A new exhibit in the Visitors Lobby challenges assumptions, even for those deeply engaged in human rights and historical remembrance.  A History Exposed: The Enslavement of Black People in Canada, on view 18 March through 20 April, confronts more than two centuries of enslavement under French and British colonial rule. It examines Canada’s role in the transatlantic system that forcibly displaced millions of Africans.

“This powerful exhibit sheds light on the complex realities and long-silenced histories of enslavement,” said Secretary‑General António Guterres. “It honours the resilience, creativity and enduring cultural traditions of communities who sustained their humanity in the face of profound injustice and unimaginable hardship.”

Through powerful storytelling and archival material, the exhibition tells the stories of people like Marie Josèphe Angélique, whose act of resistance in Montreal in 1734 has become emblematic of the struggle for freedom.

“A History Exposed shines a necessary light on a chapter of Canadian history that was too long overlooked. In acknowledging the enslavement of Black people in Canada, we honour the resilience of those who suffered and accept our responsibility to remember, to educate, and to confront the legacies of slavery that persist today,” said Ambassador David Lametti, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations.

The exhibition was created by the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in partnership with the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia and guest curated by Dr. Afua Cooper.

The display of the exhibit was organized by the United Nations Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery.

Opening Reception – 24 March

UN colleagues and delegates are invited to the opening reception on Tuesday, 24 March, starting at 6:15 p.m. in the Visitors’ Lobby. Please RSVP by 20 March. 

General Assembly Commemoration – 25 March

The following day, on 25 March, the General Assembly will hold its annual commemorative meeting of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This year’s ceremony will feature remarks from Esther Phillips, Barbados’ Poet Laureate, and Shahaddah Jack, Toronto’s first Youth Poet Laureate.

The entire GA commemorative event can be watched live and on-demand at https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1t/k1to0zloza.