2012 Remembrance Programme
“Honouring the Heroes, Resisters and Survivors"
The tragic transatlantic slave trade, which marked one of the darkest chapters in human history, lasted for 400 years, despite a spirited resistance by the millions of enslaved peoples.
The transatlantic slave trade, often known as the triangular trade, connected the economies of three continents. It is estimated that between 15 to 20 million people, men, women and children, were deported from their homes and sold as slaves in the different slave trading systems.
The yearly remembrance serves not only as an opportunity to reflect on those that suffered and perished at the hands of slavery, but also as an occasion to raise awareness to the world’s youth about the dangers of racism and prejudice.
The theme for 2012 of "Honouring the Heroes, Resisters and Survivors" of the Transatlantic Slave Trade paid tribute to the brave men and women who valiantly fought against the inhumane practices of slavery.
Zumbi dos Palmares, Harriet Tubman and an anonymous slave (shown in the poster above), like so many others who struggled for freedom, represent the theme of the 2012 International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. There are many more heroes who were honoured during the commemoration, which included an exhibit on the theme.
Message of the United Nations Secretary-General | Real Life Heroes Testimony | Calendar of Events
Message of the United Nations Secretary-General
The transatlantic slave trade was a tragedy because of slavery’s fundamental barbarism and immense scope, and because of its organized, systematic nature. One set of human beings — the traders, owners and others who participated in and profited from this evil enterprise " elevated themselves above another, assaulting their victims’ very essence.
"I can remember", said one former slave in recorded testimony now posted on the UN website, when "they carried my father away and carried two sisters and one brother, and left me. This International Day was established for this woman — and for the many millions of people whose lives and families were destroyed, and whose dignity was so brutally negated.
As a reminder for future generations of the inhumane suffering endured by the victims over a 400-year period, and as a tribute to the spirited resistance to the system, a permanent memorial is to be erected at UN Headquarters. I am proud that the United Nations will host a memorial symbolizing universal recognition of a tragedy that befell Africans and people of African descent and disgraced humankind as a whole.
In addition to remembering the crimes of the slave trade, we also use this Day to teach about the causes and consequences of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. And we pledge to be ever vigilant about the many contemporary forms of slavery, including debt bondage, trafficking in persons, sexual exploitation, the worst forms of child labour, forced marriage and the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.
New laws, institutions and mindsets have given us better tools for the struggle against these ills. Yet we must also recognize that bias has increased in many parts of the world. We see discriminatory practices gaining political, moral and even legal recognition, including through the platforms of some political parties and organizations and the dissemination through modern communication technologies of ideas based on the notion of racial superiority.
The United Nations remains firmly committed to countering such hateful acts and trends. This is a matter of principle, in keeping with our Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Political Declaration adopted at last year’s High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. But it is also a means to an end: intolerance and discrimination are among the roots of conflicts and are major obstacles to development.
The theme of this year’s observance, "Honouring the heroes, resisters and survivors", recognizes those who stood up against slavery when the trade was at its height, and those who stand up now to protect against its manifestations today. On this International Day, let us all reaffirm our commitment to combating racism and building societies based on justice, equality and solidarity.
Ban Ki-moon
Real life heroes
Zumbi dos Palmares, Harriet Tubman and an anonymous slave represent all who struggled for freedom.
Zumbi dos Palmares
Zumbi was the last leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares, a fugitive community of escaped slaves and others in colonial Brazil that developed from 1605 until its suppression in 1694.
Fluent in Portuguese and Latin, Zumbi was born free in Palmares in 1655, and is believed to have been a descendant of the Imbangala warriors of Angola.
In 1693, the Portuguese launched a military assault against Zumbi and the Quilombo. Overmatched by the Portuguese artillery, the republic’s central settlement fell. Zumbi evaded capture for two years before being betrayed by a captured mulatto who was offered freedom in exchange for information about Zumbi’s whereabouts.
Zumbi was ultimately apprehended and beheaded on 20 November, 1695.
Today, 20 November is celebrated as "Dia da Consciência Negra" (The Day of Black Awareness) in honour of the contributions of the nation’s African ancestry and to dissolve the perception of Africans' inferiority in society. Zumbi remains a formative symbolic figure of the twentieth-century Afro-Brazilian movement.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman is perhaps the most prominent face of the Underground Railroad, the famed network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th century slaves in the United States to escape to free states.
Born a slave in Maryland in 1820, Harriet Tubman escaped to Philadelphia in 1849, but returned to Maryland shortly after to rescue her family. In defiance of The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which decreed that all runaway slaves be brought back to their masters, Harriet conducted over a dozen missions to rescue over 70 slaves.
In 1859, Harriet helped to recruit men for John Brown’s infamous raid on Harpers Ferry Armory aimed to incite a slave revolt. While the raid was unsuccessful, it encouraged the onset of the Civil War.
During the Civil War, Harriet served as a cook, nurse and later as a scout and spy for the Union Army.
In her later years, Harriet was a prominent force behind the women’s suffrage movement in New York State.
She died in 1913 at age 93, having left behind an enduring legacy of courage, grace and resiliency.
Calendar of Events
NGO Briefing: "Transatlantic Slave Trade: Honouring the Heroes, Resisters and Survivors"
Friday, 23 March 2012, 10:00 am – 12.30 pm, in the ECOSOC Chamber, North Lawn Building, United Nations, New York
You can watch the video of the NGO briefing.
Panellists:
- Historian and writer Sylviane Diouf, Curator of Digital Collections at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture;
- Sasha Turner, Assistant Professor of History, Quinnipiac University;
- Dr. Rita Pemberton, Trinidad and Tobago, History Professor at the University of the West Indies, author of several books on the topic of slavery;
- Herb Boyd, author, journalist and activist.
Moderator:
- USG Akasaka, Department of Public Information
Radio Features
During the weekend of 24 - 25 March 2012, several radio features on the slave trade from the African Diaspora will be broadcast.
- The origins of the Slave Trade (English)
- The Accompong Maroons of Jamaica (English)
- Former US slaves recall their days of slavery (English)
- Ghanaian educator talks about Ghanaians before slavery (English)
- Ghanaian University of Cape Coast Vice Chancellor talks about the transatlantic slave trade (English)
- Before Independence, Systemized Slavery in Haiti (French)
- Telling the truth about African slaves in Cuba (Spanish)
- Traditional Colombian music (Spanish)
- Quilombo Communities in Brazil (Portuguese)
- African roots of Brazil (Portuguese)
- Archaeology Professor and member of UNESCO Science Committee on the Transatlantic Slave Trade (Kiswahili)
Solemn Commemorative Meeting
Monday, 26 March 2012, 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm, General Assembly Hall, 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 Monday, 26 March 2012, at 3 pm. Statements were delivered by, the President of the General Assembly, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, representatives of regional groups and of the Host Country.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Rick Kittles, Scientific Director of the Washington, D.C.-based African Ancestry Inc., an ancestry tracing company that "helps the descendents of enslaved Africans find their roots" via DNA testing, Associate professor in the Department of Medicine and the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
The commemorative meeting also featured the National Ballet of Cameroon.
"Honouring the Heroes, Resisters and Survivors": Exhibit Opening and Cultural Culinary Evening
Tuesday, 27 March 2012, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm, Main Gallery, Visitors’ Lobby, United Nations, New York. The Master of Ceremony was Ms. Deborah Seward, Director, Strategic Communications Division, Department of Public Information.
The exhibition comprises displays from the following exhibitors: Alex Locadia, Earl Pinto Collection, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, UNESCO, Yale University Press, UN Radio. The exhibit includes images of heroes and activists, original documents, historical illustrated newspapers and artifacts from a private 19th century collection, the installation "For Whom the Bell Tolls", maps and radio interviews.
An evening of African and Caribbean cuisine and culture followed. Chef and Culinary consultant Scott Barton, Instructor, Institute for Culinary Education, and Doctoral student in Food Studies at NYU discussed the Columbian exchange and explained the historical similarities between the foods and culinary practices of African countries from which enslaved Africans came and the countries to which they were brought.
The cultural evening also featured performances by the National Ballet of Cameroon.
Film Screening: "Slavery By Another Name" (Sam Pollard, 2012) (1 hr 30 mins)
Wednesday, 28 March 2012, 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm, including a questions & answers session, Conference Room 2, North Lawn Building, United Nations, New York. Presenter: Sam Pollard, Producer
Based on Douglas A. Blackmon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, the film illuminates how in the years following the Civil War, insidious new forms of forced labour emerged in the American South, persisting until the onset of World War II.
Global Student Videoconference: "New Approaches to Teaching African History and the Transatlantic Slave Trade"
Friday, 30 March 2012, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm, in Conference Room 2, North Lawn Building, United Nations, New York
The UN Department of Public Information, in collaboration with UNESCO ASPnet programme and an advisory group, organized a global video conference for students from primary and secondary educational institutions in five countries – Bermuda (African Diaspora Heritage Trail), the Dominican Republic (Amistad America), the Gambia, Ghana and the United States.
You can watch the global video conference which:
- Linked the history of the transatlantic slave trade to the places where people live;
- Shared local stories about heroes, resisters and survivors to raise global awareness of the wide spread resistance to slavery;
- Considered the legacy of slavery and its link to racism and prejudice; and
- Discussed concrete actions that can be taken to address this problem.
Ms. Nathalie Leroy, Chief, Education Outreach Cluster, welcomed the participants and opened the videoconference.
The moderator was Mr. Christopher Moore, Curator and Special Projects Coordinator, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Concert
Concert featuring Third World Band of Jamaica, Mbaye Dieye Faye and Sing Sing Rhythm of Senegal, Chen Lo and the Lo Frequency Band of the USA, Rachelle Jeanty of Haiti and Canada and April Sutton as Master of Ceremonies
Tuesday, 15 May 2012 in the UN General Assembly Hall from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Download the programme
UN Radio feature: Concert and exhibition on slave trade at UN
Other Activities
UN Information Centres
- Accra: Student field trip to Cape Coast Castle (UNESCO World Heritage site), followed by student activities including stories and poems
- Ankara: Display of the travelling exhibition at Ankara’s main metro station in downtown Kizilay
- Antananarivo: Exhibition contest, Film screening, Student Conference at the University with expert panel on human rights
- Brazzaville: Screening of "Slave Routes: A Global Vision" for students and NGOs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, followed by panel discussion
- Dar Es Salaam: Organized with the Youth of the UN Association — Visit to a former major slave trading post, Bagamayo, for a group of primary and high school students with briefing on impact of slave trade
- Dhaka: Exhibit, seminar, poetry recitation, short drama
- Geneva: Film screening
- Mexico City: Screening of "Slave Routes: A Global Vision" and "Women Voices from la Costa Chica de Guerrero y Oaxaca", along with mini-website, and artistic workshops with the Memoria and Tolerancia Museum about the slave trade
- Ouagadougou: Itinerant exhibition of photos, posters, books, films, maps, in ten high schools in Burkina Faso, at the Parliament, and on UNIC premises
- Pretoria: Lecture in Cape Town by UNIC Director followed by a discussion
Travelling exhibition "The Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade" will be exhibited at various locations worldwide, including UNICs, and at universities.