Gorée Island, in Senegal.

There are places that leave a mark. Places that tell stories many would rather not see.

Two weeks ago, I visited Gorée Island, in Senegal.

As I walked through the House of Slaves and passed by the so-called Door of No Return, I was confronted with a history that does not belong only in books, a history I have always, in some way, felt. There, the transatlantic enslavement of African people ceases to be an abstraction. It becomes absence, crossing, violence, memory.

The recent UN resolution recognizing the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized enslavement as the gravest crime against humanity brings this debate back to the center of the international agenda.

But recognition is only a first step.

Slavery structured wealth, institutions, territories, racial hierarchies and relations of power. Its consequences remain present in the economic, social, racial and gender inequalities that shape the contemporary world.

That is why, when African and Caribbean nations call for formal apologies, the restitution of cultural assets, debt relief, reparations funds and concrete policies for reparatory justice, they are not asking for a favor. They are demanding historical responsibility.

#Reparations are a collective responsibility.

It is also essential to approach this debate from a gender perspective. Enslaved African women suffered specific forms of violence, exploitation and erasure. The marks of this history are still visible in the inequalities experienced by Black women in work, income, access to healthcare, care responsibilities, housing, politics and protection from violence.

The #DoorOfNoReturn reminds us that millions of people were torn from their territories and prevented from ever returning.

But the memory of that path cannot be only about mourning. It must also be a commitment. It is about recognizing that many of these wounds have never been closed.

In this context, I recommend reading the article “African and Caribbean nations call for formal apology for transatlantic slavery.” After all, recognition and accountability are the very least that is owed. Society and the system owe this, and so much more.