Wole Soyinka on the Persistence of Slavery and the 'Heritage Voyage of Return'

The Enduring Nature of Slavery

• 💡 Slavery is not over, with slave markets still active across the African continent and new, insidious forms emerging.
• ⚠️ A new form of slavery involves individuals becoming collaborators in the new slave trade, preying on children sent to boarding schools.
• 🚫 The speaker stresses the need for a holistic, comprehensive, and egalitarian attitude towards all forms of slavery, rejecting convenient classifications.
• 🧠 The core of slavery is identified as the robbery of human beings of their volition, where any person owned by another is enslaved.

Modern Forms of Enslavement

• 🎯 The phenomenon of modern slavery is exemplified by the abduction of pupils from schools, such as the Chibok girls incident, highlighting a global conscience failure.
• 🎭 The speaker references the film 'Django Unchained' to illustrate the brutal objectification of enslaved people as property.

Symbolic Reparations and the Heritage Voyage of Return

• 🌍 The global community has a responsibility to address slavery, requiring more than static monuments; a dynamic, symbolic approach is needed.
• 💰 Material reparations for slavery are deemed impossible to quantify, suggesting a focus on symbolic and gestural actions.
• 🚢 The proposed 'Heritage Voyage of Return' is envisioned as a moving remembrance monument and a lived-in exposition of Africa's past, present, and future.
• 🖼️ This voyage would feature an honor gallery for returned artifacts, seminars, films, and cultural displays, serving as a vibrant statement on Africa's interrupted history.

The Purpose of the Voyage

• 🤝 The voyage is open to all who seek a new humanity that embraces, is curious, and values conscience.
• 🌟 It aims to be a symbolic voyage of return, a continuation of UNESCO's work, focusing on learning, leisure, and linkage (the three L's).
• 🚀 The 'Heritage Voyage of Return' is not designed for recrimination but as a floating vessel of peaceful options and neglected knowledge, promoting tourism with an attitude.
• ✨ Ultimately, the voyage seeks to facilitate a reinsertion of human into humanity, shedding fixations, prejudice, and the lust for power.