EU says slavery inflicted “untold suffering”, hints at reparations
Reuters The European Union said on Tuesday that Europe’s slave-trading past inflicted “untold suffering” on millions of people and hinted at the need for reparations for what it described as a “crime against humanity”. From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported by mostly European ships […]
Lisbon mayor accused of “boycotting” slavery memorial
Lisbon, PortugalReuters The Mayor of Lisbon has been accused of “boycotting” Portugal’s first memorial to victims of slavery, a long-delayed project in a country still struggling to confront its role in the transatlantic slave trade. Proposed over five years ago by Portugal’s Association of African Descendants (DJASS), the memorial – which would consist of rows […]
Essay: The US Supreme Court’s colourblindness
US pastor and academic CHERYL TOWNSEND GILKES says it’s a different colourblindness than the one envisioned in Martin Luther King, Jr’s, ‘Dream’ speech….
King apologises for Netherlands’ historic role in slavery
Amsterdam, The NetherlandsReuters Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Saturday apologised for the Netherlands’ historic involvement in slavery and the effects that it still has today. The Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander attends the National Remembrance Day of Slavery in the Oosterpark, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 1st July, 2023. PICTURE: Remko de Waal/Pool via Reuters The King was speaking […]
Sight-Seeing: Should white Christians celebrate Juneteenth?
CHUCK MINGO, founder of Courageous Love and a teaching pastor at Crossroads Church in Ohio, says yes, and that, like any celebration, it’s better with friends…
Storm fells Sierra Leone’s historic cotton tree, a symbol of freedom
Freetown, Sierra LeoneReuters A giant tree that towered over Sierra Leone’s capital for centuries and symbolised freedom to its early residents crashed down overnight during a heavy rainstorm. President Julius Maada Bio called the toppling of the famed tree “a great loss to the nation” as crowds gathered to look at the wrecked trunk. An […]
Essay: Slavery’s historical link to marriage is still at play in some African societies
BENEDETTA ROSSI, professor of history at UCL, looks at the incidence of ‘slave marriages’ past – and present…
Experts link graves to one of the oldest Black churches in US
United StatesAP Three men whose graves were found at the original site of one of the nation’s oldest Black churches were members of its congregation in the early 19th century, a team of archaeologists and scientists in Virginia announced last week The First Baptist Church was formed in 1776 by free and enslaved Black people […]
Brazil creates rights medal named after Black writer, replacing princess
Brasilia, BrazilReuters Brazil’s leftist government on Monday abolished a human rights medal that former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro had named after the daughter of the country’s last monarch, replacing it with a prize named after a Black writer and abolitionist. The medal will now be named after Luiz Gama, who was a leader of the […]
US faith leaders urge Biden to sign executive order for reparations study by Juneteenth
United StatesRNS More than 200 US interfaith leaders have requested that President Joe Biden establish a commission to study reparations for African Americans by signing an executive order by the newly recognised federal holiday Juneteenth. “Our faith traditions hold as central the essential worth of each person as having been created in the image of […]