LUTON SANKOFA UK
We are a non-profit, African-Caribbean group in Luton, formed in 2016 to organise the annual commemoration of those who endured the Transatlantic African Enslavement which coincides with the United Nations (UN) date of 25th March, to 'Remember Slavery' and 'Honour our Ancestors'.
Importance
We feel it is important to remember the victims of the Transatlantic African Enslavement. In so doing we are raising awareness of this important aspect of our history and honouring the memory of heroes and heroines who were enslaved over a period of nearly 500 years.
Desire
It is also our desire to help bridge the gap between African and Caribbean history, thereby encouraging unity amongst both communities.
Aim
It is our aim that the local black community comes together to commemorate the billions of victims of this African Holocaust, which also gives rise to the opportunity to re-educate the community of our history that pre and post dates African enslavement, thereby putting it into its correct historical context.
History of the UN Commemoration Date
In 2008 the General Secretary of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon decided that “The story of the end of the slave trade deserves to be told at the United Nations. Indeed, the defense of human rights is at the heart of this Organization’s global mission. Our Charter proclaims equal rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “no one shall be held in slavery or servitude”.
It goes on to state:
The Transatlantic slave trade persisted for four centuries.
Imagine being torn from your weeping family as a result of ethnic warfare…forced to walk hundreds of miles until you reach the sea on the West African side of the Atlantic Ocean. You are stripped of your name, your identity, of every right a human being deserves. The European ship that you are forced to board, is headed across the Atlantic to Caribbean and South American plantations, a voyage through the awful “middle passage”. A multitude of black people of every description chained together, with scarcely room to turn, travelling for months, seasick, surrounded by the filth of vomit-filled tubs, into which children often fell, some suffocating. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying renders the whole scene of horror almost inconceivable. Death and disease are all around and only one in six will survive this journey and the brutal, backbreaking labour that follows.
Thus, the date of 25th March was chosen for this annual commemoration.
Photos from Previous Years' Events...
Members of Luton Sankofa UK:
Cllr Jacqui Burnett - Chair
Diana Marquis-Solomon - Vice Chair
Lorna Markland on behalf of ACCDF - Director of Operations
Maureen Samuel - Marketing Director
Debbie Marquis - Chief Researcher
Soraya Bowen - Researcher
José Santiago - UGW, Partner
Tré Ventour - Northampton, Partner
Norma Josephs - Member
Jennie Lascaris - Member
Claudette Rhiney - Member
Adunni Haruna - Member
Luton Sankofa UK is managed by ACCDF through a Management Committee.