A special blog by Senior Research and Policy & Research Officer, Angelique Retief
On this ‘International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade’, we find ourselves reflecting on the recommendations of Project T.R.U.T.H , especially in light of some of the recent photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The couple were pictured on Wednesday on one side of a chain-linked fence, with Jamaicans on the other side reaching through to try and shake their hands. They have been met with protests since landing in the country earlier this week over the legacy of slavery.
Protests in Jamaica over royal visit: ‘The monarchy is a relic’ - video from The Guardian
Project T.R.U.T.H (Telling Restoring Understanding our Tapestry and History) report that was commissioned by Bristol City Council and the Bristol Legacy Steering Group, produced by Black South West Network in partnership with Afrikan ConneXions Consortium as a result of more than two years’ work by the Council’s Legacy Steering Group (LSG) Project T.R.U.T.H subgroup. The use of TTEA as opposed to ‘slave trade’ was deliberate and a central part of the Project T.R.U.T.H.
Watch the Facebook Live with the Steering Group by clicking the link below.
Although slavery has existed in various forms for centuries, the chattel aspect of the Transatlantic Trafficking of Enslaved Afrikans was unique in its form and in relation to the continued impact, expressing itself in the racial injustices experienced by descendants today. The period of Afrikan enslavement was the beginning of the global economy and all the dilemmas that presents us with today.
“ So, when we talk about low-income countries being introduced to the global economy, we must remember that they were always a part of the global economy. It is not their participation which should be in question, but the power relations within the system. ”
Acknowledging Bristol’s history is equally important because of the decisive role the city had in that beginning and the industrialisation of the trade of people.
The suffering and sacrifice of trafficked Afrikans has never been adequately recognised or honoured. The issue centres on the memory of Afrikan ancestors and how they are to be remembered - there are voices missing and this research attempted to create a space where a range of voices and stories could be illuminated and a fuller, more detailed, picture emerge. Project T.R.U.T.H is about city repair and atonement - community repairs, family repairs as well as the psychology of the city and Afrikan Heritage Communities who continue to be disenfranchised because of this history, its ramifications, and legacies today.