Despite the early morning start, Gombey dancers brought the crowd to their feet yesterday as the African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference officially opened at Southampton Princess.

The conference “seeks to span time and distance as we acknowledge the impact of the African Diaspora on world civilisation over the centuries,” Premier Jennifer Smith said in her opening address.

Drawing an eclectic mix of academics, tourism industry professionals, Government officials and other interested groups from a number of countries, the conference will run through tomorrow with delegates attending workshops and panels which explore the African Diaspora.

The Diaspora arose from the scattering about the world of Africans as a result of the slave trade.

Bermuda shares a “special pride in the contribution made by our cousins, the children of the Diaspora in the Caribbean and throughout the world, as it does in the multiculturalism that prosperity and migration has brought to our once insular island,” the Premier added.

“In this context, I am sure we will find ready inspiration in the presentations made in this conference.

“There is much to be learned and shared as we come together to celebrate our achievements, comment on lessons learned, mourn our losses and meld our collective intellects to wrestle with defining the way forward in a world vastly different from that experienced by our forebears.”

Even today, opening speaker Dr. Percy Hintzen of the University of California (Berkeley) pointed out, the majority of African descendants cannot afford to attend a conference such as this one because of lack of resources.

Nevertheless, Dr. Hintzen said concepts such as freedom and justice arose from the experiences of persons of African descent rather than those borne to freedom and privilege.

“When we talk about heritage, we're not talking about black bodies, we're talking about the heritage of humanity,” he said.

He added: “Our project is to bring the African into the mainstream of modernity and if we don't do it the world will never be peaceful and it will never be just.”

Following the opening workshops yesterday morning, conference delegates moved on to St. George's for a tour of African Diaspora Heritage Sites and a luncheon.

Dr. Clarence Maxwell addressed the group at the Carriage House restaurant on the impact of the diaspora in Bermuda. The word ‘diaspora' first came into popular use among the Jewish community in the 1800s and they sought to analyse their experiences, Dr. Maxwell explained. The scattering of the Jews around the globe was considered as a serious problem, he added and many Jews sought to address it through Zionism.

“It is ironic that we will be celebrating what some people wanted to resolve for themselves,” Dr. Maxwell said of the conference approach to the African diaspora.

While slavery in Bermuda existed from 1616 until 1834, to truly look at the history of that period reveals much evidence of struggle and strategy on the part of the slave population to free themselves, he said.

Dr. Maxwell pointed to “poison plots” as one example of resistance strategy.

“They took an application, and technically expanded it, which had been used in the African context and deployed it here,” he said.

Among the many activities of the day included the unveiling of an African Diaspora plaque at the slave graveyard at St. Peter's Church. Delegates finished the day at the other end of the Island, however, with a gala dinner held in the Keepyard of the Maritime Museum.

The conference continues today with workshops on educating the community about the cultural richness of the African Diaspora, its history and creating a cross-border tourism initiative to promote it among others.

Those interested in attending can register for one day participation between 8 a.m. and noon at the hotel's Poinciana Foyer.