5 Mar 2026, 11:59Mona Jewel JonesWatford, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
A Tale of Two Enslaved Peoples — What Legacies?
Two peoples. Two histories of enslavement. Two very different legacies. As we approach 25 March — the UN International Day for the Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade — it is worth pausing to consider what remembrance looks like, and what more we might do.
Two Histories
The people of Israel, as recorded in the Genesis account, endured centuries of enslavement in Egypt before departing with reparations and ultimately flourishing. To this day, their deliverance is celebrated each year at Pesach (Passover) — a festival that spans approximately a week. In 2026, Pesach will be observed from 1 to 9 April. Just recently, Jewish communities also marked Purim, the feast of Queen Esther and the destruction of Haman, on 2–3 March.
Africans — a people of world renown — were initially enslaved by Arab traders. Then, between approximately 1500 and 1900, European powers forcibly uprooted millions of men, women and children from West and West Central Africa, transporting them across the Atlantic in conditions of extraordinary cruelty. An estimated 20 million people fell victim to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, widely regarded as the worst human rights abuse in recorded history.
A Day of Remembrance
Since 2007, 25 March has been designated the UN International Day for Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The Royal Greenwich Maritime Museum also memorialises the Slave Trade on 23 August. For further background, see: UN International Day of Remembrance.
In 2015, the UN launched its International Decade for People of African Descent, marking the occasion with the unveiling of a permanent memorial at UN headquarters in New York — The Ark of Return — designed by Haitian-American architect Rodney Leon, who also created the African Burial Ground National Monument. However, progress has been slower than hoped, and the UN declared a second decade in autumn 2025. More information is available from the OHCHR: Second International Decade for People of African Descent.
What Can We Do?
The descendants of those who were enslaved — themselves carrying the weight of that history — make up a significant proportion of the population of the United Kingdom and of the SDA Church across the BUC. How will our organisation, our partner organisations, and our young people be marking the memory of approximately 20 million victims of Trans-Atlantic enslavement?
There is a genuine and exciting opportunity here — to strengthen ties within our communities, to participate in acts of remembrance, and to celebrate the resilience, survival, and extraordinary versatility of a people. We must ask ourselves how we can do more to raise awareness, to memorialise, and to make this history tangible and meaningful, especially for our young people.
Let us commit to concrete actions—plan events, create educational materials, and encourage our communities to actively honour this history in meaningful ways.
Two peoples. Two histories of enslavement. Two very different legacies. As we approach 25 March — the UN International Day for the Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade — it is worth pausing to consider what remembrance looks like, and what more we might do.
Two Histories
The people of Israel, as recorded in the Genesis account, endured centuries of enslavement in Egypt before departing with reparations and ultimately flourishing. To this day, their deliverance is celebrated each year at Pesach (Passover) — a festival that spans approximately a week. In 2026, Pesach will be observed from 1 to 9 April. Just recently, Jewish communities also marked Purim, the feast of Queen Esther and the destruction of Haman, on 2–3 March.
Africans — a people of world renown — were initially enslaved by Arab traders. Then, between approximately 1500 and 1900, European powers forcibly uprooted millions of men, women and children from West and West Central Africa, transporting them across the Atlantic in conditions of extraordinary cruelty. An estimated 20 million people fell victim to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, widely regarded as the worst human rights abuse in recorded history.
A Day of Remembrance
Since 2007, 25 March has been designated the UN International Day for Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The Royal Greenwich Maritime Museum also memorialises the Slave Trade on 23 August. For further background, see: UN International Day of Remembrance.
In 2015, the UN launched its International Decade for People of African Descent, marking the occasion with the unveiling of a permanent memorial at UN headquarters in New York — The Ark of Return — designed by Haitian-American architect Rodney Leon, who also created the African Burial Ground National Monument. However, progress has been slower than hoped, and the UN declared a second decade in autumn 2025. More information is available from the OHCHR: Second International Decade for People of African Descent.
What Can We Do?
The descendants of those who were enslaved — themselves carrying the weight of that history — make up a significant proportion of the population of the United Kingdom and of the SDA Church across the BUC. How will our organisation, our partner organisations, and our young people be marking the memory of approximately 20 million victims of Trans-Atlantic enslavement?
There is a genuine and exciting opportunity here — to strengthen ties within our communities, to participate in acts of remembrance, and to celebrate the resilience, survival, and extraordinary versatility of a people. We must ask ourselves how we can do more to raise awareness, to memorialise, and to make this history tangible and meaningful, especially for our young people.
Let us commit to concrete actions—plan events, create educational materials, and encourage our communities to actively honour this history in meaningful ways.
