UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC
Speech by His Excellency:
Your Excellency: the President of
____
AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO)
Professor Michael OMOLEWA
President of the UNESCO General Conference
and Permanent Delegate of Nigeria to UNESCO
on the occasion of the re-lighting of the eternal
flame at the monument of the Unknown Maroon
for the celebration of the bicentenary of the
proclamation of the first Black State: Haiti;
and the International Year to Commemorate the
Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition
Port-au-Prince: Haiti
23 August, 2004
the Republic: Mr Boniface Alexandre
Your Excellency: the Prime Minister of
the Republic: Gérard Latortue
Your Excellency: the Minister of
Foreign Affairs: Mr Siméon
Your Excellency: the Minister of Education, Youth and Sport and
Minister of Culture, and Communication a.i,: Monsieur Pierre Buteau
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Diplomatic
Corps and of International Organizations
Ladies and Gentlemen
Dear Brothers and Sisters
Dear Friends
I bring you greetings from all of the UNESCO family, and in particular I bring you the personal
greetings of my brother and friend, Ambassador Hans-Heinrich Wrede, Chairman of the Executive
Board of UNESCO, and that of Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, whose thoughts
are with you today, demonstrated by his passion in the search for resolution of crisis in zones
and areas of conflict and post-conflict.
Before paying homage to the artist and architect Albert Mangonès, for his works on this site
known as the “Neg Mawon” (the Unknown Maroon), I wish to speak of some of the reasons for my
presence in Haiti.
I was invited for an official visit by Her Excellency, the Minister of Culture, Mrs Magali Comeau
Denis, as the Representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization-
UNESCO-for which I was elected President of its 32nd General Conference, to take part in the cultural
events organized to commemorate both the bicentenary of the Republic of Haiti and the International
Year of the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition. I wholeheartedly thank you, Madam, for giving
me the opportunity to be here in Haiti.
For years, it has been my dream to one day come to Haiti. When I was at school in Africa, we were
taught the history of the brave people of Haiti and we all dreamt of visiting this country, and to
see it with our own eyes. I thank God to have made this dream come true and also, to have allowed me
to share the cordial reception and hospitality of the brave and proud people of Haiti, full of a
resolute spirit and respectful behaviour.
The history of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Slavery is part of world history and it is a challenge
to all of us. Articles one and four of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “All human
beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and that “No one shall be held in Slavery nor in
Servitude”. These lines were written nearly fifty years ago. On the other hand, these two ideas were
born here, on Haitian soil, and this was more than 200 years ago. As an historian, I tend to want to talk
about history all day long. However, I do not intend to narrate the history of Haiti, but it seems right
for me to emphasize some key dates. Westerners of Spain, France and England took possession of Haiti as
early as 1492, from then and especially between 1791 and 1803, a long civil war ensued on what was a
colony of oppressed peoples which was called Santo Domingo. The slaves came from Africa, in
particular from Bambara, Congo, Arada and Ibo-from my country-Nigeria they all underwent the same
fate: the annihilation of their identities, the alienation of their human dignities being treated as
“subhuman”…
In spite of this state of miserable survival, Haitians were able to rise up. In the night of the
22nd and 23rd August 1791 – the same date as today, only 213 years ago, Negro-Slaves – called
Maroons – carried out the great insurrection against the white master. It is to be noted that this
date was proclaimed by the General Conference of UNESCO as the “International Day for the Remembrance
of the Slave Trade and its Abolition in recognition of the founding act of the Haitian revolution.”
In 1793, freedom was granted to all slaves, initially in August, in the Northern part of Saint Domingo,
and then in the western and southern parts of the colony in September. It was only the beginning of a
long process towards the independence of Haiti which finally took place in January 1804; the date
when Jean Jacques Dessalines, in Gonaïves, Haiti proclaimed the independence of the first State
created after the slave system inversion, so that every Haitian can “live free or die”. This revolution
symbolizes the triumph of the principles of freedom, equality, dignity and human rights, marked by the
liberation of its people and the emergence of states in the Americas and the Caribbean.
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2004 as the International Year to Commemorate the
Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition following a decision of the General Conference of
UNESCO. Its Director-General, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, launched the Year in January in Cape Town in
Ghana, one of the major centres of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. UNESCO’s action throughout 2004
encompasses, in an inter-sectoral, multi-disciplinary and inter-institutional approach with the “Slave
Route” project as the main anchor. The interactions that were generated by the Trans-Atlantic Slave
Trade and Slavery in Africa, America, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, in the fields of music, dance,
artistic creation and expression, as well as spiritual traditions will be a major theme in the coming
years. Emphasis will be placed on the topicality of this Commemoration and, in particular, on the
various forms of discrimination still in existence today. It is for this reason that this Commemoration is
universal; not only does it refer to the past, but it also makes it possible to have an objective view of
the present with a view to open durable prospects in the field of inter-cultural dialogue. The stakes of
the Flagship project the “Slave Route” are multiple and include: historical truth, remembrance,
intercultural dialogue, development and peace. Today, the history of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and
Slavery remains largely ignored. Through the activities of the Slave Route project, launched in 1994,
and expected to last at least until 2007, UNESCO intends to mitigate this silence. The data gathering of
oral tradition as well as inventories of memorial sites and the many publications that were carried out
would enable the safeguard of these human heritages. For its part, Haiti has organized workshops since
1997 on Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade within the framework of the activities of the
Associated Schools Project Network. Thanks to the “Slave Route” project, Haiti produced publications
relative to this project. Of these publications, I wish to mention the children’s book entitled “Lifting the
Veil” which addresses the slave trade through the telling of Haiti’s history. I must also mention the
Final Report of the Seminar on training and sensitizing of teaching history and the Trans-Atlantic Slave
Trade and Slavery, which was published in 1999. This workshop treated with rigour questions relating
to the teaching of the Slave Trade in Haiti. The recommendations that were drawn then are still valid
today.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I could continue in this vein, but we are gathered here today not to undergo a lecture by an African
brother, but rather to celebrate the relighting of the eternal flame of the monument of the "Neg Mawon."
I said at the beginning of my intervention that I would return to Albert Mangonès, the great Haitian
artist and architect, who not only carved the statue of the Unknown Maroon, but also organised this
entire square. It is, therefore, only natural to quote him to enable us understand the historical
context and prevalence of this place and this monument. I quote:
“I was brought to carve and organise this square of the “Neg Mawon”, opposite the
national palace representing the Unknown Maroon of colonial times … I sent a note
to the President asking him to guarantee that he would take care of the maintenance
of this place … I said to him that l wanted someone … to make sure that the flame
was always lit, that the stones would be well maintained..."
You know the rest; Albert Mangonès was made responsible for the monitoring of National Heritage.
He founded ISPAN, the Institute of Safeguard of the National Heritage in 1979. Subsequently, he
authored the slogan “I am born again from my ashes”. Mongonès’ Neg Mawon became an icon for Haiti
and the symbol of freedom and independence throughout all Caribbean countries. Despite the fact
that over ten million black African men and women had been the object of such a wretched trade for
more than 400 years, it is necessary to remain lucid in the present and to look towards the future
– as is the case with the Neg Mawon – towards a prosperous future where the diversity of the
Haitian people – strongly impregnated from its African, European and American values – can open
and contribute to lasting prospects in the field of intercultural dialogue.
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen:
As Mangonès said, “I am reborn from my ashes.”
Let this square, this flame, lately renovated and
relit inspire us all through the years to come!"
I thank you for your attention.