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Atlantic slave trade

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa during welcome ceremonies outside the 16th century Jeronimos monastery in Lisbon, Saturday, April 22, 2023. 

Portugal’s president says country should apologize, ‘assume responsibility’ for slave trade

Conflict & Justice

This week, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said Portugal should formally apologize for its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Portuguese were responsible for selling nearly 6 million people into slavery — mostly in Brazil. Some activists and scholars say an apology is just a start and there’s still a long way to go.

São Sebastião Fort and Museum with statues of conquistadors São Tomé.

‘Born in Blackness’: A new book centers Africa in the expansive history of slavery

History
Tronco, or multiple foot stocks used to to constrain enslaved people

The Netherlands hosts a new slavery exhibit, as historical debates continue 

History
Former mayor of London Boris Johnson, right, is seen by a maquette of a statue that stands as a permanent slavery memorial statue at City Hall in London, Aug. 18, 2008.

Lloyd’s of London examines its ties to the trans-Atlantic slave trade 

History
boats

Ghana’s ‘Year of Return’ is emotional for descendants on both sides of the slave trade

boy

‘Willful amnesia’: How Africans forgot — and remembered — their role in the slave trade

Ghana’s “Year of Return” is changing how the history of the slave trade is remembered in Africa.

A black woman stands with a staff.

Amid 1619 anniversary, Virginia grapples with history of slavery in America

As Virginia marks 400 years since the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the English colonies, it confronts the problem of silenced voices in history.

A couple is backlit against a stark stone fort interior.

Pirates brought enslaved Africans to Virginia’s shores. Where, exactly, is debatable.

This year marks 400 years since the first Africans were taken from Africa and sold as slaves in the English colonies. It was the largest migration in history: 12 million or more Africans forcibly moved to places across the Atlantic Ocean to be slaves. Today, all of those places are still dealing with the fallout.

The World

A culinary journey from Africa to America

Arts, Culture & Media

It’s through food memories and techniques that Africans transformed the way Americans eat. Food historian Jessica Harris explores this part of the American story in her new book ‘High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America.’

Should Caribbean nations be compensated for the legacy of slavery?

Conflict & Justice

At least 14 Caribbean countries have decided the legacy of slavery continues to hold their countries back, and they’re asking the colonial powers that imposed the system on them to pay reparations.