Segment 1: 10,000 Slaves. Our guest on this edition of The Doug Noll Show is Tom DeWolf, Community Coordinator for Coming to the Table (www.comingtothetable.org). Tom grew up in Southern California and dealt with issues of race during tense periods in our history such as during the Watts Riots, but never in a proactive “change the world” sort of way. However, while he was studying his genealogy, he found that three generations of his relatives were responsible for transporting more than 10,000 African people from West Africa to North and South America. This discovery truly shifted his life.
Segment 2: A Model of Healing. When we think about slavery, we think about the South and the Civil War. We don’t think about Northern involvement --- they are usually painted as noble abolitionists. However, 95% of all slave trading was done on Northern ships with Northern financing and Northern crews. Tom learned things he never learned is school and was left with the question, “What next? How do I make sense of this?” In 2006 he was invited to participate in a gathering in Harrisonburg, Virginia, called Coming to the Table. Descendants of both enslavers and slaves came together to acknowledge and confront our nation’s history and its connection with the legacy of slavery. They also looked for ways to heal the traumatic wounds. They talked about what trauma is, how it plays out in us physically, spiritually, psychologically, how to be resilient, and what can we do together to deal with the history and try to create a model of healing to share with others going forward.
Segment 3: Coming to the Table. Tom has written two book. His 2nd book, Gather at the Table, grew from his involvement with Coming to the Table (www.comingtothetable.org). Tom met Sharon Leslie Morgan (his coauthor) at a seminar and they ended up asked themselves, “What can two people do to heal the trauma of slavery?” They met each other’s families. They traveled together. They visited where they grew up and shared personal stories of racism they encountered during childhood. They visited historical sites, plantations, grave sites. They found they had a story to share to highlight how “Coming to the Table” can work in individual lives. Tom and Sharon committed to not only coming to the table and gathering at the table, but also staying at the table when things got tough.
Segment 4: A Deep Awkwardness. There’s always a social dance that has to happen in order to find common ground between two groups or two individuals. Racism is particularly difficult. There is a deep awkwardness. On one side there is abuse, oppression, and trauma, and on the other side there is shame and guilt and a feeling of hopelessness. The challenge is getting people to come to the table and believe that this process is about liberation --- for whites as well as people of color. There is so much to be gained by having a conversation, acknowledging our shared history, and working to change a system that remains unjust. To learn more, visit www.comingtothetable.org.
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