12 Years a Slave Now 12 Hours a Read-a-thon on 12 Years of Revolt

Online, February 27, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Volunteers from all walks of life and ages, will reading aloud from many classic texts by renowned writer C.L.R. James, on Friday 28 February. A key influence for anti-colonial activists historically, James' writings on politics, cricket and literature are prolific -yet his best known work on the one successful slave revolt in history, The Black Jacobins is the chosen text for many readers.

The education charity WORLDwrite is running this unique 12 hour Read-a-thon in partnership with the Museum of London Docklands, to celebrate the works of this lesser known hero who died in Brixton 25 years ago. The event takes place on Friday 28 February at two locations: the Museum of London, Docklands from 10am to 5pm and at the WORLDwrite Centre in Hackney, East London, from 5pm to 10pm.

Director Ceri Dingle said today "The story of how slaves liberated themselves is rarely told, they are seen as hopeless victims rescued by kind hearted British aristocrats. C.L.R. James brought the truth to light and understanding people as history makers was a prevailing theme of his work, a view which WORLDwrite shares with a passion. James was one of those exceptional writers and thinkers whose works teach us history is something we make. We are thrilled that so many people are taking part and have already sponsored our Read-a-thon. We hope many more will listen in, be inspired, get involved in our CLR James documentary project and dig deep in support."

In his book The Black Jacobins CLR James tells the history-making drama of the Haitian revolution, a courageous and remarkable 12 year slave revolt. James paints an unflinching picture of the true horrors meted out to slaves and provides acute analysis of the forces at work in this unique historical moment, an inspiring legacy of the French Revolution that remains neglected in discussions of the abolition of slavery. In James' telling, we learn how illiterate, aspirational slaves, under the inspired leadership of Toussaint L'Ouverture, humiliated French, Spanish and British colonial powers to successfully achieve liberty in the pursuit of equality.

The CLR James Read-a-thon is open to the public. Over the course of 12 hours beginning at 10am on Friday 28th February, 48 readings of 15 minutes will be presented live in the Quayside room at the Museum of London Docklands and then from 5pm until 10pm at the WORLDwrite Centre, 201 Millfields Road, London E5 0AL. The event will also be filmed and livestreamed for people the world over to tune and share in this public celebration of James' work. The Read-a-thon will be broadcast live as one seamless transmission.

Volunteers taking part have already raised nearly £5,000 in sponsorship for the Read-a-thon but need to reach £10,000. All proceeds will help fund the charity's ambitious CLR James project "Every cook can govern" which has already won a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to support UK shoots, research and activities. Sponsorship is desperately needed to access and digitise rare archive material and for footage from Ghana, Trinidad, Haiti and the USA to complete the picture. The project will include a feature-length documentary and online knowledge portal to champion the life, works and impact of CLR James.

For details and to sponsor the project, visit here.
The full Read-a-thon programme is available at at .
The livestream broadcast is available at here.
For more information and interviews contact: Ceri Dingle at: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 8985 5435 Mobile: 07866 806 918