The Shackles of Memory Association
The Network Presentation Network History
Network History
The International Alliance of The Shackles of Memory was created in November 2005 during the General Assembly of the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF) at Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, driven by African, American and European mayors, the city of Nantes and the association The Shackles of Memory.
This Alliance was originally constituted of various cities whose objectives were the following:
- To deepen the historical exploration and presentation of their past,
- To construct relationships of liberty, equality and respect, founded upon truth as well as upon injustice and suffering.
- To pool together the experiences of the constituted network, to emphasize the patrimony and heritage tied to slave trade, slavery and their abolitions within the member cities of the Alliance.
The Alliance met on the 10th and 11th of July 2006 for the 2nd World Forum of Human Rights in Nantes in the presence of it's President, M. Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo, former President of the Republic of Benin and former Mayor of Cotonou. The secretariat of The Alliance is assured by the Shackles of Memory association via the intermediary of it's president, Mr. Yvon Chotard.
In the official creation of the The Alliance, a commitment charter was signed by the representatives of 17 member cities. In 2008 The Alliance was composed, henceforth, of 25 member cities, spread over three continents, all of whom having been touched by the history and memory of the slave trade and slavery.
Ever since the signing of the Charter in 2006 in Nantes, The Alliance is open to all actors such as cultural institutions and individuals who seek to address and develop these themes. A general meeting of our international network took place on the 4th and 5th of December 2009 in the city of Limbé, Cameroon.
This was the occasion to organize the constituent General Assembly of The Alliance in order to vote the official statutes and to elect an office founded upon the balanced representation of three colleges: cities, cultural institutions and individuals.
For further information regardng the General Assembly in Limbé, the meeting minutes and the resolutions made during this occasion, you may consult (in French only):
