Westport — Kenneth J. Morris, Jr., the great-great-great grandson of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, returns to the North Country on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 to continue in Douglass’ footsteps to end slavery once and for all as part of, “Freedom Then Freedom Now.”
Through his work with the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation, Morris has inspired students across the country to produce a New Proclamation of Freedom for the 21st century. He will meet with students and educators on Friday, Nov. 30, at North Country Community College and then again on Saturday, Dec. 1, at a day-long seminar open to the public being held at Heaven Hill Farm in Lake Placid.
Both events are part of, “Freedom Then, Freedom Now: The Long History of Emancipation,” sponsored by John Brown Lives!, North Country Community College, and the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation.
Over the course of Emancipation Weekend, Morris will talk about slavery in Douglass’ time and today, and encourage audiences, especially students and teachers, to gather signatures for the New Proclamation of Freedom.
The thousands of signatures collected across the country will be delivered to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 1, the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, to encourage the U.S. Department of Education to make Human Trafficking Education a priority for U.S. public schools.
Artist Robert Shetterly’s portraits of Lincoln, Douglass, John Brown, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and other 19th century leaders will be on display throughout the weekend along with a facsimile of Lincoln’s first Emancipation Proclamation on loan from the New York State Library’s Manuscript and Special Collections Division.
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