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Liverpool walk marks Slavery Remembrance Day

Google Historic tall ship outside International Slavery Museum and Merseyside Maritime MuseumGoogle
About 11 million enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic between the 16th the 19th Centuries

A memorial walk is being held in Liverpool to mark Slavery Remembrance Day.

The event will cover landmarks across the port, which was considered to be the European capital of the transatlantic slave trade.

The walk has been extended this year to include Williamson Square, Clayton Square, Bluecoat and Liverpool One, ending in a ceremony at 14:30 BST near the Canning Quayside and Dry Docks.

Michelle Charters, head of the International Slavery Museum, said the event demonstrated “the timely and vital need for discussion and understanding” following recent disorder nationwide.

Getty Images Plaque outlining how William Brown Street was named after one of the main importers of slave-made cotton to Liverpool. It also explains how the Brown family owned enslaved people on their US plantations, enabling them to gain the wealth to fund key buildings in LiverpoolGetty Images
Plaques across the city mark the impact of the slave trade

Slavery Remembrance Day is part of annual international commemorations, which coincides with the anniversary of the 1791 uprising of enslaved Africans in what is now known as Haiti.

'Shameful role'

Museum curators say Liverpool ships carried about 1.5 million enslaved Africans to the Americas.

Vessels would sail from the city - which is believed to be responsible for half of the UK’s slave trade - with goods that were exchanged in west Africa for enslaved adults and children, who were then taken across the Atlantic.

Councillor Liam Robinson, leader of Liverpool City Council, said: “Twenty-five years ago, the city council righty apologised for its shameful role in the transatlantic slave trade - publicly putting on record our commitment to remembering, educating and fighting against racism and inequality.

“Slavery Remembrance Day has now become a significant date in our cultural calendar, a time when we can reflect on this remorseful part of our heritage and honour the memory of those enslaved Africans who suffered and died."

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