Hardbeatnews, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Mar. 26, 2007: A day after Caribbean leaders paused to remember the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, members of the United Nations General Assembly will follow suit.
A special plenary is planned from 10 a.m. to noon today in commemoration of the anniversary of the abolition of the Middle Passage. Under the theme "Acknowledging the Tragedy, Considering the Legacy," the meeting is set to open with a minute of silence and a performance by South African drummers.
Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Denzil Douglas, will deliver a statement on behalf of the Caribbean Community.
Other commemorative events in the afternoon include a press conference at 12:45 p.m. with Prime Minister Denzil Douglas, Prof. Nettleford, Ambassador Philip Sealy, Chair, CARICOM Ambassadors' Caucus and the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to the United Nations, and Ambassador Crispin Gregoire, Permanent Representative of Dominica to the United Nations.
At 3 p.m. in the Trusteeship Council, CARICOM, in collaboration with the Department of Public Information, will hot a panel discussion on the subject, "The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: the Tragedy, the Legacy." Gil Noble, journalist and TV personality, will moderate the discussion, which will begin with welcoming remarks by Ambassador Christopher Hackett, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations.
Panelists include Professor Franklin Knight (Jamaica), the Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Professor of History and Director of the History of African Americans, John Hopkins Institutions Project; Prof. Ali Mazrui (Kenya), the Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities, Director, Institute of Global Cultural Studies, Professor of Political Science, African Studies and Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture, Binghamton University of the State University of New York; Lincoln Crawford (UK), barrister, author and member of the UK Deputy Prime Minister's National Commission on Slavery; Dr. Naana Opoku Agyeman (Ghana), Lecturer, Cape Coast University, Ghana; Prof. Anthony Martin (Trinidad and Tobago), Professor of African Studies, Wellesley College; and Prof. James Campbell (USA), Chairman of the Slavery Committee, Brown University.
Legislation to officially abolish the trans-Atlantic slave trade was passed in the British Parliament on March 25, 1807. The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act paved the way for the act that abolished slavery in the British Empire some twenty-six years later.~~adz:Right~~
CARICOM countries joined in officially marking the anniversary yesterday with a minute of silence across the region. Chairman of CARICOM and Prime Minister of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, urged all to never forget the horrors of the Middle Passage and slavery.
"It is an opportunity to bring about reconciliation and healing for ourselves and for all the parties in Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Africa, South America and the Indian Ocean, among others, who share this experience," he stated. "But the healing can only come after remembering and acknowledging our respective roles and our collective responsibility for the betrayal, for the atrocities and for the suffering that resulted from African genocide and enslavement."
In Jamaica, Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller urged nationals to "remember the struggles and the sacrifices of our ancestors."
'We remember the price they paid for their own survival and for our privilege to be here, as free, independent Jamaicans," she added. "The horrors of slavery have left their mark on our society, but today, we can stand confident in our ability to overcome, because our ancestors have left us a great legacy of strength, wisdom, courage, creativity and resilience.
We are the inheritors of their triumph over adversity."
In Antigua & Barbuda, Prime Minister Winston Baldwin Spencer, urged nationals there to "take from this day of remembrance a sense of empowerment , & and to create a sense of pride in how far we have come as a people, as a nation."
