In this special singing circle, we will sing songs from the American Revolution in honor of folks like Cato Vernon, who fought for personal and communal liberty.
Join artist Bob Dilworth in assembling a community textile dedicated to Cato Vernon. Using fabric printed with photos created by Lead Artist Dominique Sindayiganza that trace Cato’s footsteps, the piece will develop throughout the 7-week residency with Bob leading workshops on four Saturdays in October.
Cato Vernon's struggle for freedom reverberates throughout history. At this community reading, you and your neighbors will pick up a script and join the 1500, a group of sharecroppers and tenant farmers from the bootheel of Missouri, as they camp out on the highway to protest the failings of the president’s New Deal. Based on historical and familiar events from peoples who take to the road. Discussion to follow.
Though many people know that African heritage people served in the American Revolutionary War, we sometimes overlook the Narragansett and Wampanoag people who fought. In this presentation from Chrystal Mars Baker of the Tomaquag Museum we’ll learn more about their crucial contributions and the long history of Indigenous service.
Soul Value is an interdisciplinary, duet performance project created by April H. Brown and Jessica T. Pearson which brings to life the stories of New England Black women—Elleanor Eldridge, Elizabeth Freeman, and Margaret Kinnicutt—and the men of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment during and after the American Revolutionary War. Through a compelling blend of monologue, dance, ritual, and song, Soul Value illuminates the often-overlooked contributions of Black and Indigenous people in New England history, centering their advocacy, resilience, and determination to survive and thrive. The work invites audiences to engage with a more complete and inclusive understanding of the American story while creating meaningful connections between the past and the present.
Held on the anniversary of its founding, this talk given by RI State Historian Laureate Keith Stokes will interpret the evolution of the Free African Union movement during the American Revolution era, showcasing the profound influence of the African Diaspora on the advancement of Black identity in early America.
While creating the Cato Vernon Freedom Library, Lead Artist and Photographer Dominique Sindayiganza visited sites in Rhode Island where Cato Vernon may have been. As he photographed these places which are now often manicured, leisurely, and serene, he wondered what Cato’s view would have been — did this tree see Cato when it was an acorn? Does the mitochondria still hold his memory? Despite the peace of these places today, Dominique imagined the battlefields, enslavement, imprisonment, and war that Cato would have seen. The more images he took, the more he felt Cato Vernon.
In this special singing circle, we will sing songs from the American Revolution in honor of folks like Cato Vernon, who fought for personal and communal liberty.
