Anthony N. Morgan speaks at Harvard's 'Symposium on Global Anti-Blackness and the Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade'

March 26, 2024 by Patricia Doherty

CrimSL Adjunct Professor Anthony N. Morgan participated in a symposium entitled "Global Anti-Blackness and the Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade" which took place March 21-22, 2024 at Harvard University.

He received an invitation to attend and to take part in a panel at the symposium from the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, UNESCO, and the U.S. Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice at the Department of State.

Anthony joined the panel "Using International Frameworks to Ensure Civil Rights" on March 22 alongside Roger-Claude Liwanga (Adjunct Professor, Child Protection & International Human Rights, Emory University School of Law) and Adébissi Djogan (Founder and CEO of Public Affairs Africa and member African Descendant Social Entrepreneurship Network (ADSEN)). The panel was moderated by distinguished international human rights lawyer Gay McDougall. 

Describing his contributions to the panel discussion, Anthony says,

"Based on my experiences, I offered my reflections and lessons on the power, importance and limitations of engaging in transnational racial justice advocacy for Black communities through United Nations human rights mechanisms."

He says that he focused specifically on the outcomes and impacts of Black Canadian communities engaging in advocacy and participating in global forums for promoting and protecting the human rights of People of African Descent, such as the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. His comments reflected a recent report he co-authored on Black Canadian civil society's participation at the Permanent Forum, published by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and the Canadian Commission of UNESCO.

About "Symposium on Global Anti-Blackness and the Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade"

Building on the need for strengthened global cooperation in this important area, the symposium coincided with the tenth and final year of the UN’s International Decade of Peoples of African Descent, the 30th anniversary of UNESCO’s Routes of Enslaved Peoples Project, the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the UN’s annual International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade on March 25.

Visit the symposium web page for more details.