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Monday, August 23, has been designated by the United Nations as the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. This date marks the anniversary of the 1791 slave revolt in Santo Domingo, a key moment on the road to abolition.
If the practice of slavery finally became illegal in the United States on June 19, 1865, August 23, 1791 marked an important starting point.
On that day, slaves in Santo Domingo, present-day Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, sparked an uprising that would play a vital role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. The uprising inspired the Haitian Revolution which was led by blacks and mestizos against colonial rulers.
The idea of UN Remembrance Day is to inscribe the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples. The commemoration is intended to be an opportunity for a collective reflection on the causes, modalities and consequences of this tragedy, and for an analysis of the interactions it sparked between Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean.
Millions are still enslaved
According to Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, “We honor the memory of the men and women who, in Santo Domingo in 1791, revolted and paved the way for the end of slavery and dehumanization. We honor their memory and that of all the other victims of slavery ”.
Azoulay insists that the question of memory is essential.
“To learn the lessons of this history,” she says, “we must lay bare this system, deconstruct the rhetorical and pseudo-scientific mechanisms that justify it; we must refuse any concession or apology which itself constitutes a compromise of principles.
“Such lucidity is the fundamental requirement for the reconciliation of memory and the fight against all current forms of slavery, which continue to affect millions of people, especially women and children.
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