Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
March 25 · Level 9 · #412 of 2238
This UN day honours the millions of people who were taken from Africa and forced into slavery. It also asks us to notice how the slave trade still echoes in racism and inequality today.
How it is celebrated: schools and museums hold lessons, exhibitions and discussions, while the United Nations hosts speeches and memorial ceremonies. In many places people visit monuments to lay flowers and stand in silence.
The date points back to 25 March 1807, when the British Parliament passed a law abolishing the slave trade across the British Empire. A memorial called the Ark of Return stands outside UN headquarters in New York.