Barbados To Participate In Remembrance Of Victims Of Slavery Meeting

Barbados’ Poet Laureate, Esther Phillips, will be among the distinguished guests participating in The United Nations General Assembly’s meeting to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Ms. Phiilips will deliver the keynote address to the General Assembly (GA) in New York, at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, before an audience that includes UN Secretary General António Guterres, and the President of the GA Annalena Baerbock.

The theme for this year’s celebration is Justice in Action: Confronting History, Advancing Dignity, Empowering Futures.

Interested persons may view the discussion at https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1t/k1to0zloza.

Another event slated for the day’s proceedings is a roundtable discussion, where over 100 high school and university students are expected to attend and engage with the poet laureate on her presentation, and other aspects of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations, François Jackman, will give the welcome remarks at that session, scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m. 

On Tuesday, March 24, Ms. Phillips will be among the invited guests at the opening of the exhibition A History Exposed: The Enslavement of Black People in Canada, in the United Nations Visitors’ Lobby.             

The United Nations Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery was established in 2007 to raise awareness about the history of the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans, its impact on the modern world and its legacies, including racism and prejudice. (PR/GIS)