News & Events »

News Flashes

The latest leg of the Lifeline Expedition - to The Gambia and Senegal from 30 May-13 June 2006 - has made headlines in both British national newspapers and TV and radio programmes. The Expedition, which offers an apology for the Transatlantic slave trade, has made headlines before, but not on this scale. The difference this time was the presence in the Lifeline team of Andrew Hawkins, who works for Selah Theatre Company (a ministry of YWAM England) and is a direct descendant of Sir John Hawkins, the first English slave trader.

The Lifeline Expedition was participating in the International Roots Festival (an event born out of the famous 1980s TV programme 'Roots' and encouraging Africans to find their ancestral identity). The headlines were made through the first assignment - a reconciliation walk in yokes and chains to the Independence Stadium in the capital, Banjul. On arrival at the stadium, the team had quite a long wait until the Vice-President of the Gambia arrived and then the lengthy carnival procession arrived, with each group stopping in front of the Vice-President.

The team came after a gap at the very end - and was the first group to include white people. Organiser David Pott takes up the story: "As we walked there was moving applause from the crowds. I was asked to make a short speech to introduce the Lifeline Expedition and then we took our place on the grass among all the other participants. There followed various speeches and some wonderful djembe drumming. Then our apology came next. We walked up and faced the Vice-President and other leaders from African nations as well as many visitors from the African Diaspora, including the family of Bob Marley. After a short speech from myself, we knelt down and made our confession, including a contribution from Andrew Hawkins relating to his famous ancestor. After a pause, the Vice-President herself came and released us from the yokes and chains. Many people came up to us afterwards and thanked us for what we had done, including Rita Marley and a whole group of Jamaican rastas."

This event has excited considerable interest. David Pott and Andrew Hawkins have between them fielded around 100 phone calls. It has also caught the imagination of the national press - some of their articles and interviews can be found at the following addresses:

The BBC website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5105328.stm
The BBC Radio 4 programme "Today" - you can listen to the two-minute slot on http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/thursday.shtml - see the 8.48am slot.
The Times newspaper (online) - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2236871.html
The Daily Mail newspaper (online) - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=391860&in_page_id=1770

The Lifeline Expedition continues its journey with the second part of its Africa leg, in Ghana from July-August 2006. Then in 2007 comes the two-part March of the Abolitionists. Part one includes a 200-mile walk from Hull to London, finishing at Lambeth Palace, where team members will be present in the yokes and chains when an apology for the Anglican Church's involvement in the slave trade will be made by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace on 24 March 2007. Part two will be a triangular walk between the main slave ports of London, Bristol and Liverpool in the summer of 2007.

For more on these walks, and on the Lifeline Expedition, visit the website www.lifelineexpedition.co.uk.

Previous story: Global Passion tour