National Museums Liverpool (NML) has organised a full week of events to commemorate this year's Slavery Remembrance Day. NML, working in partnership with Liverpool City Council and the RESPECT Group, has created the programme to commemorate the history and ongoing legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. The museums hope the events, which will consist of family activities, workshops and talks, will encourage learning from the injustices of the past and explore how we can all work together to prevent them from happening again. Liverpool was the European capital of the transatlantic slave trade, responsible for half of Britain's trade. The ships would set sail from Liverpool holding goods, which were exchanged for enslaved men, women and children on the west coast of Africa, who were then taken across the Atlantic on a journey known as "the middle passage". A spokesperson for NML said: "Slavery Remembrance Day acknowledges this major period of trauma and injustice in world history which is too often forgotten and marks an uprising of enslaved Africans on the island of Saint Domingue (modern Haiti) in 1791. The date has been designated by UNESCO as a reminder that enslaved Africans were the main agents of their own liberation." Michelle Charters, trustee at NML and CEO of the Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre, told the ECHO: "Liverpool now has a much better understanding of the trade and its role in it. I have been involved in the Liverpool 8 community since I was 17 and have worked with since 1994. My journey has been consistent and persistent - and I have been constructively critical of the city's approach to addressing its history. "I don't hide from it and tell it how it is. I see the benefit of our community working with the museum. The work the museum does is an honest reflection on the past, but it is important we also see how things can change and be implemented for the future. That has been chipped away for decades and I'm very proud to be a trustee at the museum." The ECHO will hear from a number of voices involved in the city's commemorations in the coming days. Here is the full list of events put on by NML starting tomorrow and running until the following Sunday. Young people from Liverpool’s Global Ethnic Majority (GEM) communities have been researching the links between slavery and the Walker’s sculpture collection. Through collaborative learning practices, and a series of workshops, talks and tours, the research group have explored creative and innovative ways to share these histories in the Walker’s permanent displays. Join the ‘Carving Out Truths’ team to hear about the ground-breaking work they’ve been doing and their new plans for the sculpture gallery. As a core part of the International Slavery Museum’s Transformation, the Museum’s Curatorial Team have been researching collections to explore what they might tell us about slavery and its legacies. Join us for a session where three members of the Museum’s Curatorial Team will each highlight one of the objects that they’ve been researching; and we will discuss the challenges of researching them and explore the compelling stories they might tell. Central to the 2023 programme is this lecture, delivered by guest speaker Professor Hakim Adi, historian and Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora at the University of Chichester, with a welcome to the lecture led by Head of the International Slavery Museum, Paul Reid. Includes a performance from local poet Blue Saint, as well as a Q&A session, chaired by Laurence Westgaph, NML Historian in Residence and food from Eat Up Gud. Liverpool’s Walk of Remembrance will be taking place on Slavery Remembrance Day, with landmarks chosen because of their historical significance. Starting at Williamson Square and weaving through the city with stops at the Bluecoat and Liverpool One’s Old Dock, the walk will be accompanied by a series of performances by Capoiera for All, Tavia Panton and Katumba. The libation is a commemorative ritual, honouring and remembering the ancestors who have gone before us, taking place this year on Canning Dock. An opportunity to hear from Elliss Eyo-Thompson, multi-faceted artist, and their work around the history of Delado drumming in Liverpool. Join us in honouring the work of the African dance collective DELADO who initiated in Liverpool 8 (1981) and trail-blazed throughout the country during the 80s. Attendees will receive a booklet which collates DELADO’s journey and experiences, a powerful retrospective dialogue, and a feel of their rhythm. Working with BlackFest, a makers market will be taking place outside Museum of Liverpool, showcasing a mix of Black talent and creativity with an assortment of performances, participatory acts and workshops for all the family.