In December 2005, The Government of Jamaica established the Jamaica National Bicentenary Committee, to plan and implement meaningful activities to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Transatlantic Trade in captured Africans (TTA) in 2007, conscious of the impact of the TTA on the history and experience of our ancestors on the majority of the population.

The decision to observe the bicentenary was taken even with the knowledge that the Abolition Act of 1807 left slavery intact, forcing the enslaved Africans to intensify their liberation struggles. These liberation struggles resulted in the complete abolition of slavery in 1838.

The committee is an inter agency group of fifty (50) members drawn from academia, government agencies, non governmental organizations (NGO’s), and community based organizations (CBO’s), is chaired by University of the West Indies Professor and noted Jamaican historian and writer, Verene Shepherd.

Our plans:

1. We propose to erect 3 monuments at the major arrival points in Jamaica i.e. Kingston, Falmouth, and Portland.
2. To organize a series of public lectures, panel discussions and conferences to generate educational material in conjunction with local publishers and educational institutions. A major initiative will be to print an edited version of the Abolition Act, secured from the House of Lords, to educate young children about the abolition story.
3. To stage a football festival throughout the island, with West African stars involved, and work through the Ministry of Tourism, Entertainment and Culture, in collaboration with the JCDC, to stage cultural events.
4. To stage concerts in town squares and emancipation parks around Jamaica with the participation of Jamaican talent.

Contact: Prof. Verene A. Shepherd
Chair, JNBC & the Secretariat
c/o The Faculty of Humanities and Education, UWI, Mona
Kingston 7