To: Bristol Mayor
Slavery museum for Bristol
Bristol needs a museum to tell the city’s history about slavery. It would also be an opportunity to campaign and inform people of the facts across the world including our own country.
Why is this important?
Bristol with its dominant link to slavery should have its own museum. The current debate around Edward Colston about whether the city is trying to hide its history or not highlights the importance for more education regarding Bristol’s past.
We mainly hear about the statistics of the slave trade in Bristol and the economic wealth it brought to the city. However, not nearly enough is said or known about the people involved at the time as well as the huge legacy and suffering that is inherited down family lines.
There is a prime spot for this museum by the Bascule bridge which would attract both tourists and local people.
It is paramount that we learn more so that we can also campaign for the abolition of modern slavery. There are 40.3 million slaves in the world today (Walk Free Foundation global slavery index, estimates vary).
The museum should present the evidence in the framework of international human rights universally upheld following the devastation of the Second World War. Every child should be taught about human rights. No one chooses where they are born.
Statues on plinths may come and go but it is far more important to address the pain and suffering that massively contributed to the city’s wealth and history.
This is a good time to start the project that could have been achieved many years ago.
