Con. Al Green's Slavery Rememberance Day resolution passes

By Mona Austin

(The Slice): A historic resolution on Slavery Rememberance Day introduced by Texas Congressman Al Green passed in the U.S. House on July 27, 2022. August 20 will be designated as Slavery Rememberance Day commemorating Africans who were uprooted from their native land and the millions of lives that were lost through enslavement. Green proposed the bill to "serve as a reminder of the evils of slavery."

"We never want to repeat the horors of slavery," Texas Democrat Green said on the House floor after the measure was approved.

Along with the 137 Democrats who supported the simple resolution (which does not require voting from the Senate chamber), it posthumously recognizes Members of Congress, who served during and after the Reconstruction era, as honorary cosponsors.

Over 400 years ago, on August 20,1619, around 20 Africans were brought to Point Comfort near Hampton, VA against their will. (The area is now Fort Monroe. ) Seized from the Kingdom of Ndongo in Angola, the captives were transported on the English ship White Lion. This event was the start of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade that was responsible for the deaths of millions of Africans. Slave labor would lead to the building and formation of America over a centry later. By 1725, approximately 42,200 Arican slaves had been transported to the Virginia. That number nearly tripled in 50 years by 1775, totaling 127,200.

The heroic, liberating deeds of Nat Truner, John Brown and Harriet Tubman were mentioned in the resolution that summarily addresses the length and depth of the institution of slavery.

While this is a formal acnowledgment, a simple reolution does not have the force of law. Individual mvotes were not recorded as the resolution was taen by special rule.