Former child slave turned abolitionist to speak
Jean-Robert Cadet, world-renowned abolitionist and former child slave, will visit the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to give a talk titled “From Child Slave to Abolitionistâ€� at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert HallÌýin the Fine Arts Building.
The presentation is free and open to the public.
Cadet’s books, “Restavec: From Haitian Slave to Middle-Class American” and “My Stone of Hope: From Haitian Slave Child to Abolitionist,” chronicle his life as a child slave in Haiti, known as a restavek.
Both books will be available for purchase and a book-signing session will follow the lecture.
“Cadet grew up without parents and without love, and the story is so difficult,� said Suzanne Homsley, a graduate student enrolled in Dr. Laura Barrio-Vilar’s course Slavery Narratives. The class read one of Cadet’s books this semester.
“[Restavek] will definitely leave the reader full of many emotions,� said Homsley.
“I believe the event will really bring the book to life for us and actually put a living face to slavery. This can only help us all become more cognizant and active in regards to social injustice,� she said.
ÌýCadet’s visit is sponsored by ÌÇÐÄVlog´«Ã½LR’s William G. Cooper Jr. Honors Program in English in conjunction with the ÌÇÐÄVlog´«Ã½LR Institute on Race and Ethnicity.
Information on the Jean R. Cadet Restavek Organizaiton, which advocates the end of child slavery, is available at .
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