In the Western Hemisphere, approximately 12 million Africans were brought to the Americas over the 400-year history of the transatlantic slave trade.
An estimated 50 percent of those enslaved Africans ended up in Brazil and 5 percent went to the United States. African descendants make up one-third of the total population in this hemisphere.
The goal of the IYPAD designation was to strengthen national actions and regional and international cooperation for the benefit of people of African descent in relation to:
- Their full enjoyment of economic, cultural, social, civil and political rights
- Their participation and integration in all political, economic, social and cultural aspects of society
- The promotion of a greater knowledge of and respect for their diverse heritage and culture.
Despite historic discrimination and continuing challenges with exclusion and inequality, people of African descent have contributed to science and technology, education, independence and civil rights movements, agriculture, language, cuisine, culture, and the arts.
Though the year is drawing to a close, as part of the IYPAD, UNESCO and the Permanent Memorial Committee recently launched an international design competition for the creation of a Permanent Memorial at United Nations to honor the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. The theme chosen for the competition:
Acknowledging the Tragedy; Considering the Legacy; Lest We Forget.
Artists, designers, sculptors and other visual arts professionals are invited to submit their proposals by December 19, 2011.
The winner will receive $50,000 USD.
Are you an artist of African descent? Please do consider submitting your idea. This competition is open to everyone, but it would be awesome if the artist who designs this permanent memorial is descended from the Africans in whose memory it will stand. –kathleen cross
