Slavery

In Bristol there are many reminders of the city's wealth built on the slave trade, such as mansion houses overlooking the downs. In the year of the 200th anniversary of the UK act of parliament which made the transatlantic slave trade illegal, there is much discussion of the parrallels with campaigning today.

There are themes about the slave trade which African campaigners I have met claim have resonance today. Slavery was tackled because of a mass movement involving black and white, not just a few white 'celebrity campaigners'. The act of parliament banning the trade was the beginning of the end of a horrible injustice, not a great act of benevolence on the part of the British people. And the effects of the slave trade still make themselves known today in the vast inequalities which exist between communities around the world.

All these themes remain true about climate change campaigning today. Tackling it requires a mass movement of all peoples. If we limit climate change it will be the limiting of a horrendous injustice, not an act of great benevolence. And perhaps most poignantly, our emissions now will effect many future generations to come.

Distance covered so far: 813 miles

See the World Development Movement briefing: 200 years on the legacies of enslavement and abolition for more.