SLAVERY REMEMBRANCE DAY 2017

Dr Gee Walker to deliver Slavery Remembrance Lecture on 22 August

Dr Gee Walker campaigner, educator and founder of the Anthony Walker Foundation, will deliver the Dorothy Kuya Slavery Remembrance Lecture at this year’s Slavery Remembrance commemorations, which also marks 10 years since the opening of the International Slavery Museum.

In July 2005, Gee’s son Anthony was murdered in a racially motivated attack in Merseyside. Following Anthony’s death, Gee founded the Anthony Walker Foundation, for which she is a patron. Gee supports families who have suffered similar losses and speaks publicly about her personal experience, her forgiveness of Anthony’s killers and encourages young people to make better choices.

Gee will deliver her lecture on Tuesday 22 August at the Dr Martin Luther King, Jnr Building, Albert Dock Liverpool. Places are limited and booking is essential. To register for tickets and further details of Slavery Remembrance Day events, please visit: www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/srd

The International Slavery Museum has shared a close relationship with Gee and her family since opening in 2007 and its Anthony Walker Education Centre is named in memory of her son. Dr Gee Walker is also featured in the Museum on its Black Achievers Wall which celebrates Black Achievers past and present.

Dr Gee Walker said: “It’s indeed a honour and a privelege to be part of this Remembrance ceremony. As we are approaching the 10th anniversary of the opening of the International Slavery Museum, this lecture will focus on the legacies of slavery whilst looking to the dreams of Martin Luther King and how we can utilise the International Slavery Museum and the Dr Martin Luther King, Jr building for the community.

“The majority cannot forget the past because of its domino effect that is still impacting and destroying lives. However, we must continue to learn from and build on our past and the legacies of slavery as we expand on what’s true by; training, imparting knowledge from experiences & wisdom from our understanding, teaching others about the good, the bad – We must do what can be done to fulfil the dreams and utilize the legacies left behind –continuing to change what can be transformed in order to leave a better future for the next generation.”

Dr Richard Benjamin, Head of the International Slavery Museum, said: “We are delighted that Gee Walker and her daughters Dominique and Stephanie have accepted our invitation to speak at this year’s Dorothy Kuya Slavery Remembrance Lecture, which also marks the International Slavery Museum’s 10th anniversary. It has been 12 years since Anthony’s brutal murder, and it is truly inspiring that Gee and her family have campaigned on a message of hope in the face of unimaginable hardship. We must never forget that we still live with the legacies of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, such as racism, discrimination and hate crime which led to Anthony’s murder.

“This year we wanted to focus on our friends and partners from the local community who have been at the forefront of Slavery Remembrance Day commemorations since 1999 and the growth of the Museum since we opened in 2007. Without their continued support we would quite simply not be as successful as we have been.

“Our Slavery Remembrance Day events pay homage to the many lives lost as a result of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, remember Liverpool’s role as the main European slaving port and look at its legacy today. We will also celebrate the survival and development of African and Caribbean cultures through the resilience and resistance of millions of Africans enslaved during the period.”
Slavery Remembrance Day is held on 23 August – the day on which an uprising of enslaved Africans began in 1791, on the island of Saint Domingue (modern Haiti and the Dominican Republic). This revolt was crucial in the fight against transatlantic slavery and UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation – chose the date as a reminder that enslaved Africans were the main agents of their own liberation.

Slavery Remembrance Day is not only important because it commemorates the lives and deaths of millions of enslaved Africans and their descendants who were central to the rise of Britain as a power, but it remembers African resistance to enslavement and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Our Dorothy Kuya Slavery Remembrance Lecture will be delivered by Dr Gee Walker on 22 August at 5pm (doors open at 4.20pm), in the Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. building (former Dock Track Office), Albert Dock Liverpool. After the Lecture, Gee will be joined by her daughters Dominique and Stephanie Walker, both Trustees of the Anthony Walker Foundation, for a Q & A on hate crime today. Places are limited and booking is essential. To register for tickets and for further details of all our Slavery Remembrance Day events, please visit www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/srd and #srdliverpool

Slavery Remembrance Day events are organised by National Museums Liverpool with support from Liverpool City Council. Our Dorothy Kuya Slavery Remembrance Lecture is named after a woman described as ‘Liverpool’s greatest fighter against racism’ and, for the last 18 years, people have converged on the Albert Dock to remember those affected by slavery during a traditional Libation ceremony, and a Walk of Remembrance has been taking place in Liverpool since 2011.

Our Slavery Remembrance lectures in recent years have been delivered by BAFTA winning historian and presenter David Olusoga, civil rights campaigner Mr Martin Luther King III, renowned activist and scholar Dr Maulana Karenga, civil rights campaigner Diane Nash and Zimbabwe’s first Black cricketer Henry Olonga. BAFTA and MOBO award-winning hip hop artist, writer/poet and historian, Akala, delivered the Lecture in 2016.

The International Slavery Museum in Liverpool is the only Museum in the world to look at the Transatlantic Slave Trade and modern slavery. The Museum highlights the international importance of enslavement and slavery, both in a historic and modern context. Working in partnership with other organisations with a focus on freedom and enslavement, the Museum also provides opportunities for greater awareness and understanding of the legacies of slavery today.

The International Slavery Museum is marking its 10th anniversary this year, after first opening its doors on 23 August 2007 – the bicentenary year of the abolition of the British slave trade, and the annual date of Slavery Remembrance Day. Its 10th anniversary will be marked with the launch of a brand new exhibition, and a programme of special events and talks, beginning with a week of activity from Monday 21 August.

The anniversary launch week will be full of inspirational activities, starting with the opening of a specially curated exhibition; Ink and blood: Stories of abolition. For more information see www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/inkandblood and #inkandblood.

There will also be a street carnival and commemorative events for the city’s 18th year of marking Slavery Remembrance Day, including the keynote lecture delivered by Dr Gee Walker and the annual Walk of Remembrance and Libation. For further details on all the 10th anniversary events at the Museum, please visit www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/events/10th-anniversary-listings.aspx and #ISM10years.