denver. He quickly realized the importance of this endeavor, and has a brief appearance in Traces.

“My hope is that this film shows how central slavery was to the development of the United States,” Fields said, adding that, “The family members come to grips with the unearned privilege that they have as whites in America and how this continues today.”

He currently serves as the Rocky Mountain outreach coordinator for the project and has used the film as a teaching tool for many racial dialogue discussions.

One of the most powerful parts of the film for Fields was seeing the progression of awareness and intent of the family members. Speaking about one descendant, Tom DeWolf, the facilitator said, “Early in the film, we see Tom giving his ancestors the benefit of the doubt because of what he assumed was ‘normal’ for that time.  Then I watched him have an epiphany in the slave dungeons in Ghana. Having that experience moved Tom from an intellectual defense of the past to recognizing the pain and suffering of Africans at a gut level. It was only then that he could say that what his relatives did was wrong, ‘and they knew it.’”

After participating in the film, DeWolf wrote a book about his family’s journey called Inheriting the Trade. He has traveled across the country, promoting the book and discussing the importance of discussing this part of our history.