Denmark Vesey, Charles Wilbert White, 1943. Courtesy the Gibbes Museum of Art
Press Release
This July, the Charleston Gaillard Center will partner with Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and the soon-to-open International African American Museum (IAAM), to mark the bicentenary of freedom fighter Denmark Vesey's planned uprising to free the enslaved people of Charleston through three days of free and paid cultural performances and conversations.
Taking place from July 14th to 16th, 2022, over the course of the “Denmark Vesey Bicentenary,”the Gaillard Center will open its doors to the Charleston community to acknowledge America's difficult history of race and slavery, and use arts and entertainment to bridge divides, build dialogues, and support healing in a city that historically saw some of the first enslaved men, women, and children enter through its port, and only six years ago, witnessed the racially motivated murder of nine congregants at Mother Emanuel AMEC.
Consisting of discussion panels, musical and comedy performances, and installations, the three-day event will bring together prominent artists, scholars, educators, and the community to reflect on Denmark Vesey—a formerly enslaved man and respected, multilingual church leader and businessman—and redefine his place in American history. Attendees will participate in a vital journey of acknowledgement and exploration of the past, present, and future with conversations that reckon with the abominable truths and ongoing repercussions of slavery. The weekend will also include and center performances that aim to facilitate healing through the arts.
“The Charleston Gaillard Center is uniquely positioned to convene, elevate, and reflect the voices and issues that matter most to our community through the arts, and honoring Denmark Vesey—a significant historical figure in Charleston whose story is often misunderstood and underrecognized—and his legacy is an essential part of that work,” said Lissa Frenkel, recently appointed CEO of the Charleston Gaillard Center. “Our historic building stands just half a mile from where enslaved Africans first entered the United States, so in the spirit of healing and progress we want to recognize that history, grapple with it, and find a way to collectively frame it that will help the community and the country move forward. The Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and the International African American Museum have been vital partners in this process, amplifying the views and needs of the community as together we introduce this first-of-its-kind event that intends to educate, move, and inspire all who attend.”
The weekend will feature a panel discussion “Truth be Told: Vesey,” with stand-up comedian, television presenter and educator W. Kamau Bell; media mogul and television personality Charlamagne tha God; Mother Emanuel AMEC historian Lee J. Bennett Jr.; Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture Executive Director Dr. Tamara Butler; Kennedy Center Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact, poet and librettist Marc BAMUTHI Joseph; and International African American Museum President and CEO Dr. Tonya M. Matthews; a free outdoor concert that includes the Charleston Symphony and Lowcountry Voices; a comedy set from stand-up comedian, actor, and radio host DL Hughley; and an evening performance by GRAMMY® Award-winning multi-platinum singer Anthony Hamilton. A full lineup and schedule of events follows below.
The violence Vesey and his followers witnessed during their lifetime and endured after their capture has been echoed throughout subsequent American history: from the gross indignities of the Jim Crow South to modern-day American socioeconomic inequities to the continued racially motivated violence against the Black community, including the 2015 mass shooting at the Mother Emanuel AMEC.
“When I was growing up, the whispering about Denmark Vesey was deafening; it is time to speak and be heard,” said Lee J. Bennett Jr., historian, Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
“Authentic reckoning with the history of slavery in this country and with its aftermath and institutionalized echoes, is one of our nation's greatest challenges—and the story of Denmark Vesey is a critical exemplar history must reckon with intentionally. No other community can take this on the way Charleston can,” reflected Dr. Tonya M. Matthews, International African American Museum President and CEO. “I am proud to have IAAM as part of this courageous and empathetic effort to bring thought-leaders and artists from across the country to join Charleston as we open conversation—and perhaps hearts and minds—to modern reflections on freedom and those who have paved the way forward to it.”
The “Denmark Vesey Bicentenary” recognition weekend is curated by Gaillard Center Artistic Associates Charlton Singleton and Jonathan Holloway, Gaillard Center CEO Lissa Frenkel, and producer Tony Clarke, in close partnership with Mother Emanuel AMEC and IAAM
Schedule of Events (subject to change):
For more information about the weekend, the full lineup and schedule of events, visit gaillardcenter.org/denmark-
About Denmark Vesey
Born either in Haiti or Africa in 1767, Denmark Vesey (vee-SEE) was sold to a slaver captain named Joseph Vesey in 1783, assuming the latter's surname. He was a skilled carpenter and accompanied the captain on numerous voyages, eventually settling in Charleston. After seven years of bondage, in 1789 Denmark won the East Bay Street Lottery and was allowed to purchase his freedom, though his wife and children remained under the ownership of a different slave master.
As a free man Denmark remained determined to liberate the oppressed enslaved people of Charleston, and in 1822 organized what has been hailed by historians Douglas R. Egerton and Robert L. Paquette as “the most sophisticated collective [plan] against slavery in the U.S.” Vesey envisioned that after freeing hundreds of men, women and children, the liberated masses would all sail to Haiti to live as free citizens. However, his plans were leaked and ultimately foiled. One hundred and thirty-one Africans were arrested, with 92 put on trial and another 11 sent into permanent exile.
On July 2, 1822, Denmark was executed, though for fear that the community would make him a martyr to the cause of freedom, no one was allowed to witness his murder. To this day no one knows where Vesey was buried because the paperwork around his hanging and burial were destroyed. In total, 35 Black men were either hung or shot as a result of the never-to-be-realized revolution. In the end Vesey's thwarted efforts were followed by an additional four decades of chattel slavery in the South, further dehumanizing Africans in Charleston, before the Civil War ended in 1865.
Today a monument of Vesey, erected in 2014, stands in Hampton Park, Charleston. It has been met with ongoing controversy as Vesey's historical legacy remains misconstrued by the racialized lens of history with some still believing he was a criminal and a terrorist, while others recognize him for what he is, an extraordinary man and a Freedom Fighter whose actions were rooted in the spirit in which the United States was founded.
