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Today is the 3rd of February, 2007. I thought I would take stock as to where I was in terms of the vision which I believe the Lord has given me. As I continue to acknowledge this is His work, and I obey his calling and follow Him, so He is fulfilling His purposes in people's lives. When we are in the centre of His will, this is not as of right, but is a privilege, which we do not earn or deserve, but which is granted to us as His chosen people. All the honour and glory are ascribed to Jesus Christ alone.
Up to this moment, since my visit to Charleston last September, much preparation has been undertaken for the reciprocal visit of the Charleston group to London, as well as speaking engagements in various parts of the country. Details of the events and my / our participation can be found by clicking on to "Calendar" on the website.
I have also been invited to go to the United States in June of next year. First of all, Benjamin Mchie, who heads up the African American Registry and with whom I have been in contact for some time has invited me over to Minneapolis during my US trip to undertake some speaking engagements. I am also in touch with people at the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington DC where Francis Grimke, son of Henry Grimke and Nancy Weston, was the minister for 40 years during the latter part of the 19th century. I am planning to go there to talk about the family and its links with slavery and beyond and the relevance of the gospel message. I contacted the president of the Hyde Park Historical Society in Boston, because my great-great-great-great-great aunts, the famous abolitionist sisters, Sarah Moore Grimke and Angelina Grimke Weld, are buried. Ms.Hannan has sent me copies of a paper she wrote about the sisters and their impact on the anti-slavery and women's rights movements. I will be going to Hyde Park to give a talk / talks, hopefully. I am in touch with the Moorland Springarn Research Center of Howard University in Washington DC where Archibald and Francis Grimke were students after they had moved north from Charleston. In fact, whilst they were at the university, Sarah read an article about them, and established contact with them, acknowledging them as family. Given their meagre resources the two sisters financed the education of the two boys as far as they were able. A considerable amount of Grimke papers are lodged in the Center's archives department. I hope to include the place in my itinerary. Simon Lewis, Professor of English at the college of Charleston, and Co-ordinator of the Carolina Lowcountry and the Atlantic World programme (CLAW), would like me to take part in a teachers' conference which will be included in their programme for the bicentenary of the slave trade. I may have to take two separate trips to the States to enable me to do justice to the various venues.
Besides my possible American trip, I have been approached by the news producer of the largest independent TV station in Japan to participate in a proposed documentary to coincide with the bicentenary this year. They would like me to go to the 50th anniversary celebrations of the founding the state of Ghana. Another possible alternative is to go during the summer months to West Africa as a whole, visiting countries such as Sierra Leone, the Gambia, Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal with the emphasis on the places connected with the slave trade. The issue of reconciliation is very much at the heart of what the TV company would like to develop, especially in view of the sensitivities within Japanese society concerning the recent past. So far, this is only in the early stages and may not materialize. There are considerable practical hurdles to overcome, before the project can get off the ground.
Already I am finding opportunities - more often than not, without my seeking them - for giving talks as well as, perhaps more importantly, listening to and learning from others - their particular experience and that of their ancestors. I look forward to the future with confidence.
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