I was reading in March’s Museums Journal about plans for next year’s bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade. We do have material on the Hub about the Atlantic slave trade, plantation owners, and abolitionists.

However, 1807 marked the end of a specific historical instance of
slavery, not the end of slavery itself. We shouldn’t forget that slavery is still alive and well all over the world – and still big business in this country. Remember the Morecambe Bay cockling deaths? Or heard about forced prostitution?

I’d be glad if a Hub contributor could put together a Collections of the Month feature on slavery in all its forms. I just think it’s a bit premature for celebrations.