In the evening of August 22 and the following day in 1791, Santo Domingo (known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic now) saw the beginning of the uprising that would play a major role in the abolition of slave trade according to UNESCO.

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is intended to showcase the tragedy of the slave trade. If you also wish to help show awareness, or overall just talk about this day, then here are a few things you can do.

The most common and maybe easiest thing is to talk about it! Spread the word and discuss the issues of slavery to somebody. You could talk about what happened during slavery, important figures during it, or the legal system.

If you don’t know someone who knows much about slavery, then help educate them about it. Exploitation is still existent and will continue unless you educate yourself, speak up and speak out.

Another thing you could do on this day, August 23, is encourage your communities to recognize the day of observance of the slave revolt in Saint-Domingue, which inspired others to fight for their freedom. Talk to a teacher about sharing a lesson of the intersections of human trafficking and slavery.

If you think slavery is past history, check out this article from the June issue of The Armijo Signal and realize that it was openly practiced within the last 50 years.