Trinity Episcopal Church is hosting an online program this month that ties in to a documentary by a woman whose forefathers were part of the largest slave-trading family in this country’s history.

The public is invited to visit trinitynewtownct.org, and then click on Understanding Racism.

There, visitors will find a link to the movie Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North. In the 2008 film, producer and director Katrina Browne is joined by nine fellow family members on a journey that took them face-to-face with the history and legacy of New England’s hidden enterprise.

The Emmy-nominated film focuses on the descendants of a family that settled in Bristol, Rhode Island, who trafficked Africans from 1769 to 1820, and the legacy of the slave trade in the northern United States. The family has been prominent in local businesses and banking, as academics, in the local Episcopal church and other institutions, and organizing the Bristol Fourth of July parade.

The film also goes with the family to Ghana, where the enslaved people were purchased and where they meet with current residents, and to Cuba, where the family patriarch owned three sugar and coffee plantations in the 19th Century.

The film has a running time of 86 minutes.

On Saturday, March 20, at 10 am, Trinity Church will host a discussion of the film. A Zoom link will be e-mailed to those who register, which can be done through the church’s website.

This program is part of the Episcopal Church of Connecticut’s ongoing Season of Racial Healing, Justice, and Reconciliation. Since 2018, parishes have been engaging in conversation about the sin of racism.

As the country continues to witness acts of racist violence and Black Lives Matter demonstrations, it is clear that this “Season” will be ongoing.

At Trinity Episcopal Church, members are joining their brothers and sisters in Christ to deepen their understanding of racism. Public programs have been planned so that all can join together in work of Christian formation — seeking the restoration of all human beings — to each other, to Church, and to God.

Visit the church website or call 203-426-9070 for additional information.