Thomas Norman DeWolf

Thomas Norman DeWolf is an author and public speaker. After learning his connection to America’s largest slave-trading family, he joined nine cousins to retrace the Triangle Trade from New England to Ghana and Cuba to make the Emmy-nominated film Traces of the Trade. His book Inheriting the Trade documents their journey.

Presentations by Thomas Norman DeWolf

Friday/Saturday Breakout Sessions:

B6 Revisiting Slavery’s Legacy: What Would Healing Look Like?

Thomas Norman DeWolf was astounded to discover that he was descended from the most powerful slave-trading family in US history. When Senator James DeWolf of Rhode Island died, he was reportedly the second richest man in America. Belvie Rooks stood in an Elmina slave dungeon in Ghana, trying to imagine what reaching the “door of no return” must have felt like for an enslaved African ancestor. This session will include Dr. Dan Booth Cohen leading an experiential Systemic Family Constellation exercise. This will encourage participants to perceive the morphogenetic resonance with victim and perpetrator energies that reside in their family of origin and, by extension, themselves. Acknowledging the depths of the trans-generational wounds we all carry allows for deeper dialogue and the possibility healing and of reconciliation. Dr. Cohen is author of I Carry Your Heart in My Heart.