The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire (BHTNH) invites the public to the 2025 Elinor Williams Hooker Tea Talk Series themed “The Art of War: Conflict and the African American Philosophy.” The 2025 Tea Talks begin on February 2 at Portsmouth Public Library starting at 2:00 PM with a 90-minute facilitated panel titled: “Things They Carried: An African Philosophy on War, Surviving Enslavement, and Citizenship” followed by a community conversation.
Both in person and streaming online, the first 2025 Tea Talk explores how African philosophies of war and cosmology helped enslaved Africans endure and cope with the trauma of enslavement. Panelists will discuss how these spiritual and communal frameworks fostered resilience, resistance, and hope, empowering the enslaved to recognize their internal strength and resist dehumanization.
The first of 4 Tea Talk panel discussions features Dr. Edward Bruce Bynum, author of The Black Origins of Mysticism and Psychology and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Bynum has been honored with the Abraham H. Maslow Award from the Division of Humanistic Psychology of the American Psychological
Association for his “outstanding and lasting contributions to exploring the farthest reaches of the human spirit.” Dr. Anthony Van Der Meer, from the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Dr. Van Der Meer is a scholar-practitioner rooted in leadership and change praxis, liberatory pedagogies, and African indigenous spiritual knowledge systems. Dr. Grant E. Stanton, Assistant Professor of History and Africana Studies at Drew University, NJ. Dr. Stanton is actively investigating the establishment, politicization, demise, and revival of Black education programs in early America, and a third project that uses insults as an entry point for understanding the enfolded racial, sexual, classist, and religious prejudices that structured early American moral culture. This panel will be moderated by Dr. Akeia des Barros Gomes, the Director of the Center for Black History at the Newport Historical Society and an Adjunct Lecturer at the Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University.
“This year’s EWH Tea Talk Series is not only a reflection on history but also a celebration of the resilience and ingenuity of African Americans,” said JerriAnne Boggis, Executive Director of BHTNH. “By drawing on ancient spiritual traditions and collective wisdom, African Americans created pathways for survival and progress. The conversations at the Tea Talks will allow us to understand our shared history and the ongoing fight for justice.”
We invite all who are interested in learning more about New Hampshire’s history, its role in broader national movements, and the ongoing efforts to ensure a fair and equitable society to join us for this enlightening discussion. All talks are free and open to the public with registration required for either in-person or virtual options. For more information and to register, please visit the EWH Tea Talk page.
This project was made possible with support from New Hampshire Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities. Learn more at www.nhhumanities.org.
