Slave Trade Expedition to Africa
Part 24: Sonfonia Conference

The scholars of Guinea want to connect with the lost generations of their people who are now Americans.

It has always been our policy when working in Farenya to report our findings to the appropriate people at the conclusion of every visit. I feel it is not only a courtesy but a professional responsibility. It is, after all, their history.

In 2000, the Guinea Ministry of Tourism, Hadja Koumba Diakité, staged an event at a hotel in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. Over 300 prominent people including the American ambassador and the descendants of Capt. Styles Lightbourn and Queen Niara Bely were invited to my lecture on the history of Farenya. Food and drink were served, and an African band played. My talk went from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm with a 30-minute break at noon. I presented the Minister of Tourism and several other officials copies of my presentation.

After our historic Slave Trail Trek in 2004, the wife of the president of Guinea arranged for Dr. Jim Fisher and me to speak to the Farenya Renaissance Association (FRA) about our 26-mile hike. Most of the members of the FRA are descendants of the Lightbourns. They had many questions about the slave trade and its effect on South Carolina. I took photographs of all of the participants, made a book of them, and sent four copies to the FRA.

Dr. Mamadou Baldi, chairman of the Philosophy Department at Sonfonia University, served as host for the Conference on the Slave Trade Expedition.

At the conclusion of our Slave Trade Expedition to Farenya in January 2006, a conference was held at Sonfonia University in Conakry. Dr. Ken Kelly, Andrew Hoose, and I met the president, the dean of social sciences, and the faculty of social sciences, explained the purpose of our expedition, and listed the tentative results of our expedition. At an afternoon conference with students and professors, Ken spoke on archaeological techniques and what we found in Farenya. Andrew spoke on the historiography of the slave trade era, and I gave a brief history of Capt. Lightbourn and Queen Niara Bely.

As always, we were well received. The questions and discussions that followed our talks were extremely interesting. To the scholars of Guinea, the slave trade was part of the larger social and economic system of Africa. They understand it was their chiefs who sold slaves to Europeans, and it was their strongest young people who ended up in the rice fields of South Carolina. Their concern now is to connect with the lost generations of their people who are now Americans.

Baba-Galle Soumah, representative for Farenya in the Guinea National Assembly, explains the purpose of the Slave Trade Expedition to students and faculty at Sonfonia University.

South Carolina Explorers present state flag to Sonfonia University of Conakry following Slave Trade Expedition to Farenya: (l-r) Dr. Warner Montgomery; Andrew Hoose; Dr. Mamadi Kourouma, president of Sonfonia University; and Dr. Ken Kelly. Dr. Ken Kelly, archaeologist at the University of South Carolina, explains archaeological methods to the faculty and students at Sonfonia University.