Owning Slavery: An Interview with Katrina Browne

ABSTRACT The transatlantic slave trade and heritage lie at the center of Katrina Browne’s work as a filmmaker, writer and activist. Her film, Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North (2008), which was received to critical acclaim, depicts the story of her family’s attempt to come to terms with their role in the history and legacies of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery. Since the film, she co-founded the Tracing Center on Histories and Legacies of Slavery, a non-profit organization, and has worked as a public speaker, facilitator and trainer at universities, colleges, schools, museums, historic sites, religious congregations, workplaces and professional conferences, nationally and internationally on “racial equity and healing.” In this interview, Katrina discusses the film, her work since then surrounding the history and legacies of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery, as well as the current controversies in relationship to their role in heritage.