by GSR Staff
"Whatever defamation of character my enemies are spreading about me, I do not feel the need to justify myself toward them. While discretion obliges me to remain silent, my duty compels me to prevent them from doing any more harm."
- Toussaint L'Ouverture, a former slave who was a leader of the Haitian revolution against French colonial powers
Today is International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and of its Abolition: "At its 29th session, the UNESCO Executive Board adopted the Resolution 29 C/40, proclaiming 23 August, the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and of its Abolition, in tribute to the night of 22 to 23 August 1791, when the uprising of slaves took place in Sant Domingue and, led later on the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade and the creation of the first Black Independent State, the Republic of Haiti."