Grenada joins in Tribute to Victims of Slavery

Ambassador Williams

NEW YORK, March 26, 2012 - Today’s aspirations of people of African descent in the Americas reflect global aspirations and their contributions are found in every walk of life, Grenada’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Dessima Williams, said on Monday. 

“Thus our collective responsibility is to carry on the legacy of human dignity, justice and freedom in this hollowed institution of the United Nations,” Ambassador Williams said in her remarks delivered on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC) at the commemorative meeting on the occasion of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

“In Cuba, this year marks the 200 Anniversary of José Antonio Aponte´s uprising. In their long struggle for independence, African slaves and their descendants contribute decisively to shaping the Cuban nationality”.

In 2007, the General Assembly designated 25 March as the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade to honour the 28 million estimated Africans who were violently removed and cast into slavery, mainly in colonies in North America, South America and the Caribbean.

Ambassador Williams said that our collective responsibility is to carry on the legacy of human dignity, justice and freedom in this hollowed institution of the United Nations. 

“And so we bow low to bravery in the creation of freedom. We are proud that our African ancestors in the Caribbean and Latin America left their indelible mark for freedom. That is our shining inheritance, our unmitigated responsibility,” she said.  

“We recognise the strong solidarity and support that exists between CARICOM and African group who are the main member states driving the initiatives related to this Commemoration.”

Since Friday, the UN has been hosting a series of events to pay tribute to the men and women who bravely fought against the transatlantic trade as well as those who continue to stand up against modern forms of slavery.

This year’s commemoration at UN Headquarters includes an exhibition of images of heroes and activists, original documents, historical illustrated newspapers and artefacts, as well as an evening of cultural and culinary specialties of Africa and a global student videoconference.

In addition, plans are underway to erect a permanent memorial in UN Headquarters complex to remind the world that millions of Africans were violently removed from their homelands, abused and robbed of their dignity over the course of four centuries during the transatlantic slave trade.