The catastrophic dimensions of the earthquake in Haiti are still not known, but if prior experience in these situations is any guide, children are especially vulnerable — not just to physical injury, but also to human traffickers.

The Freedom Center is organizing a response to this situation to help insure that Haitian children obtain food, shelter and also protection from traffickers who, like carrion, descend upon scenes of devestation and ruin to literally kidnap children to sell into slave labor rings.

This is what happened, according to police and human rights organizations, in the wake of the South Asian tsunami.  But to prevent a repeat, vigilance and action on the ground in Haiti is quickly required.

One organization with a special knowledge of the situation is the Cincinnati-based Restavek Foundation, whose founder, Jean-Robert Cadet, is a former Haitian child slave (“Restavek”) who has become a widely known spokesperson for the plight of Haitian children.  Cadet is soon expected to make his way into Haiti to assist in relief efforts.  He will be especially focused on looking after young boys and girls, says his foundation’s marketing director, David Fatherree.

Meantime, as is so often the case, the world is responding to the Haitian nightmare with food, clothing, rescuers and other forms of direct aid.  Donations are being welcomed by numerous organizations — including the Restavek Foundation.  On Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, all visitors to the Freedom Center receive free admission, but this year, we’re asking for a child’s clothing or shelter item to send to Haiti.

The Freedom Center will be the site of a permanent section of the Berlin Wall.

Mayor Mark Mallory announced today that a piece of the Berlin Wall would be permanently displayed on the Southwest lawn of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The 12 ft by 4ft piece of the Berlin Wall, weighing two tons, is a gift to the City of Cincinnati from the City of Berlin. The area around the wall will become part of an outdoor learning exhibit on the Wall’s historical significance.

“The Freedom Center sits on the banks of the Ohio River, another barrier to freedom that eventually fell,” Mallory said. “It is natural that this institution that celebrates freedom should serve as the home for another symbol of the ongoing struggle for freedom and justice.”

The Munich Sister City Association of Greater Cincinnati, the Honorary Consul of Germany in Cincinnati, and other individuals have worked with the City of Berlin to bring the piece of wall to Cincinnati. A Berlin Wall Site Selection Committee convened to evaluate prospective site locations.

“The Freedom Center is tremendously honored to be chosen as the location for the Berlin Wall monument,” said Donald Murphy, CEO of the Freedom Center. “Like the Freedom Center itself, this section of the wall is a testament to freedom and the power of the human spirit.”

Twenty years ago today, Cincinnati formally entered into a Sister City agreement with the city of Munich. On September 18, 1989, when the agreement was signed, the world was witnessing the collapse of East Germany. Less than two months later, the Berlin Wall officially fell.

On August 13, 1961, the government of East Germany split Berlin in half with a wall of concrete. Over the years, many people were killed attempting to escape to West Berlin through this brutal barrier to freedom. On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. During that autumn, hundreds of thousands of East Germans peacefully marched in opposition to the oppressive regime, courageous acts of resistance inspired by the American civil-rights movement.

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2009, will honor three individuals — including Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini — as “Everyday Freedom Heroes” for their commitment to community engagement, human rights and social justice.

Castellini, along with longtime journalist and TV anchor Nick Clooney and former Essence Magazine Editor Susan Taylor, will be honored at an evening reception and dinner on October 10 at the Freedom Center. The event, with the theme, “Triumph of the Human Spirit,” will conclude a day-long series of activities, including an inaugural Film Festival and related children and family activities.

All of the films and children’s activities are free with Freedom Center admission.  Admission for the evening reception and dinner is $75.00 and advance reservations are requested by September 25 by calling 1-888-778-7321 or ordering online from our giftshop.

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On Tuesday evening, Sept. 8, the Freedom Center is offering a free showing of a most unusual documentary film, entitled “Traces of the Trade,” about one family’s journey of discovery about its slave-trading past.

The subject would be remarkable enough if the family were from a Southern state of the old Confederacy. But the family in “Traces of the Trade” is from Rhode Island — in the heart of New England — and in fact was purported to operate the largest slave trading business in American history.

The film was produced and directed by Katrina Browne, whose forefathers — the DeWolf family — carried on a slave trade from 1769 to 1820. They sailed their ships from Bristol, Rhode Island to West Africa with rum to trade for African men, women and children. Captives were taken to plantations that the DeWolfs owned in Cuba or were sold at auction in such ports as Havana and Charleston. Sugar and molasses were then brought from Cuba to the family-owned rum distilleries in Bristol. Over the generations, the family transported more than ten thousand enslaved Africans across the Middle Passage. They amassed an enormous fortune. By the end of his life, James DeWolf had been a U.S. Senator and was reportedly the second richest man in the United State

The film follows ten DeWolf descendants (ages 32-71, ranging from sisters to seventh cousins) as they retrace the steps of the Triangle Trade, visiting the DeWolf hometown of Bristol, Rhode Island, slave forts on the coast of Ghana, and the ruins of a family plantation in Cuba where slaves were sold at auction. The film grippingly chronicles the descendants trip of discovery and how they came to terms with their past.

“Traces of the Trade” will be shown at 6 p.m. in the Harriet Tubman Theater. There is no admission charge, but to RSVP, please call 513-333-7554.

More information and background about the film is available at http://www.tracesofthetrade.org/synopsis/.

Attention, budding movie directors:  Do you have a film you’d like the general public to see? Is it a film that celebrates the triumph of the human spirit?

If so, you might have the opportunity to screen your production on October 10, as the Freedom Center presents “Triumph Film Festival,” a day-long series of activities centered on the showing of movies, including feature length, short or animated films.

Starting the process is simple: click here to access a form that asks about your film — and you.   Deadline for submissions is August 17, and final selections will be made on September 1.

Please limit the length of your submissions to no more than 15-20 minutes.

The same model bus like the one Rosa Parks rode to and from work in Montgomery, AL until the day in 1955 when she refused to move to the back of the bus for a white passenger, will be on display in front of the Freedom Center in the week leading up to Major League Baseball’s Civil Rights game.

The bus, #209, is owned and operated by the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK).  It will be parked in front of the Freedom Center’s main entrance each day from June 16 through June 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Visitors can board and sit in the bus. Its appearance also coincides with the Freedom Center’s current exhibit, “381 Days: the Montgomery Bus Boycott,” which traces the events surrounding Mrs. Parks’ historic protest, which ushered in the non-violent American civil rights movement.

“We are pleased and gratified that TANK is making the 1950-era bus, like the one Rosa Parks made famous, available to help the community celebrate the American civil rights movement,” said Donald Murphy, the Freedom Center’s Chief Executive Officer.  “TANK graciously put the bus on display in front of the Freedom Center in 2005, to commemorate the passing of Mrs. Parks, and it was enormously popular with our guests.  We think it will add a poignant element to the festivities leading up to the Civil Rights game.”

Bus #209 was manufactured in 1950 by General Motors, and operated in Northern Kentucky on Greenline routes.  The bus eventually was sold and for a time operated in Seattle, WA, where TANK recovered the vehicle in 2001, brought it back to Northern Kentucky and restored it to its original condition.  It is one of three historic vehicles that have been refurbished by TANK maintenance employees.

TANK uses #209 for community events and as an education tool, says TANK Deputy General Manager, Andrew Aiello.

“This bus helps young people better understand an earlier time, when segregation divided whites and blacks in nearly every facet of everyday life – including riding the bus,” Aiello said.  “Thankfully, local public transit systems in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati fought successfully against compliance with state-mandated segregation beginning as far back as 1916, when rail car transportation was in its heyday.  Through legal tactics and finesse, the local transit companies were able to evade state-mandated segregation on the rail cars and then buses, including Bus #209,” he added.

This weekend, the Freedom Center’s Chief Executive Officer, Donald Murphy, is receiving the Alumnus of the Year from the University of California-San Diego (UCSD). The award recognizes distinguished alumni who’ve made an impact in their community or significant career achievements.

Murphy graduated from the UCSD in 1975 with a bachelors of art degree in biology.

In an interview with San Diego public radio station KPBS, Murphy talks about the winding career path that led him from being a park ranger to the CEO of a national museum dedicated to relating the story of the nation’s struggle to overcome slavery. He also talked more in depth about the Freedom Center’s mission in this lengthy interview with Loma Linda station KCAA.

“Don Murphy is a visionary leader and steward whose relentless dedication to truth is teaching generations the meaning of freedom,” said Armin Afsahi, assistant vice chancellor for alumni affairs and executive director of the UCSD Alumni Association.

Murphy’s responsibilities at the Cincinnati-based National Underground Railroad Freedom Center include managing a $6 million budget and securing funding for programs and exhibits, which pay homage to enslaved Africans in early America as well as black and white abolitionists.

Murphy previously worked at California State Parks, where he spent six years directing the statewide system. After creating several high-profile programs in Sacramento during the late 1990s, he was recruited in 2001 by the Bush administration to serve as deputy director of the National Park Service where he managed a budget of more than $2.3 billion and 30,000 employees.

Today’s New York Times has a fascinating feature on the iconic image of “Tank Man,” the unidentified Beijing pedestrian who — 20 years ago this week — calmly stepped in front of a column of Army tanks on Tiananmen Square in protest of the government’s violent crackdown on Chinese citizens protesting state oppression of human rights.

It turns out that four different photographers captured the moment, from slightly different angles, and that their individual stories of how the images ended up in the global news media makes for interesting reading.

Tank Man’s identity has never been established, nor has his fate been determined.  The Chinese government remains highly sensitive about the 1989 protests; the Tank Man images are not widely available within China and, as the anniversary of the protests approaches, censors have blocked Twitter and other social media networks.

What’s your take on these images, and the relevance of Tank Man’s defiance means to contemporary audiences?

Former President Bill Clinton will come to Cincinnati to be the keynote speaker for Major League Baseball’s Beacon Awards Luncheon on June 20.

The luncheon, at Duke Energy Center, is honoring three civil rights luminaries: Muhammad Ali, Bill Cosby and Henry (Hank) Aaron.  Later that day, the Civil Rights Game between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox will be played at Great American Ball Park.

The Civil Rights Game was created by MLB two years ago to increase awareness of the role baseball played in breaking the color barrier of segregation in American society in the years after World War II.

As part of the weekend of activities, the Freedom Center on June 19 is hosting a Roundtable discussion of civil rights-related issues in the Harriet Tubman Theater. The Roundtable will begin at 4 p.m., moderated by Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree and featuring a broad array of local and national guest panelists.

Proceeds from the Beacon Awards Luncheon will benefit the MLB Urban Youth Foundation, the Cincinnati Reds Community Fund and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

For more information or to purchase tickets to the MLB Beacon Awards Luncheon and the Gillette Civil Rights Game, please visit www.MLB.com/civilrightsgame.

Leading anthropologist Kenneth B.Tankersley will share his genealogy in a lecture entitled “The Search for My Cherokee Ancestors” on April 11 at 2:00pm at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Tankersley, with an Indiana Jones-like resume, is an expert on the earliest inhabitants of North America dating back to the Ice Age. A member of the Department of Art and Archaeology at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and a research associate of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Tankersley’s research has been featured on National Geographic Explorer, the Discovery Channel, All Things Considered, and Nova. He lives in Kentucky.

His presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be given in the Discovery Room on the 3rd floor of the Freedom Center Reservations can be made by calling 513 333 7707 and leaving your name and phone number. The lecture is being provided by the Family Search Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Copies of Dr Tankersley book “In Search of the Ice Age Americans” will be available for purchase.

The Covington, KY Artisans Enterprise Center, just across the Ohio River from the Freedom Center, is presenting a one-day exhibit of the work of four African artists.  The twist is that the artists themselves will be on hand to explain and convey stories about their work.

The show, entitled “Thinking Through Reality,” is from 6 – 10 p.m. On Friday, Feb. 6, at the Covington Artisans Enterprise Center, located at 25 West 7th St. .  It is the first of a series of presentations on African arts and culture that will take place at the Center until February 20.

More information is available at this link.

The 2009 Black Book Fair returns to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center on Saturday, February 7 for an all-day event that is free to the general public.

The book fair, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., enables area businesses to market their merchandise from kiosks and tables set up in the Freedom Center’s spacious Grand Hall.  A host of children’s activities, workshops, choir performances and other fun events will be highlighted throughout the day.

The book fair is sponsored by the Radio One family of Cincinnati radio stations WMOJ-FM, the WIZ and 1230 am WDBZ.  More details are available on WMOJ’s website.