United Nations Slavery Memorial, officially known as The Permanent Memorial at the United Nations in Honour of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, is an
installation at the
Headquarters of the United Nations in
New York City intended as a permanent reminder of the long-lasting effects of
slavery and the
slave trade.
The Slavery Memorial concept came from various resolutions adopted by the
UN General Assembly including A/RES/62/122, A/RES/63/5, and the
Durban Declaration
The Durban Declaration is a statement signed by over 5,000 physicians and scientists in 2000, affirming that HIV is the cause of AIDS, seventeen years after the discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The declaration was drafted in respons ...
.
The memorial was designed by Haitian-American architect
Rodney Leon, and unveiled on March 25, 2015. It includes three main elements: a large triangular sculpture with a map depicting the
triangular slave trade
Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset ...
; a prone human figure depicting those who were transported overseas enslaved; and a reflecting pool mean to honour the memory of those who died in slavery.
The project was supported by the Permanent Memorial Trust Fund; the estimated cost of the project prior to its construction was 4.5 million dollars.
Advisory board
*Goodwill ambassadors:
Russell Simmons
Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons' ...
(entrepreneur, philanthropist)
*Chair: Mr. Howard Dodson (
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide. Located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) b ...
)
* Cheik Diarra (Microsoft Middle East and Africa)
* Ellen Haddigan (Diamond Empowerment Fund)
* David Scheider (The Coca-Cola Company)
* Harriet Mouchly-Weiss (Kreab Gavin ANderson)
* Joseph Daniel (
National September 11 Memorial & Museum
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bombi ...
at the World Trade Center)
* David Dinkins (School of International Public Affairs)
* Peter Tichansky (
Business Council for International Understanding The Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan, membership organization that encourages dialogue between business and political leaders in different countries. It holds events, briefings and programs for ...
)
* Luis Ubinas (
Ford Foundation)
* Congressman
Gregory W. Meeks
Gregory Weldon Meeks (born September 25, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who has been a U.S. representative from New York since 1998. He is a member of the Democratic Party and has chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affairs since 2 ...
* Javier Evans (senior premier corporate and professionals relationship manager, HSBC)
Partners
*
CARICOM
* United Nations Office for Partnerships
* Jamaica Mission
*
African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
See also
*
United Nations Art Collection
References
External links
*
Monuments and memorials to victims of slavery in the United States
Monuments and memorials in Manhattan
2012 sculptures
Slavery memorials
2015 establishments in New York City
Slavery in art
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