Slavery Remembrance Day

Slavery Remembrance Day Festival

21 to 23 August 2009

Sankofa: This is a mythical bird that flies forwards while looking backwards with an egg (symbolising the future) in its mouth. Sankofa teaches us that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward.

Events programme

Slavery Remembrance Day memorial lecture

Friday 21 August 2009, 6pm at Liverpool Town Hall

This year's memorial lecture was given by Diane Nash, the US civil rights activist who was instrumental in the birth and development of America's Civil Rights Movement. Her lecture focussed on her life and the legacy of the civil rights struggle in light of Barack Obama's historic election victory.

Family events

Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August 2009, 10am-4pm at the International Slavery Museum, Merseyside Maritime Museum and Piermaster's House

An entertaining and thought-provoking cultural festival celebrating Black culture and heritage.

Highlights included:

• Live music, performances and talks.
• Market stalls trading traditional West African and Caribbean food and crafts.
• Libation on the waterfront by the Piermaster's House. The weekend culminated on Sunday 23 August with this traditional African ceremony led by Chief Angus Chukuemeka. The offering of libation involves the pouring of liquid, which can be water or wine, in a special pattern to remember enslaved Africans and call on ancestors to bless the event.