HISTORY
Cargo’s narrations provide a background to the work of the abolitionist movement from it’s beginning with twelve men in a London Printers shop, the work of Thomas Clarkson in raising public awareness, the role of Wilberforce (encouraged by John Newton & William Pitt) in taking up the cause in Parliament, the pivotal story of the slave ship ‘Zong’ and the role of Africans such as Ouladah Equiano and Touissant L’Overture. It also highlights the importance of the rebellion of the slaves themselves and how, in Haiti, for example, set against the background of the French revolution, the slaves finally forced Napoleon to surrender the country to Independence. It tells the story of how over twenty years the tide of public opinion expressed through Petitions, Boycotts and Demonstrations became overwhelming and eventually the voice of ordinary people helped change the world. Cargo is obviously of particular relevance during Black History month.

CITIZENSHIP
Alongside the historical aspect, Cargo champions cultural diversity and the links with justice, equality, poverty, prejudice and fairtrade to engage students with modern slavery and to show that just as twelve men set the abolitionist movement going over two hundred years ago, small choices each of us make can have an impact today, whether in choosing fairtraded goods, signing petitions or finding out where our bargain clothes are made and how raising our voices together can make a difference.
Human trafficking (especially of children and young women) has become one of the world’s biggest illegal trades along with drugs and arms. Domestic labour, child labour, bonded and forced labour, exploitation of migrant workers and the trade in people for the sex trade are all major social issues of our time.

ART
The songs and narrations of Cargo produce powerful images to inspire creative work around the themes of slavery, freedom, justice and equality.

MUSIC
The music of Cargo covers many styles, from the joy, hope and rebellious rousing gospel feel of ‘Sharika’ to the heartbreaking loneliness of ‘Midnight rain’. The songs and instrumental music can be used as individual pieces as well as a whole presentation (lasting about seventy minutes). Some are arranged for choir and some are more suitable as solo or small group pieces. The audio backing tracks for the songs and underscores for the narrations are available on the resource CD as are the scores for those wishing to play and sing everything live. Students could also be encouraged to compose their own pieces inspired by the narrations.

DRAMA & DANCE
Many of the pieces from Cargo lend themselves very well to interpretation by dance. As the production has toured, often using local dance groups as well as professionals it has been fascinating to see the diversity of choreography, from ‘urban funk’ to classical. The powerful narrations lend themselves to being dramatised.

RE
Nearly all the abolitionists two hundred years ago were men and women of faith. The twelve who first met in the Printer’s shop were mostly Quakers who to begin with had no ‘voice’ but when joined by Wilberforce, Clarkson, Granville Sharpe, Hannah More and others found a way collectively to put faith into action.

ICT
The Cargo touring production uses video, animations and images to illustrate and augment the songs, music and narrative. Students could research and produce their own Power point style presentations
to go alongside the music and narrations. A list of web sites to start with where images can be downloaded (copyright free) is included.

CARGO is available as an audio CD of songs, instrumental music and narration by Sir Tom Courtenay - £12
(Vocals - Paul Field, Coco Mbassi & Sadie Chamberlain. Sax & woodwinds - Mike Haughton). There is also a resource CD which contains backing tracks for all the music and downloadable, printable PDF files of the music scores, choir arrangements, lyrics, narrations and performance notes. - £20. Audio CD & Resource CD Bought together - £30. Both available from www.paulfield.com (payment through Paypal) or by post from :
Nearfield Records PO Box 6 Wallington SM6 8ZS (Cheques payable to Paul Field).

WORKSHOPS
Paul Field (the Composer of Cargo) is available to lead workshops in Schools which could be anything from a solo performance (lasting approx 1hr) - a short ‘one off’ session or a series of sessions over several days leading up to a performance involving the students. These can also be practical, creative workshops based on the songwriting & production process or focus more on the historical and contemporary issues of slavery and human rights. To discuss the possibilities of workshops contact Paul direct at paul@paulfield.com.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bury the chains - Adam Hoschchild : Macmillan
Disposable people - Kevin Bales : University of California Press
The interesting narrative of Ouladah Equiano - Ouladah Equiano : Penguin Classics
Wilberforce - John Pollack : Aslan
Black Ivory - James Walvin : Blackwell
The Natasha’s - Victor Malarek : Vision

WEBSITES
www.mylearning.org
www.hull.ac.uk/wise (WISE - Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery & Emancipation).
www.antislavery.org
www.stopthetraffik.org
www.setallfree.net
www.freetheslaves.net
www.ukhtc.org
www.understandingslavery.com

ENDORSEMENTS
‘This series of resources and learning experiences brings the study of slavery alive in an innovative and creative way and is a valuable resource for schools’
Jon Pywell (Hull Museum Education)

‘Modern slavery knows no geographical or ethical boundaries. It affects children as well as adults, males as well as females. Despite international conventions the emancipation movement still has unfinished business. Paul Field’s Cargo tells the story of why in the late eighteenth century a moral crusade against the enslavement's of Africans began. It also urges us to remain vigilant against slavery and abuses of human rights and, in the spirit of the abolitionists, black and white, to renew our commitment to end slavery, once and for all in the twenty first century’
Professor David Richardson (WISE - Hull University)

‘Very Impressive’ (Sir Tom Courtenay - Actor & narrator for the Cargo CD)

‘Cargo stands alone very well as something that schools can use. I like the way it is relevant to a number of subjects’ (Head of History - London School)

‘I’ve used Cargo in PSHE Lessons to encourage thought about what abolition was about. It fits very well into the year six RE Syllabus’ (Teacher - Hull)

‘We use four pieces from Cargo in our presentations. Great music to dance to’
(Urban Funk Dance Co)

‘Deeply moving and impacting’ (Vernon Coaker MP - at UKHTC Conference)