Rhode Island art display to reflect on slavery

One of Rhode Island's most celebratory occasions next weekend will also have reminders of one of the ugliest chapters in its history.

WaterFire _ a nighttime public arts display that draws tens of thousands of people to downtown Providence on weekends in the summer and fall _ will reflect on Rhode Island's role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade on Saturday.

Actors spread throughout the crowd and accompanied by torchbearers will read aloud the names of slaves sold on ships that departed from Rhode Island. Ceremonial paper chains will be burned. And 1,000 participants from the crowd will simultaneously pour water from bottles into the river in a mass libation …