2011 Remembrance Programme
"The Transatlantic slave trade — The living legacy of 30 million untold stories"
In commemoration of the memory of the victims, the General Assembly, in its resolution of 17 December 2007, declared 25 March the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, to be observed annually. The resolution called for the establishment of an outreach programme to mobilize educational institutions, civil society and other organizations to inculcate in future generations the “causes, consequences and lessons of the transatlantic slave trade, and to communicate the dangers of racism and prejudice”.
Against that background, this year’s commemoration is being observed under the theme “The Transatlantic slave trade: The living legacy of 30 million untold stories”.
Commemorative events reflecting the theme are designed to seek answers to the key questions: Who were these people? What are their stories? What did they contribute to the societies of their enslavement? What are their legacies and what lessons has the modern world learned from that dark phase of human history?
Message of the United Nations Secretary-General | Calendar of Events | Documents | Promotional Materials
Background
Slave Ship Sighting an English Cruiser – 1874 Harpers Weekly “This sketch represents a slave ship in the Mediterranean, near the coast of Africa, where a large cargo of slaves has been taken on board. In the distance an English cruiser is sighted, and the officers of the slave ship are preparing to hoist sail and try to make their escape.”
The transatlantic slave trade, the largest long-distance forced movement of innocent people in history uprooted 25 to 30 million Africans according to UNESCO estimates, who were shackled, dragged off to the Americas and the Caribbean and forced to endure unspeakable misery, as did their descendants for hundreds of years.
Although the 400-year transatlantic slave trade is a major element of global history, little is known about some aspects of that practice its lasting consequences throughout the world. What is known is that from the late fifteenth century, the Atlantic Ocean, once a daunting barrier that prevented regular interaction between those peoples living within the four continents it touched, became a commercial passage that integrated the histories of Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean for the first time. Slavery and the transatlantic slave trade were the linchpins of this process, which turned the ocean floor into a burial ground for the millions who did not survive the dreadful passage.
Secretary-General's Message
The transatlantic slave trade inflicted immense suffering on millions of innocent victims for four centuries, making it among the longest, most widespread tragedies in human history. While legalized slavery has long been abolished, slavery-like practices are very much with us -- from debt bondage and domestic servitude to forced or early marriages, the sale of wives and trafficking in children.
Extensive scholarship has documented these horrors, including through various efforts of UNESCO. Yet there remains much more to learn about the millions of Africans who were uprooted and abused, about the misery visited on their descendants, and about the impact that is felt, even today. That is why the theme of this year’s observance of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, is “the living legacy of 30 million untold stories”.
By studying slavery, we help to guard against humanity’s most vile impulses. By examining the prevailing assumptions and beliefs that allowed the practice to flourish, we raise awareness about the continued dangers of racism and hatred. And by honouring slavery’s victims -- as we do with this International Day, with a permanent memorial that will be established at the UN Headquarters complex in New York, and with the observance of 2011 as the International Year for People of African Descent -- we restore some measure of dignity to those who had been so mercilessly stripped of it.
This observance forces us to confront human beings at their worst. But in those who opposed slavery then and now, we also celebrate people at their best: the brave slaves who rose up despite mortal risk; the abolitionists who challenged the status quo; the activists today who fight intolerance and injustice. Whether renowned or unsung, these heroes show that the pursuit of human dignity is the most powerful force of all.
On this Day, let us draw inspiration from that truth. Let us remember all the victims of the transatlantic slave trade and of contemporary forms of slavery. And let us commit ourselves to eradicate such practices once and for all.
Ban Ki-moon
Calendar of Events
Monday, 21 March
Film Screening: "Traces of the Trade" (Katrina Browne, 2008) (1 hr 30 mins)
6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
Venue: ECOSOC Chamber, North Lawn Building, United Nations, New York
Film-maker's family and Ghanaian Beatrice Manu at a river ceremony in Ghana where captured Africans were brought for a last bath. Photo Credit: Amishadai Sackitey
First-time film-maker Katrina Browne makes a troubling discovery – her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine fellow descendants set off to retrace the Triangle Trade: from their old hometown in Rhode Island to Ghana to Cuba. Step by step, they uncover the vast extent of Northern complicity in slavery while also stumbling their way through the minefield of contemporary race relations. The film is intended as a catalyst for dialogue, education and action.
Moderator: Dawn Johnston-Britton, Chief, Visitors Services Cluster and Focal-point for the 2011 Remembrance activities.
Brief statement by: H.E. Ambassador Raymond Wolfe, Chairman of Permanent Memorial Committee and Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations.
Question & Answer session with H.E. Ambassador Wolfe as well as film-maker Katrina Browne and family members who appear in the film: James De Wolf Perry VI, Elizabeth Sturges, Llerena De Wolf and Thomas De Wolf.
Tuesday, 22 March
"Honouring the Living Cultural Legacy" Exhibit Opening
6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
Venue: Main Gallery, Visitors’ Lobby, United Nations, New York
Inauguration of the 3-part exhibition, comprising a mixed media installation by a Caribbean-American artist conveying a mystical recreation of the Middle Passage; a triptych by West African artist Abdoulaye Ndoye, illustrating the journey of a slave ship and through its title asks the simple question "Why"; and a collection of artifacts and historic documents from The Freeman Institute demonstrating not only the inhumanity but also the insidious extent of the slave trade. Books on the transatlantic slave trade were displayed as part of the exhibit, and sold in the UN Bookshop. An evening of African and Caribbean cuisine and cultural performances followed.
Master of Ceremony: Mr. Maher Nasser
Remarks by: H.E. Dr. Salomon Nguema Owono, Chair, African Union and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Social Affairs of Equatorial Guinea, H.E. Mr. Raymond Wolfe, Chairman, Permanent Memorial Committee and Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations, Mrs. Imna Arroyo, Artist, Ancestral Memories, Mr. Joel Freeman, President & CEO of the Freeman Institute.
Cultural Culinary Evening
Venue: Main Gallery, Visitors’ Lobby, UN Headquarters, New York
Performances by City South Steel Orchestra from Antigua & Barbuda, the National Ballet of Cameroon, a cultural troupe from Equatorial Guinea and the St. Lucia Cultural Organisation. African and Caribbean cuisine served.
Mistress of Ceremony: Ms. Lena Dissin, Deputy Director, Outreach Division, DPI
Wednesday, 23 March
Video conference on "New Approaches to Teaching African History and the Transatlantic Slave Trade"
Venue: ECOSOC Chamber, North Lawn Building, United Nations, New York
Global Videoconference for Educators - New Approaches to Teaching African History and the Transatlantic Slave Trade- 9.00 AM - 4.00 PM
The UN Department of Public Information (UN DPI), in collaboration with UNESCO ASPnet programme and an advisory group, organized a one-day global video conference for educators from more than 70 primary and secondary educational institutions in six countries - Colombia, Portugal, The Gambia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and the United States. The conference was designed to update educators on new scholarship, new resources and best practices in teaching the history and legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
This first ever event for educators organized by the UN DPI comprised two panel discussions, which highlighted the importance of attention to new methodologies for teaching the transatlantic slave trade.
Panel 1: "Teaching the Transatlantic Slave Trade: Past Accomplishments and New Directions".
Moderator: Ms. Ulrike Storost from UNESCO
Panellists: Dr. Monica Lima e Souza (Brazil), Michaela Alfred-Kamara (United Kingdom), Dr. Sheila Walker (United States) and Professor Alvin Thompson (Barbados).
Panel 2: "Let's Talk Teaching" and was aimed at engaging primary and secondary level educators.
Moderator: Ms. Angela Keiser of Carnegie Mellon University
Panellists: Luis Fernel Bonilla (Colombia), Jose Barrao (Portugal), Magda Borges (Portugal), Yahya Al-MAtarr-Jobe (The Gambia), Dr. Cecilia Hall (Trinidad and Tobago) and Sue Anderson (United States).
The feature address at the conference was delivered by the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and Principal of the Cave Hill Campus, Barbados - Professor Hilary Beckles.
Participants in the videoconference included educators from New York City and other parts of the United States who gathered at UN Headquarters in New York. Others participated from remote sites in the six countries via videoconference. The conference was webcast live and the webcast is now archived and accessible at www.un.org/webcast: Part 1 and
To allow participants and other educators to continue to have a dialogue on the issues raised in the conference, UNDPI has created a Facebook page.
Welcoming remarks by Ms.Yvonne Acosta, Chief, Education Outreach Cluster
Thursday, 24 March
NGO Briefing – The living legacy of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade
Venue: Conference Room 6, North Lawn Building, United Nations, New York
10.00 am – 12.30 pm
A briefing on "The Transatlantic Slave Trade: The Living Legacy of 30 Million Untold Stories" was organised for, and attended by over 100 individuals representing national and international NGOs working with the United Nations.
A panel of experts looked at the untold stories of the millions who endured unspeakable brutality during the Transatlantic Slave Trade and how those stories can serve as tools in raising awareness and establishing the truth about this often-ignored issue. The panel comprised H.E. Mr. Raymond O. Wolfe, Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations and Chairman, Permanent Memorial Committee, Dr. Michael Gomez, Professor of History and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University, and President of UNESCO's International Scientific Committee for the Slave Route Project from 2009-11, Dr. Abena Busia, Associate Director of the Center for African Studies at Rutgers University and Dr. Alvin Thompson, Professor Emeritus from the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, Barbados.
The briefing aimed to contribute to a greater understanding of the 400 year transatlantic slave trade by examining the millions of untold stories as reflected by both historical fact and the literature that has emerged since, as well as to correct misrepresentations and to continue to hand down these stories from one generation to the next. Following the presentations, there was a question and answer period which allowed NGO representatives and speakers to have a discussion on the issues raised during the briefing.
Subsequently, one of the panellists, Dr. Alvin Thompson launched his new book on the Transatlantic Slave Trade entitled “Confronting Slavery-Breaking through the Corridors of Silence", which tells the story of the Transatlantic Slave Trade "as much in imagery as in text".
The briefing was webcast live and is .
Moderator: Ms. Maria-Luisa Chavez, Chief, NGO Relations Cluster
Friday, 25 March
10.00 am – 12:30 pm
Venue: Conference Room 4, North Lawn Building, United Nations, New York
The President of the General Assembly convened a special commemorative meeting of the General Assembly on the occasion of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, on Friday, 25 March 2010, at 10 a.m. Statements were delivered by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the General Assembly, representatives of regional groups and the United States as host country.
The keynote address was delivered by the first African-American President of an Ivy League University in the United States - Dr. Ruth Simmons, President of Brown University. The Brown family, after whom the University is named, were involved in the transatlantic slave trade.
H.E. Mrs. Ama Tutu Muna, Minister of Culture of Cameroon presented an ornamental drum to the United Nations Secretary-General.
The commemorative meeting also featured musical recitals by Ms. Tricia Keens-Douglas of Grenada and the National Ballet of Cameroon.
General Assembly Marks Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade Remembrance Day. From left: Deputy Secretary-General Asha Rose Migiro; Secetary-General Ban Ki-moon; Joseph Deiss, President of the sixty-fifth session of the Assembly.
12.45 pm – 1.15 pm
Venue: Dag Hammarskj?ld Library Auditorium, United Nations, New York
Moderator: Mr. Stephane Dujarric, Director, News and Media Division, Department of Public Information
H.E. Mrs. Ama Tutu Muna, Minister of Culture of Cameroon, H.E. Ambassador Raymond Wolfe, Permanent Representative of Jamaica and Chair of the Permanent Memorial Committee and Singer/Actress Ms. Melba Moore.
Living Legacy concert, "Legacy of 30 Million Untold Stories"
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Venue: General Assembly Hall, United Nations, New York
The concert in the United Nations General Assembly Hall featured prominent artists from Africa, the Caribbean and North and South America, including Melba Moore and Randy Weston of the United States of America; Morgan Heritage of Jamaica, Khaira Arby of Mali; Garifuna artist Aurelio Martinez of Honduras, and cultural groups from Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
Narrative from ‘Die Free: A heroic family tale’ by Author and NY1 television host, Ms. Cheryl Wills
Video excerpts from ‘Slave Routes: A Global Vision’
Host of formal ceremony: Mr. Maher Nasser, Director, Outreach Division, Department of Public Information
Mistress of Ceremony: Ms. April Sutton, host of the ‘April in Hollywood’ programme on Time Warner and founder of the annual Diplomat Diversity Gala.
Documents
General Assembly Resolution
Secretary-General’s Reports
- Slavery
- Human trafficking
- Child labour
Economic and Social Council Resolutions
- Slavery
- Human trafficking
OHCHR Report
- (from 2002)
International Instruments:
- Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery (1956)
- Protocol amending the Slavery Convention signed at Geneva on 25 September 1926 (1953)
- Slavery Convention (1926)
Promotional Materials
Poster
