An International Museum of Slavery will open in Liverpool this week to mark the bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade – the first national museum in the world to deal with transatlantic slavery and its legacies.
It will open on 23 August, Slavery Remembrance Day 2007, a day that commemorates the uprising of enslaved Africans on the island of St Domingo (modern Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in 1791.
The International Slavery Museum will feature powerful and moving displays about the story of the transatlantic slave trade, uncovering the largely hidden account of the exploitation of Africa and Africans. Yet the story told is not only of disaster, but also of the remarkable survival of African cultures. The museum addresses the legacy of transatlantic slavery, both contemporary as well as historic, reflecting issues that are relevant today to Britain, as well as mainland Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean and Africa.
Exploring issues such as freedom, identity, human rights and cultural change, the museum will work to fight racism and racial hostility through its comprehensive education programmes. It is already working in partnership with organisations such as the Anthony Walker Foundation – which has a learning facility dedicated to murdered Merseyside teenager Anthony Walker within the museum. The Anthony Walker Education Centre will provide a space for special education sessions about the legacy of racial intolerance left behind by the transatlantic slave trade.