David Lammy takes historic stance on Bicentenary Commemoration to mark the abolition of slavery.

Wednesday, 14 December 2005

David Lammy, MP for Tottenham and Minister for Culture, spoke at length on Tuesday during a parliamentary adjournment debate on the importance of the commemorations planned for 2007. This will mark the bicentenary of Parliament’s decision to abolish the slave trade in Britain after a long campaign spearheaded in debate by William Wilberforce MP, Member for Hull at the time. Hull is likely to play a prominent role in 200th anniversary of the passing of the Slave Trade Act 1807, alongside other major port towns such as Bristol, Liverpool and London, all of which had a long history of involvement in the Transatlantic slave trade. David Lammy welcomed the opportunity to commemorate many of the ordinary people who marched, lobbied and prayed for an end to slavery. Lammy commented, “I am very keen that in 2007, we all do our utmost to celebrate the lives and contributions of those abolitionists, especially those from the African community who do not currently share the limelight with some of the noted figureheads, like William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson. I think of course of Olaudah Equiano, the former slave who bought his freedom and became a leading spokesman for the campaign for the abolition of the slave trade and slavery. There is also Quobna Cugoano, a writer who denounced the evils of slavery and the relocation of ex-slaves to Sierra Leone; and Ignatio Sancho, born on a slave ship in the mid-Atlantic in 1729, who became a leading activist in the pro-abolition campaign. We may be aware of these key figures in the Black community, but I think that one of the measures of a successful year in 2007 will be that the lives and achievements of those still largely unknown Black Britons are brought to the fore throughout Britain.” Read the full adjournment debate from the Hansard source here Please click here to go to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Bicentenary site

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