en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Thu, 20 Jun 2013 03:20:33 GMT 15 By Emmaleah Jones
The theme elected by the U.N. to observe the third International Day of Remembrance of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade (on the 25th of March) was Expressing Freedom through Culture. “We must create a climate in which such abuse and cruelty are inconceivable. One way is by remembering the past and honoring the victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. By reminding ourselves of past injustices, we help to insure that such systematic abuse of human rights will never be repeated,” said the U.N. Secretary, General Ban Ki-Moon in his message in the event. Thanks to technology, over 400 middle and high school students connected (via webcam with other students in three regions of the world: Africa (Ghana and the Gambia); the Caribbean (Cuba, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago); and Europe (The United Kingdom). At each site, students made a presentation in the context of the theme for the year. Students also had the opportunity to ask questions and make comments; many interesting topics were brought up. “The only true freedom we can have comes from embracing our past,” said a representative from Trinidad and Tobago. When talking about a sensitive topic, such as the transatlantic slave trade, it is hard to avoid hateful words while expressing passion. Nevertheless, this Conference managed this nearly impossible feat. However, this gathering was not really about the horrors of slavery, but about the triumphs over slavery. It was not about those enslaved African-Americans against the white man, but the newfound pride that comes from being free and black and knowing the roots of your culture, no matter who you are. Seeing the different cultures together, it is clear that these once torn countries celebrate their freedom and don’t dwell on the negative past. It makes one wonder, is slavery really over or has it just transformed?” This question, asked by a representative of Ghana, puzzled everyone at the conference, mainly because no one was quite sure how to answer it. This question brought up many other points such as modern human trafficking. Some people argued that “discrimination” is a prevalent form of slavery: putting people in their “place” based on superficial, physical features. The most inspiring thing about this conference was that there was a sense of unity and acceptance. This conference was not to dig up the bitter details of the slave trade and the pain and anger that long ago were felt by slaves. This was, however, to rejoice in the freedom that they were denied until the end of slavery (some argue later) and the culture that they were denied of until the end of segregation. This was a commemoration of the culture that descendants of slaves in the slave trade found after 400 years of abuse and insecurity. Every country and person on conference understood that the opposite of love is not hate, but ignorance. We have to rise, together, as one species, not as different races. ]]> Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:25:40 GMT