No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

In 1807 England abolished the slave trade. Two hundred years on can we say slavery is consigned to history or does it continue to be a contemporary issue in today's society?
      "Niggers was the ones on the rope, hanging off the thing; niggas is the ones with gold ropes, hanging out at clubs.” Tupac Shakur: taken from an interview with Tupac for the documentary Tupac: Resurrection.
      The origins of the word Nigger can be found in the slave trade. An offensive and derogatory term derived from the Latin word Niger, meaning black, used to refer to the colour of the slaves. In recent popular culture with a slight alteration, the word Nigga has been used to refer to “homeboys” especially in the world of rap and Hip Hop. Here it is considered cool. Countless patent applications have been submitted to trademark or brand the word Nigga for clothing and accessories. Is this ok? Is the word nigger no longer offensive, or by changing the spelling and meaning are we forgetting history and ignoring previous insults? What are we teaching young people? Are we going to be passive bystanders as we watch this new word be integrated into the vernacular, denigrating the past by believing this word is cool, a compliment even?
      Today, according to the British Anti-Slavery Society; "Although there is no longer any state which recognizes any claim by a person to a right of property over another, there are an estimated 27 million people throughout the world, mainly children, in conditions of slavery."
      My piece aims to look at the history, the present and the future of this article. On the 10th December 1948, when voting for the adoption of the Declaration of Human Rights, 8 members of the General Assembly of the United Nations abstained from voting, 48 voted in favour. Each of the 27 handcuffs on my chain, represent a million people currently in slavery. The £2 coin commemorates the abolishment of slavery in Great Britain. In the main chain there are 48 large links all connected in a circle; each represents a member that voted in favour and I aim to highlight their courage, unity and forward thinking.