Key Facts:

2007 will mark 200 years since the passing of the 1807 British Parliamentary Act to end the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

The 1807 Act did not end the institution of enslavement, nor did it stop the British involvement in perpetrating the practise of African enslavement and subsequent atrocities.

The British involvement in this ‘trade’ in human beings continued beyond the 1807 Act and developed into colonial invasion, the scramble for Africa, colonial rule and occupation as well as on-going systems of oppression and exploitation in Africa and across the world today.

The suppression of truth about the British role in the enslavement of millions of Africans and the ongoing silence about this history, has led to widespread ignorance about Britain’s past, and vast numbers of people in Britain who today do not think that this history is relevant to their lives or to their contemporary realities. As a result, in Britain people are largely unwilling to take responsibility for their role in the perpetration of crimes committed by British ancestral forebears.

Abolition emblems such as ‘Am I not a man and a brother?’ and ‘Am I not a woman and a sister?’, depicted Africans as passive recipients of emancipation rather than of pro-active liberators. This helped to instil in Europeans the racist ideology that Africans are submissive to their European counterparts and set in place a slave/master relationship, which is still maintained and practised by most Europeans today across the globe.

To focus on 2007 as a celebration of European Abolitionists which involved the British government ‘changing its mind’ about enslavement because of moral integrity, would be disrespectful, offensive and historically incorrect. The British government did not simply change its mind about the abhorrent practise which it perpetuated for over 400 years. African resistance both on the continent and in the Diaspora, together with the cross community mass mobilisation in Britain and Europe forced the British government to take up the cause of Abolition.

If collectively we do not engage in work across communities and sectors to build towards 2007, the following will also be key facts:

In 2007 a number of mainstream institutions will organise and host commemorations that continue to glorify mostly white Abolitionists, such as William Wilberforce, whose memory is already entrenched in the consciousness of large sections of the British public, as the only champions of the abolitionist struggle, and whose moral crusades led to Britain becoming the first country in the world to abolish enslavement.

Activities and events will be organised that continue to highlight and emphasise Britain’s role in abolition, as opposed to Britain’s role in enslaving millions of African women, men and children.

The 2007 commemorations will not honour the memories of Africans who were brutally and savagely enslaved by the British.

Nor will the 2007 commemorations pay homage to the African sheroes and heroes of the abolitionist struggle whose resistance led to the overthrowing of the systematically oppressive practise of enslavement.

In the absence of unified and unilateral pressure to support meaningful commemorations, the British government will legitimise it’s avoidance of the issue of Reparations by saying that it is too complex and communities cannot agree on ways forward.

In light of these key facts, ROV therefore advocates a commemorative year which aims to:

Honour the memory of Africans who were stolen, sold, oppressed, raped and murdered by the British and with the full commission and sanction of the British Monarchy and Government.

Explore truthfully and explicitly the involvement of the British and the endorsement of the British government, in the perpetration of the African holocaust and not seek to glorify the role of the British State and its agents as Abolitionists in the global struggle against enslavement.

Highlight the fact that the 1807 Act did not end the institution of enslavement, nor did it stop the British involvement in perpetrating the practise of African enslavement and subsequent atrocities. 2007 must make the necessary connections between the historical injustices committed by Britain, the problems that continue to be created and exacerbated by Britain and the economic and political realities on the continent today. These links must be examined and explored within the context of activities planned for 2007.

Tell the whole and truthful story about motivations behind the Abolition. The passing of the 1807 Parliamentary Act and subsequent laws was not purely driven or motivated by the moral integrity of the British government. African resistance both on the continent and in the Diaspora in its multitude of forms, shook the very structures of enslavement to its oppressive roots. The enslavement of Africans became less profitable to Britain and to Europeans, and it was within this context that the popular and mass mobilisation gained ground. The growing anti-slavery sentiment and the thousands of people who came to oppose the continued enslavement of Africans, became increasingly difficult for the British Establishment to ignore.

Recognise that Africans both on the continent and in the Diaspora resisted their forced captivity and enslavement throughout the duration of the African holocaust. The unsung African sheroes and heroes who have been left out of the history that has been re-told by British institutions and by many professional historians, must be held up as the leaders of the abolition struggle, remembered as the founding fathers and mothers of the emancipation of African people and honoured and named as the champions of self liberation and determination.

Recognise that there is a world of difference between the so-called British ‘champions’ who are held up by the people of Britain as the main proponents, leaders and ‘founding fathers’ of the Abolition movement, and the masses of British people who advanced the abolition struggle and informed the mobilisation.

Recognise that the justifications for African enslavement, which included the creation, perpetuation, internalisation and propagation of racist thought, paved the way for views that Europeans still hold today, while also recognising that not all Abolitionists or British public at the time held these views and many fought (by writing, speaking and actively campaigning) against them.

Acknowledge that many of the images and written materials used as part of the abolition movement at the time, helped to set in place stereotypes of passive and helpless Africans. These are not only still prevalent in present day mindsets, but they have also formed the basis of many oppressive and unjust decisions, agreements and policies that have been made unilaterally by Europeans about Africa and Africans, both on the continent and within the Diaspora.

ROV strongly advocates against commemorative activities which:

• Perpetuate the same lies which have been told for centuries and continue to be told through the British education system and more widely, the British Establishment.
  
• Suppress the whole truth about the abolitionist struggle and the sheroes and heroes who fought for own peoples’ liberation.
  
• Celebrate only the white Abolitionists as the leaders of the global struggle for abolition of African enslavement.
  
• Celebrate 2007 as a 200 year anniversary which marks the ending of African enslavement and fails to acknowledge the subsequent atrocities which continue to oppress African people on the continent and in the Diaspora today.
  
• And which in our belief widen the gaps between communities through lack of willingness to engage with perspectives that are deeply rooted in centuries of Pan African Liberation struggle for global justice.