The African American Research Library and Cultural Center (AARLCC) will host a special Cultural Conversation on the evening of September 6\, 2025\, to officially open the exhibition "To Be Sold: Enslaved Labor and Slave Trading in the Antebellum South."< /a> The launch event is a compelling program that explores how truth-telli ng and an openness to difficult conversations about our shared history can create new paths toward healing and racial reconciliation.
\nThe co nversation features Sen. Mia S. McLeod and Margaret Seidler\, two women wh ose lives and family histories are linked by the painful legacy of slavery and whose relationship demonstrates the possibility of civility and conne ction across racial lines. In 2020\, Margaret\, a white Charleston native whose genealogical research revealed a legacy of slave trading in her fami ly\, reached out to Mia&rsquo\;s family via their funeral home website. Mi a\, a trailblazing Black legislator from South Carolina\, had just lost he r father\, her family&rsquo\;s historian\, and felt compelled to answer th e message. What followed was a transformative phone call between two women who shared a desire to listen\, learn\, and reckon with the truth. They d iscovered hidden family stories and confronted the emotional impact of the Mother Emanuel tragedy. Their relationship has become a living example of courage and common ground. \;
\nThis program invites audiences to consider how personal history\, public memory\, and civic dialogue can help us reimagine our shared future.
\nA reception will follow the d ialogue.
\nThis program is presented in collaboration with the Partners for Racial Justice< /a> \;and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.
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\nAbout the Speakers
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| Sen. Mia McLeod | \nMargar et Seidler | \n
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\n\n \nMia S. McLeod
\nMia McLeod is an eighth-generation South Carolinian and public servant who advocates for justice and equity. As th e first woman and African American to represent Senate District 22\, and t he first Black woman to run for Governor of South Carolina\, Mia has worke d across party lines to address systemic issues such as healthcare access\ , education equity\, domestic violence\, and criminal justice reform. Her leadership has earned national recognition\, including the prestigious 202 3 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award®\; alongside her bipartisan Sister Senators. Mia is a Liberty\, Diversity\, and Education Policy Fello w and a proud mother of two sons. Her family&rsquo\;s funeral business\, f ounded in 1914\, plays a key role in her ancestral discovery and reconcili ation story.
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\nMargaret Seidler
\nMargaret Sei dler is a retired leadership development consultant\, author\, and native Charlestonian whose life turned after a late-in-life DNA test revealed dis tant cousins of African descent. Motivated by their questions\, Margaret u ncovered three generations of slave traders in her family\, including Will iam Payne\, who brokered the sale of more than 9\,000 human beings. Her me ticulous research has led to historical markers in Charleston and the publ ication of her acclaimed book Payne-ful Business: Charleston&rsquo\;s Journey to Truth< /a>. A frequent public speaker and one of 47 contributors in Ukweli: S earch for Healing Truth\, South Carolina Writers and Poets explore Am erican Racism\, Evening Post Books\, 2022. Margaret also volunteers at Cha rleston&rsquo\;s Old Slave Mart Museum\, sharing her story of reckoning an d repair. Her work uses historical truth as a bridge to understanding\, ci vility\, and restorative justice.
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