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International Day of Remembrance
of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
2012 Commemoration
"Honouring the Heroes, Resisters and Survivors"
Friday,
23 March
NGO Briefing: Transatlantic
slave trade:
Honouring the Heroes, Resisters and Survivors 10:00 am
– 12.30 pm
Panellists: Historian and writer Sylviane Diouf, Curator of
Digtal 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
The briefing is to be webcast live.
Moderator: USG Akasaka, Department of Public Information
Venue:
Conference Room 3, North Lawn Building, United Nations, New
York
Weekend of 24-25 March
Radio Features on the slave trade from the African Diaspora
http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/tag/slavery/
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The Accompong Maroons of Jamaica (English)
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Elder Ghanaian recalls stories of the slave trade in Ghana
(English)
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Ghanaian educator talks about Ghanaians before slaver
(English)
·
Ghanaian University of Cape Coast Vice Chancellor talks
about the transatlantic slave trade (English)
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Traditional Columbian music (Spanish)
·
Quilombo Communities in Brazil (Portuguese)
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African roots in Brazil (Portuguese)
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Prof Felix A Chami, Archeologist with UNESCO, explains how
local Tanzanians worked with British foreigners to combat
the slave trade (Kiswahili)
Monday, 26 March
Solemn Commemorative meeting 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
The President of the General Assembly is convening 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 are to be
delivered by the Deputy Secretary-General of the United
Nations, the President of the General Assembly,
representatives of regional groups.
The keynote address will be 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 is also to feature the National
Ballet of Cameroon.
Venue:
General Assembly Hall, United Nations, New York
Tuesday, 27 March
Honouring the Heroes, Resisters and Survivors: Exhibit
Opening & Cultural Culinary evening: 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Inauguration of the exhibition, comprising displays from the
following exhibitors: Alex Locadia, Earl Pinto Collection,
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, UNESCO, Yale
University Press, UN Radio. Exhibit will include 20 images
of heroes and activists, original documents, historical
illustrated newspapers and artifacts from a private 19th
century collection, the painting “For Whom the Bell Tolls”,
maps and radio interviews
An evening of African and Caribbean cuisine and culture will
follow.
Master of Ceremony: Mr. Ramu Damodaran, Deputy Director,
Outreach Division, DPI
Remarks by: [TBA]
Venue:
Main Gallery, Visitors’ Lobby, United Nations, New York
Cultural Culinary Evening:
Chef and Culinary consultant Scott Barton, Instructor,
Institute for Culinary Education, and Doctoral student in
Food Studies at NYU will discuss the Columbian exchange, as
well as the effects of plantation agriculture relative to
human trafficking in the Atlantic trade.
Performances by the National Ballet of Cameroon. African
and Caribbean cuisine served.
Master of Ceremony: Mr. Ramu Damodaran, Deputy Director,
Outreach Division, DPI
Venue:
Main Gallery, Visitors’ Lobby, UN Headquarters, New York
Wednesday,
28 March
Film Screening: 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Slavery By Another Name (Sam Pollard, 2012) (1 hr 30 mins)
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.
Presenter: Sam Pollard, Producer of “Slavery By Another
Name”
Question & Answer session
Friday, 30 March
Global Student Videoconference - 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, is
organizing a global video conference for students from
primary and secondary educational institutions in six
countries – Bermuda (African Diaspora Heritage Trail), the
Dominican Republic (Amistad America), The Gambia, Ghana, the
United Kingdom and the United States (National Underground
Railroad Freedom Center.
This live interactive forum will aim to:
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Link the history of the transatlantic slave trade to the
places where people live;
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Share local stories about heroes, resisters and survivors to
raise global awareness of the wide spread resistance to
slavery;
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Consider the legacy of slavery and its link to racism and
prejudice; and,
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Discuss concrete actions that can be taken to address this
problem.
Welcoming remarks by Ms. Nathalie Leroy, Chief, Education
Outreach Cluster
The briefing is to be webcast live.
Moderator: Christopher Moore, Curator and Special Projects
Coordinator, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Venue:
Conference Room 2, North Lawn Building, United Nations, New
York
Other activities
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“The role of education in resistance and survival “,
virtual Academic symposium organized by Benedict College, in
Columbia, South Carolina, the UN Academic Impact Hub on
Human Rights, Tuesday 27 March
o
Linked to Monmouth University, The College of Staten Island,
and a couple of universities abroad.
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Concert
featuring prominent artists from Africa, the Americas and
the Caribbean; [venue and date to be confirmed]
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UN Information Centres
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Accra:
Student field trip to Cape Coast Castle (UNESCO World
Heritage site), followed by student activities including
stories and poems
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Ankara:
Display of the travelling exhibition at Ankara’s main metro
station in downtown Kizilay
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Antananarivo:
Exhibition contest, Film screening, Student Conference at
the University with expert panel on human rights
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Brazzaville:
Screening of “Slave Routes: A Global Vision” for students
and NGOs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, followed by
panel discussion
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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
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Dhaka:
exhibit, seminar, poetry recitation, short drama
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Geneva:
Film screening
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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
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Ouagadougou:
Itinerant exhibition of photos, posters, books, films, maps,
in 10 high schools in Burkina Faso, at the Parliament, and
on UNIC premises
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Pretoria:
Lecture in Cape Town by UNIC Director followed by a
discussion
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Travelling exhibition
“The Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade” will be
exhibited at various locations worldwide, including UNICs,
but also universities.
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