United Nations Slavery Memorial

The memorial's name is drawn from the castle on the island of Gorée, Senegal, where enslaved people were held before being shipped across the ocean. One of the exits of the castle is known as "the door of no return". The memorial is meant to serve as "a spiritual place of return". A map showing these routes have been etched into one of the interior panels. Visitors are able to walk through the structure, representing the journeys of enslaved people. Also inside the structure is a horizontal statue of an androgynous figure carved from black Zimbabwe granite, meant to represent the "human spirit" and the deaths of all those who died due to the slave trade. Above the statue is an etched depiction of a crowded slave ship. Tears run down the figure's face into a triangular reflecting pool. == History ==

The Slavery Memorial concept came from various resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly including A/RES/62/122, A/RES/63/5, and the Durban Declaration. Haitian-American architect Rodney Leon was chosen to design the memorial in 2013, his design having won out of a total 310 entries from 83 countries. The project was supported by the Permanent Memorial Trust Fund and from India, which contributed US$250,000; the estimated cost of the project prior to its construction was 4.5 million dollars. The white marble needed for the project was sourced from Vermont. The memorial was officially unveiled on March 25, 2015, the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The design won one of the Pinnacle Awards of the Marble Institute of America later that year. ==Advisory board==

• Goodwill ambassadors: Russell Simmons (entrepreneur, philanthropist) • Chair: Mr. Howard Dodson (Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture) • Cheik Diarra (Microsoft Middle East and Africa) • Ellen Haddigan (Diamond Empowerment Fund) • David Scheider (The Coca-Cola Company) • Harriet Mouchly-Weiss (Kreab Gavin ANderson) • Joseph Daniel (National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center) • David Dinkins (School of International Public Affairs) • Peter Tichansky (Business Council for International Understanding) • Luis Ubinas (Ford Foundation) • Congressman Gregory W. Meeks • Javier Evans (senior premier corporate and professionals relationship manager, HSBC) ==Partners==

• CARICOM • United Nations Office for Partnerships • Jamaica Mission • African Union == See also ==