Dr. Gaye to lecture at “Prince Among Slaves” film debut
February 2, 2012
6 p.m. Saturday February 11 at Johns Island Library
3 p.m. Sunday February 12 at the Charleston Main Library
CHARLESTON, SC – Dr. Artemus Gaye, a Chicago-based, seventh-generation descendant of an African prince who was captured and enslaved in Mississippi prior to the Civil War, will lecture at the Charleston debut of the film “Prince Among Slaves” set for, 6 p.m. Saturday February 11 at Johns Island Library, 8531 Maybank Highway and 3 p.m., Sunday, February 12 at the Charleston Main Library, 68 Calhoun Street.
Prince Among Slaves recounts the true story of Liberia, West Africa native prince Abdul Rahman’s 40-year enslavement and his successful fight to regain his freedom which brought him national celebrity status and an invitation to dine at the White House during the 1825-1829 administration of U.S. President John Quincy Adams.
Acclaimed actor Mos Def narrates the film which won Best Documentary Award at the 2007 American Black Film Festival in Los Angeles and received a national broadcast on PBS in February 2008.
“Dr. Gaye’s personal revelations on this cinematic powerhouse about his ancestor Prince Rahman will surely resonate with Lowcountry groups involved in genealogical research and antebellum history,” said Abe Jenkins, the event’s coordinator. Jenkins is the grandson of the late civil rights icon Esau Jenkins of Johns Island.
Gaye was born in 1975 in Monrovia, Liberia and graduated from the St. Patrick’s Catholic High School in 1993 during the Liberian civil war. He won a scholarship in 1994 to attend Africa University, a United Methodist Church-related institution located at Old Mutare, Zimbabwe. Gaye came to the United States in the 1990’s to study at Trinity College in Evansville, Indiana and eventually earned a Ph.D. in Theology from Loyola University in Chicago. Currently, Dr. Gaye is a consultant to Northwestern University Law School Human Rights Programs on Truth and Reconciliation Project for Liberia.
While in Charleston, Dr. Gaye will also speak at the 10 a.m. service, Sunday, February 12, at Wesley United Methodist Church, 2718 River Road, Johns Island.
The film showings are admission free. For information contact Abe Jenkins at 843-425-5617.
