Remembrance of the slave trade and of its abolition

PRESS RELEASE

Remembrance of the slave trade and of its abolition

Colonialism Reparation calls on all Member States of UNESCO to worthily celebrate 23 August of each year the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and of its Abolition.

The night of 22 to 23 August 1791, in Santo Domingo (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) saw the beginning of the slave uprising that would play a crucial role in the abolition of the slave trade.

On 12 November 1997, the UNESCO General Conference, during its ninth session, has proclaimed the 23 August of every year the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and of its Abolition, inviting “Member States to give this international day all due prominence and to mobilize their educational, scientific, artistic and cultural communities, youth and, in general, civil society”.

On August 23, 2011 fourteen states have organized some events to mark this day (Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Madagascar, Senegal, Argentina, Colombia, Honduras, Uruguay, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom and Canada).

Unfortunately, on 23 August 2012 only one state has organized events to celebrate the date (Brazil).

Colonialism Reparation calls on all the Member States of UNESCO to worthily celebrate 23 August of each year the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and of its Abolition, aware that it has dramatically influenced the last five centuries of the world history and that racism will be defeated only by overcoming it.

Colonialism Reparation is an international movement for the acknowledgement, the reconciliation, the apologies and the reparations of colonialism. It develops nonviolent activities at a personal and institutional level to create awareness of the situation and to make sure that the colonizing nations which have given rise to situations of inhumane injustice and suffering condemn their colonial actions recognizing their behavior as criminal, they reconcile with their past, apologize and finally pay reparations to the colonized countries.

© Scoop Media