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People gather to remember effects of
slave trade
March 27, 2007
Around 150 people gathered at the steps of
Newham Town Hall on Sunday for a two-minute silence to commemorate
the bicentenary of the British Parliament's passing into law of the
Abolition of the Slave Trade Act.
The bill, which was passed on March 25, 1807 was the
beginning of the end of the transatlantic traffic in human
beings.
Flags of some of the countries that were involved in the trade
were draped on railings at the door of the Town Hall in Barking
Road, East Ham.
There were speeches from Mayor Sir Robin Wales; Councillor Unmesh
Desai, Newham's Cabinet member for Community and External Affairs;
Jonathan Oloyede, senior associate pastor at Plaistow's Glory House
church; Anna Shillingford, chair of Race Equality In Newham; and
Councillor Winston Vaughan.
The Mayor said: "This ceremony remembers those who died in the
course of the slave trade, suffered from its effects and fought
tirelessly to abolish it."
West Ham MP Lyn Brown, East Ham MP Stephen Timms, Agnes Adonis,
the acting High Commissioner for Dominica, and other Newham
councillors also attended the event.
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