"Nobody is free until everyone is free." It was wonderfully appropriate that the message of 'Cargo', Paul Fields' programme of songs and readings, should be brought to Whitehaven CivicHall on the bicentenary of the abolition of the Slave Trade because of the town's own link to the trade, transporting slaves to American and West Indian sugar plantations and sugar for its rum distilleries from there. Just how passionately young people from our schools have taken this message to heart was proved by the performances of West Cumberland Choral Society Youth Choir and Celebration singers, to accompany Paul Field himself in the haunting ballads which he sang, and by a wonderful troupe of dancers from St Benedict's School. Raising out of slavery, as you can see from our picture, was indeed the theme of their dance. The text of the narrative, movingly read by Paul Connor, Robert Gabuguga, Rebecca Vaughan and Sylvie Yernaux, was displayed on a large screen.
The truly shocking concept that human beings were treated as Cargo was expressed both in the ballads:
"It's a strange cargo

and in the horrifying readings, such as the story of the slave ship, Zong, who ordered 133 slaves to be thrown overboard in order to claim insurance on each of them. The actions of the ship's master was justified in court on the grounds that slaves are blacks, not human beings but goods and chattels.
However, the audience which packed the hall was not allowed to settle comfortably into the belief that slavery is a dreadful story from a past age. More than twenty million people, four times the number who were transported across the Atlantic, are trapped in some form of slavery today, most of them women, many of them sexual slaves. The story of Maria, lured from her village by promises of a modelling career and forced into prostitution, is an example of millions of others. The root of the problem is poverty, prejudice and unfair trade. The programme challenges the feeling that there’s nothing we can do, the most common excuse for doing nothing.
One of the most exciting exhibits we found in the Dunboyne Room after the performance was an illustrated story book, produced by Beckstone Primary School, written by Chrissie Clark, and printed by Printexpress, conveying the idea of the Slave Trade in a way five year old children can understand.
The performance was just part of the Set All Free Project, set up by Churches Together in England to commemorate the Abolition of the Slave Trade and remember Britain’s part in the transatlantic trade. It was followed by an ecumenical service in St Begh’s Priory and a Fairtrade Market at the Hub. Fairtrade is one way in which we can all help to remove the causes of slavery.