What does ROV do?

Rendezvous of Victory is a movement which manifests itself in diverse forms of organisational creativity. Primarily though, we are an African-led, community-based, voluntary organisation, working across communities and sectors to bring grass roots community voices and perspectives on issues of Historical and Contemporary Enslavement, Human and Peoples’ Rights and Global Justice pertaining to Pan-Afrikan Heritage Learning, Community Regeneration and Sustainable Development, unequivocally into the mainstream of local, national and international affairs. Established in 2004, the organisation takes its inspiration from the historical work of communities of anti-slavery abolitionist resistance, who mobilised a multi-racial, cross-community, global movement in the struggle to end chattel enslavement, one of the world’s greatest crimes against humanity.

A key area of ROV’s work is to encourage and facilitate dialogue between grass roots and mainstream on the subjects of chattel and colonial enslavement and their 500-year legacies. The full story has not been told, many important voices have been silenced and consequently the issues have become divisive. ROV seeks to break this long silence by bringing those who have long been working on these issues from African communities, to inform the debate, shape action and processes and change what people know about the African story. Solutions to contemporary problems arising from the legacies of chattel and colonial enslavement must be lead by those of us who have been directly affected by these legacies and experiences.

Another significant area of ROV’s work, as part of our People’s university of Lifelong Learning programme (ROV-PULL), is our work on Remembrance. Annually, on or around the 23 August - UNESCO’s declared International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, we organise commemorative and educational events and activities. This historical date marks the moment in 1791, where on a plantation in today’s Haiti, a small uprising gave birth to what was to become perhaps the most influential mass movement of enslaved African peoples throughout the history of chattel enslavement. It was an uprising which would lead to the Haitian Revolution, which, through the self-empowerment, resistance and liberation struggle of African people, galvanised the emancipation of the Peoples of the Caribbean and Americas from chattel enslavement and led to the assertion of Self-Determination and all other Human and People’s Rights for All.

Our role is to broaden and enhance your work to include African perspectives on issues relating to Africans on the continent or in the Diaspora. This can take a number of forms and there are many different ways in which we work together with partners. This could be through organising a joint event or partnership project; providing professional support, development and training; playing an advisory role on cross-sectoral work relating to chattel and colonial enslavement; advising on the development and implementation of frameworks and policies; helping to develop educational resources or providing a speaker at an event, conference or seminar you are organising. Our contribution to your work will be tailored to meet your needs and the demands of your community or the sector you work in.

ROV works with partners locally, nationally and internationally, and if you fit into any of the categories below, we will find ways of working with you:

• Community and voluntary organisations
  
• Grassroots Networks and organisations
  
• Educational institutions and agencies
  
• Museums, Libraries and Archives
  
• Governmental Departments
  
• Local Authority depts for community cohesion and renewal
  
• Community development/empowerment networks
  
• Race Equality councils or groupings
  
• Social inclusion units and agencies
  
• MPs, politicians and local councillors
  
• Youth groups and clubs
  
• Students, universities and colleges
  
• Professional academics and scholars
  
• Trade Unions and groupings within the trade union structures
  
• Non governmental Organisations (NGOs)
  
• Health practitioners and specialists
  
• Intergovernmental Organisations (eg UNESCO)
  
• Interfaith networks
  
• Heritage organisations
  
• Arts companies, networks and cultural groups
  
• Artists and performers
  
• Law and enforcement agents
  

ROV has also partnered with Anti-Slavery International and the World Development Movement, to establish the 2007 Bicentenary Cross-Community Forum , a learning initiative which aims to create and facilitate a space for dialogue and alliance building on issues connected to the legacies of chattel and colonial enslavement, related global injustices today and contemporary forms of slavery. The Cross-Community Forum runs three times a year in different parts of the country and produces an e-bulletin, also three times a year, which provides an opportunity for readers and contributors to further discussions in written form and to remain informed about some of the current thinking around 2007. See the Cross-Community Forum pages for further information.

ROV also currently sits on various committees and advisory groups to input into discussions on planning events and activities for the 2007 Bicentenary. The groups are from different sectors, and our role is emphatically to introduce African dimensions into current thinking and to get the whole story of abolition told, not excluding but going beyond white Parliamentarians and abolitionists. We also stress that the story of abolition cannot be told without placing it in the context of what happened before Europeans introduced enslavement to the African continent and what happened after the 1807 Act was passed.

In March 2005 ROV organised, in collaboration with Anti-Slavery International and National Museums Liverpool, the Museums and Community Forum: Towards 2007, at the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol. This brought together national and local heritage stakeholders to begin to build understanding towards 2007 with the aim of ensuring that the 2007 Commemoration activities make a positive difference to people’s lives.

Who’s involved in running the organisation?

ROV has two Joint Co-ordinators, Kofi Mawuli Klu and Martine Miel who carry out ROV’s work. The charitable, voluntary organisation also has a Management Committee which includes three trustees who are Malika Bediako (Chair of ROV), Esther Stanford and Kwame Adofo Sampong. The group meets regularly to plan and discuss programmes of work, governance issues and approaches to organisational delivery.

How can we work with you?

It’s simple. E-mail us at: info@rendezvousofvictory.org
Or call us on: 07984 996784 or 07949 730836
We are pleased to meet with you to discuss how we could work together.

See also:
2007 Bicentenary
Cross Community Forum
ROV Peoples’ University of Lifelong Learning (ROV-PULL)