Every March 25, the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade offers the opportunity to honor and remember those who suffered and died under the brutal slavery system. The International Day of Remembrance also aims to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice today.
To more permanently honor the victims, a memorial will be erected at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The winning design for the memorial, “The Ark of Return” by Rodney Leon, an American architect of Haitian descent, was selected through an international competition and announced in September 2013.
In addition to the formal annual observance of the International Day of Remembrance, during the week of March 25, a series of worldwide commemorative activities are planned throughout the year. Events include solemn ceremonies, a film festival, cultural events, debates and exhibitions.
March 26, the Links: one of the conference organizers, invited 35 high schools from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to student videoconference sites with Haiti, Spain and Senegal, and with special guest speaker Ken Morris, the great-great-grandson of African- American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and Rodney Leon.