If the group's Annapolis, Md., march last week is the measuring stick, the event should be free of violence but mouths will drop open along the parade route.

The Lifeline Expedition is meant to prod observers into talking, praying and thinking about slavery. Charleston, because of its gateway role in the slave trade, is among 10 cities the group is targeting for "slavery reconciliation walks."

"It's a Christian response," said local organizer Tim Hushion.

In Annapolis, the group marched quietly through the city while stepping to the monotone beat of an African drum.

The march coincided with the 237th anniversary of the arrival of the "Roots" novel's main character Kunta Kinte in Maryland. It drew a crowd of about 200 after months of debate between blacks and whites about whether the march was necessary.

Some observers held signs that decried white guilt. Marchers wore armbands that said "penitent" or "forgiver." The Annapolis Capitol newspaper described the scene as "remarkably unexplosive." Local residents, the newspaper said, "merely looked on, some with mouths agape."

The Charleston march will begin at Liberty Square near the S.C. Aquarium at 9 a.m., when about 40 marchers will follow a winding path along Charleston Harbor and through the city. Stops are scheduled for the Old Slave Mart on Chalmers Street and the historic "workhouse" building near the Old City Jail.

Afterward, the group will travel across the James Island connector to McLeod Plantation and its row of slave quarters. Charleston police will provide security.The Lifeline Expedition is a Christian-based charitable group headquartered in London. It has a long schedule of anti-slavery marches in Europe, Africa and elsewhere. Although white people will be wearing some of the symbols of slavery, organizers say the march is not a role reversal but an act of penitence for the actions of their ancestors.

Local volunteers have been invited to take part in the march, but its traveling cast includes about 17 regulars from countries that were affected by or played a role in the global slave trade. Those countries include England, France, The Netherlands, Cameroon, Togo, Martinique and Barbados. The neo-Nazi National Alliance, based in Hillsboro, W.Va., in the past has called the demonstration "racist street theater" and has urged a boycott.

An open forum titled "The Christian Response in the Reconciliation of the Atlantic Slave Trade" begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Circular Congregational Church, which is not a sponsor of the march.

More demonstrations against slavery will be held at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on Sullivan's Island, where African slaves who entered North America through the port of Charleston were quarantined.

Of the Maryland demonstration, Chris Haley, the nephew of "Roots" author Alex Haley, said the demonstration was necessary as a means of bringing about more healing.

"People need to address each other," he said. "We needed a flashpoint to get a discussion."

SLAVERY RECONCILIATION WALK

-- The Charleston march will begin at Liberty Square near the S.C. Aquarium at 9 a.m.

-- Stops include the Old Slave Mart and the "workhouse" building near the Old City Jail

-- The group then will travel to McLeod Plantation on James Island and its row of slave quarters, pictured above.

Click here to return to story:
http://www.charleston.net/stories/100904/loc_09slave.shtml