Remembering the Slave Trade and its Abolition — A Personal Reflection
Published on Exchange Chambers, 23 August 2023, to mark the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.
On 23 August 1791, people held in slavery at Saint-Domingue rose up against their oppressors in what would become the Haitian Revolution — the only successful slave rebellion in history and the founding of the first modern Black republic. The United Nations chose this date to commemorate the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.
As a barrister based in Liverpool, this day carries particular weight. Liverpool was the port through which so much of the wealth of the British Empire flowed — wealth built on the degradation and dehumanisation of kidnapped human beings trafficked across the Atlantic. To practice law in these cities, to serve these communities, is to stand in the shadow of that history.
Remembrance without action is insufficient. The legacies of the slave trade — structural racism, inequality, the intergenerational transmission of harm — continue to shape the lives of people in our courts and our communities today. As lawyers, we have both a professional and a human obligation to see this clearly and to act accordingly.