Slavery Remembrance Day – 23 August 2026
August 21, 2026
To commemorate Slavery Remembrance Day 2026, Barristers Jacqueline Deans and Celestine Greenwood share their reflections:
Slavery Remembrance Week 2026:
Is a time of reflection and remembrance. It is a painful part of our shared history, but one that we must never forget. We honour the millions of men, women, and children who suffered through the atrocities of the transatlantic slave trade and recognise the strength and resilience of those who endured unimaginable cruelty.
We also pay tribute to individuals such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, whose courage, leadership, and determination helped advance the fight against slavery. The legacy of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman also reminds us that Black history is about far more than slavery. Before the transatlantic slave trade, African civilisations made significant contributions to science, mathematics, art and architecture. Remembering this rich and remarkable heritage helps us to recognise not only the suffering endured, but also the innovation, achievement and resilience of African people that have shaped our world.
Although centuries have passed, the legacy of this atrocity continues to affect communities around the world. Its impact can still be felt both physically and psychologically, through inequalities, disadvantage, and intergenerational trauma. The legacy of slavery also continues to influence how people and communities are perceived and treated, shaping attitudes, opportunities, and experiences in ways that still persist today.
As we remember those who suffered, we must also acknowledge the lasting consequences of slavery and renew our commitment to challenging prejudice, promoting understanding, and building a more just and equitable society for future generations. By working together, we can help address the inequalities and perceptions that continue to affect many communities and ensure that the lessons of this history lead to positive and fruitful change for future generations.
Today, 23rd August, is the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, often more simply referred to as ‘Slavery Remembrance Day.’
It is a day to remember that during the transatlantic slave trade nearly 13 million men, women and children were kidnapped from their homelands in Africa and that around 2 million of those men, women and children died during the ‘Middle Passage,’ the sea journey between Africa and the Americas. Some died as a result of the horrific conditions on board the ships that carried them West, others no doubt met a similar fate to those held aboard the infamous slave ship, The Zong, who were discarded overboard to drown when water supplies ran low, and some died attempting to escape.
It is a day to remember the roles our cities and people played in this abomination and the ways in which they profited. The Zong, for example, was one of many ‘slave ships’ owned by syndicates of Liverpool merchants who became rich from this trafficking of human beings. A visit to the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool reminds us that slavery is integral to the history of our city. If you cross St. John’s Gardens, a local cemetery until 1850, to reach the Gallery, you will be walking over the burial site of individuals held in slavery in the city. When you reach the Gallery, you’ll find a panoply of treasures including a room of portraits painted by artistic greats such as Joshua Reynolds and Joseph Wright of Derby. One portrait painted by Joseph Wright in 1768 is of a man called Richard Gildart, then thought to be in his nineties. Gildart, was Mayor of Liverpool three times, served as an MP for the city for nearly twenty years and has been honoured with a street in the city being named after him. However, the wealth that enabled him to reach such high office and public prominence and, to commission a portrait from Wright, was amassed from his involvement in the trafficking of human beings across the Atlantic and the labour of enslaved people in the sugar trade. Next to Gildart is a portrait of artist Gbenga Ilumoka painted by Nahem Shoa in 2003. As a sign next to the portraits notes, their placing together is deliberate and intended “to prompt conversations around colonialism, race, and historic portraiture.” Shoa painted the back of Ilumoka’s head wanting “ …a Black man to be the intellectual symbol of our age, facing the future proudly.” Perhaps what the placing of the two together can also symbolise is society turning its back on enrichment through slavery and Black people claiming the future.
Today is also a day to recognise that the enslavement of people for financial gain still exists. Indeed, approximately 50 million people around the world live in modern slavery, in forced labour exploitation, forced marriage and forced sexual exploitation. Many of us will have watched the FIFA World Cup oblivious to the fact that people were being trafficked specifically for exploitation in host cities around the matches. Yet, according to figures released by the United States Department of Homeland Security during the tournament 905 human trafficking suspects were arrested and 180 victims, including 30 children, were rescued.
Truly honouring the memory of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade requires us to make remembrance a daily act, to continue to educate and challenge ourselves about our complex history, to consider who, what and how we memorialise and, to educate ourselves about the case for reparations. Only by fighting for racial justice, for the fulfilment of human rights for all, for the eradication of ignorance, prejudice and the ‘othering,’ that make slavery possible will we truly honour the memory of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade.
