The event was scheduled for Tuesday, although the date was recently celebrated on March 25.
As UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized on that occasion, it is urgent to learn and reflect on the stories of the resistance of those people who suffered from slavery and uprooted from their communities in Africa.
He noted that the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade was a time to honor the millions of Africans uprooted from their homes.
Likewise, he advocated a rebellion against racism everywhere, because many people of African descent still faced discrimination, marginalization and exclusion.
It epitomized the imbalance of political, economic and structural forces present in the colonial system, slavery and exploitation denying equal opportunities and justice, as per the headline.
We will never know every act of resistance — big or small — to those who suffered in the transatlantic slave trade, Guterres stressed, but these stories are essential to understanding a past whose most pernicious and enduring legacy still mars our present: racism.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations concluded his message for the day, “On this International Day, let us unite against racism and together build societies on the basis of dignity, equality and solidarity.”
Every March 25, the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade provides an opportunity to honor and remember those who suffered and died at the hands of that brutal regime.
In addition, the celebration aims to raise awareness of the dangers of racism and prejudice today.
ACL / IFB
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