Quotes on 2007 – Have Your Say

2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade: Honouring the Past & Looking to the Future, 19 January 2006

Extracted from a Press Release:

‘On 19 January influential stakeholders were brought together by Ministers to create an Advisory Group, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, to discuss how best they could maximise their organisations’ contributions to the bicentenary’:

“I am particularly pleased to see that the cultural sector is providing such a strong lead in this area. In Liverpool, Hull, Bristol and London, plans are already well advanced to make 2007 a success. The Heritage Lottery Fund has already committed over £16 million towards exciting and innovative projects to make the bicentenary relevant to people today.

"I want to make sure that in 2007 we pay tribute to all those who had a stake in the abolition – the victims of the slave trade, the ordinary people who campaigned for change, and the abolitionists themselves. I particularly want to ensure that we
recognise those black abolitionists such as Olaudah Equiano who deserve such a prominent place in history and I am glad that a major exhibition of his life and times is being planned in Birmingham in 2007.” Culture Minister, David Lammy

Race Equality Minister, Paul Goggins said:

"This first meeting of the Advisory Group is an important step in determining how
people across the country will commemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in the former British Empire, setting out how to raise awareness of the events of 1807, particularly to young people.

"I believe it is vital that events should involve people from all our diverse cultures
and communities. As with all aspects of cohesion and increasing race equality, the Government can only hope to bring about change with the support of the communities themselves.

"I hope that together we can make 2007 have a real impact on people from
communities all over Britain."

For the full Press Release see: http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/2007-bicentenary

Westminster Hall debate on 2007, 13 Dec 2005

debate http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/
cm051213/halltext//51213h03.htm#51213h03_head0

Parliamentary Debate on the Struggle against Slavery, 14 Oct 2004

“We want a commemoration that does justice to the issue. It might take the form of a day, or of doing something enormous for the bicentenary. It might involve developing national curriculum materials that mean that teachers can feel confident in teaching about slavery in a way that includes morality. I am not convinced that the history of slavery should be only in the history curriculum; it should be in the citizenship curriculum to mark the fact that people can be turned into commodities and how degrading that is. As the debate has shown, the fact that slavery still happens should touch the
humanity of us all. There are a number of ways in which we must pursue the matter. I make a commitment to ensuring that by 2007, we will have a clear view of how the memorial should best be made. I will take on board the views of hon. Members expressed in the debate”. Fiona Mactaggart, Former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Labour)

Also at the same Parliamentary Debate:

“I have never been one for dramatic apologies about everything in our past—
apologising for the last 2,000 years of British history—but in this case there
must be an acknowledgement of the part that this country played in this
appalling atrocity; that what we did was wrong; that it is a scar on our history
and is only partially redeemed by the fact that we led the way in the abolition
of the trade and then the abolition of slavery”.
Gary Streeter MP, (Conservative)

For full Parliamentary debate see Hansard:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/cgi-bin/newhtml_hl?DB=semukparl&STEMMER=en&WORDS=slavery&
ALL=&ANY=&PHRASE=%22slavery%22&CATEGORIES=&SIMPLE
=&SPEAKER=&COLOUR=red&STYLE=s&ANCHOR=41014h01_
spnew14&URL=/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/vo041014/halltext/41014h01.
htm#41014h01_spnew14

“2007 is an unprecedented opportunity for the British government to join others in making groundbreaking progress in repairing the damage of 400 years of enslavement to Africans, African Descendants, white people and communities of other cultural heritage. It is up to all of us, governments and civil society, to acknowledge the continuing effects of past wrongs, and to be prepared to take responsibility for rectifying their effects. It was a mass cross community mobilisation that led in 1807 to the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. 2007 is a new landmark in continuing the journey to make amends for past injustices by addressing their legacies on all our peoples today.” Kofi Mawuli Klu, Joint co-ordinator of Rendezvous of Victory

“2007 reminds us that together people can achieve real change. The abolition of the slave trade was not the result of one person’s actions, but the result of a mass movement which included slaves, former slaves and the general public. Today, through the power of people across communities, we can ensure the bicentenary not only achieves greater understanding of the slave trade and its legacies, but also harnesses
the 1807 spirit to fight for the elimination of slavery today.” Mary Cunneen, Former Director of Anti-Slavery International

"To challenge the structures that perpetuate poverty in the world requires an understanding of the historical context in which those structures have developed. It is therefore vital to make the connections between historical and contemporary slavery and the issues of economic justice today. The 2007 bicentenary not only gives us the opportunity to remember the wrongs of the past but also gives us a chance to reflect upon the fact that people in many countries across the world are still being forced to do the bidding of the rich and powerful through the unsuccessful, undemocratic and unfair economic policy ‘conditions’ attached to aid loans and debt relief." Marlene Barrett, Head of World Development Movement Network

If you have come across any other quotes about the bicentenary OR would like to add a quote yourself, please send them to us at: info@rendezvousofvictory.org