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STORY: UN / SLAVERY WRAP
SOURCE: UNTV
TRT: 3.06
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 25 MARCH 2009, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN building
25 MARCH 2009, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, podium
3. Med shot, African drummers in front of banner
4. Wide shot, Secretary-General walking to the podium
5. Med shot, Secretary-General shaking hands
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“Africa has yet to recover from the ravages of the slave trade or the subsequent era of colonization. And here in the new world, and in Europe, and elsewhere, people of African descendance still struggle daily against entrenched prejudice that keeps them disproportionately in poverty. Despite the official abolition of slavery, racism still pollutes our world.”
7. Various shots, Secretary-General playing African ceremonial drum
8. Wide shot, press conference dais
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Gilberto Gil, Musician:
“One of the obligations of the human race is to constantly struggle for harmony, you know, understanding, balance, peace, and so many, many, many words that we can use to define this necessity, this perennial necessity of being together, living together, taking care together of our planet.”
10. Various shots, African singer
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Akon, Musician:
“You know, when you reflect on slavery, and you reflect on modern day, just how we are living together, this could have never happened, years, you know how we remember it. And just to be moving in a forward light in the future to see Mr. Obama becoming the president, and how far we even took to become a unit as people to make a decision of that, you know, magnitude, it’s just incredible.”
12. Various shots, African drummer
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Nile Rogers, Musician:
“I grew up and I didn’t really have a voice, my mother didn’t have a voice, I didn’t have a voice, and today I walk into the General Assembly. I am standing on stage with people who just to me are amazing and I realize that the power of music and the power of art and the power of dance, gives me the ability to communicate a message that is bigger than I could have ever imagined.”
14. Med shot, child drummers
15. Med shot, Secretary-General shaking hands
Dignitaries, UN officials and the general public joined in today (25 March) in a drumming ceremony as part a series of events in commemoration of the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.
Launching the ceremony, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke about the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States as a milestone in a 400-year struggle of the descendants of African slaves for justice, assimilation and respect.
Ban said that much remained to be done and that “Africa has yet to recover from the ravages of the slave trade or the subsequent era of colonization”. He added that people of African descent “still struggle daily against entrenched prejudice” and that despite the abolition of slavery, “racism still pollutes our world”.
The Secretary-General was joined by Cameroon’s minister of culture, Ms. Ama Tutu Muna in playing on a historical drum specially brought from Cameroon.
A concert entitled “Breaking the Silence, Beating the Drum” on Wednesday evening will be the centerpiece of the commemoration with the participation of celebrities and dignitaries representing the global community.
At a press conference before the concert Brazilian musician and former minister of culture Gilberto Gil said that “one of the obligations of the human race is to constantly struggle for harmony”. Gil highlighted humanity’s “perennial necessity of being together, living together, taking care together of our planet.”
Senegalese-American musician Akon pondered on how far racial relations have progressed, and said that “when you reflect on slavery, and you reflect on modern day”, and the fact that Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, “it’s just incredible”.
Famed musician and producer Nile Rogers spoke about “the power of music and the power of art and the power of dance” which he said gives him “the ability to communicate a message that is bigger than I could have ever imagined”.
During the transatlantic slave trade’s 400-year long history an estimated 28 million people were uprooted from Africa and brought to the Americas, with many of them dying during the voyage.
A General Assembly resolution in December 2007 designated 25 March as an annual Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. It also decided to erect a permanent memorial at the UN to acknowledge the tragedy and consider the legacy of slavery.
