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Lisbon plaques remember Portugal’s ‘silenced’ role in slavery

Lisbon plaques remember Portugal’s ‘silenced’ role in slavery

PLAQUES turning the spotlight on Lisbon's role in slavery and "silenced" African history have been installed in different locations across the city, a long-awaited moment for many given the country's lack of acknowledgement of its colonial past. From the 15th to the 19th century, more than six million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported by Portuguese ships and sold into slavery, primarily to Brazil, but little is taught in schools about it and Portugal's colonial past is often seen as a source of pride. Twenty plaques were installed at sites of historical significance, including at one of the capital's main…
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King Charles wraps up Kenya visit marked by questions over colonial past

King Charles wraps up Kenya visit marked by questions over colonial past

KING Charles and Queen Camilla toured East Africa's oldest mosque and an ancient fort as they concluded a four-day state visit to Kenya marked by questions about Britain's colonial legacy. Charles met Muslim, Christian, Hindu and African traditional faith leaders in the coastal city of Mombasa and toured Fort Jesus, built by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Heavy rain prevented the royal couple from riding an electric tuk-tuk between venues. The visit, Charles' first to a former British colony since ascending to the throne in September last year, focused on the two countries' close cooperation on economic development, climate…
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Belgium’s AfricaMuseum has a dark colonial past – it’s making slow progress in confronting this history

Belgium’s AfricaMuseum has a dark colonial past – it’s making slow progress in confronting this history

RACIST displays and stories remain on display in several western European museums. They include grotesque objects depicting African people as “savage” and “wild”. Narratives of a “continent without history” and fantasies of European superiority are still told in ethnographic museums, like the Humboldt Forum in Berlin and the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. JULIEN BOBINEAU, Assistant Professor, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena These museums have been criticised by scholars and activists since the 1970s. Their handling of objects looted during the colonial period, especially from Africa, is seen as an indicator of the political relations between Europe and African nations. Criticism ranges…
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‘Confront your colonial past’

‘Confront your colonial past’

VICTORIA WALDERSEE and CATARINA DEMONY EUROPE’S top human rights group yesterday told Portugal to do more to confront its colonial past and role in the transatlantic slave trade in order to help fight racism and discrimination in the country today. The comments by the Council of Europe come as debate in Portugal over how to remember its history heated up in recent months as the country prepares to unveil its first memorial to victims of slavery, in Lisbon. The memorial - rows of sugar cane painted in black - was designed by Angolan artist Kiluanji Kia Henda and funded by…
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Belgium seeks new name for road tunnel as it takes on colonial past

Belgium seeks new name for road tunnel as it takes on colonial past

BART BIESEMANS and CLEMENT ROSSIGNOL  BRUSSELS  has asked its residents to pick a new name for the King Leopold II road tunnel in a step aimed at coming to terms with Belgium's colonial past and addressing gender inequality. A statue of Leopold II - whose colonial rule at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries cost millions of lives in central Africa - was removed by activists in Brussels in June amid Black Lives Matter protests. Now Brussels wants to rename part of its traffic ring road after renovations next year. "We know that Leopold II is a very…
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