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December 2 marks the United Nations\u2019 International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, which focuses on combating and eradicating contemporary forms of slavery.<\/span><\/p>\n The day also offers the opportunity to remember the horrors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which lasted from the 15th through to the 19th centuries and was, according to the UN,\u00a0\u201cone of the darkest chapters in human history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n To mark the day, teleSUR aims to commemorate all victims of the trade but will pay special attention to those who dedicated their lives to ending slavery through resistance and rebellion.<\/span><\/p>\n Here are five slaves who fought back and truly changed the world:<\/span><\/p>\n 1. The Slave Who Defeated Napoleon<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Toussaint Louverture was the leader of history\u2019s largest ever slave revolt, which started in 1791 and lasted for over 12 years. The result was the eventual transformation of the French colony of St. Domingue into the independent country of Haiti, the world\u2019s first ever truly anti-colonial, anti-slavery Black republic.<\/span><\/p>\n Louverture led the anti-slavery movement in his country into a war for independence, using his political and military genius to fight the French and Spanish colonial powers in what would later become a fully-fledged, independent nation-state.<\/span><\/p>\n After winning the war against the French and the Spaniards in 1800, St. Domingue gained autonomy from Napoleon\u2019s French government and Louverture was proclaimed governor of the colony.<\/span><\/p>\n The French later launched an offensive to regain control of St. Domingue in 1802 and the Black revolutionary was forced to resign and was deported to France, where he died a year later during imprisonment.<\/span><\/p>\n In his absence, his second-in-command Jean-Jacques Dessalines retaliated, eventually leading the Haitian rebellion until its revolutionary completion, finally defeating French forces in 1803.<\/span><\/p>\n Haiti became the world\u2019s first colonial society to explicitly reject race as the basis of social ranking, challenging ideas around race and racism in the wider Americas and the long-held belief that white Europeans were inherently superior to their Black counterparts.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. The Slave Who Documented Harriet Ann Jacobs was one of the most important female anti-slavery activists in the 19th century, an extraordinary woman who managed to escape slavery and become a prominent abolitionist speaker and reformer.<\/span><\/p>\n Jacobs is known for her autobiographical work, \u201cIncidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,\u201d published in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent.<\/span><\/p>\n At a time when the vast majority of slaves were denied the right to education, it was one of the first books to explore the Black female slave\u2019s struggle against sexual harassment and abuse.<\/span><\/p>\n Due to the U.S. Civil War, the autobiographical account did not gain recognition until the late 20th century, when interest in minority and women writers exploded due to anti-racist and women\u2019s rights struggles in the U.S. and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n Researchers later identified Harriet Jacobs, who died in 1897 at the age of 84, as the author.<\/span><\/p>\n 3. The First Black Nominee for Escaping slavery in 1838, Frederick Douglass was an African-American anti-slavery activist, social reformer and intellectual who advocated for equality for all, whether Black, Native American or female.<\/span><\/p>\n Douglass was an advocate of inter-racial dialogue and formed alliances as part of the struggle for social justice and the eradication of slavery.<\/span><\/p>\n Criticized by fellow activists and abolitionists because he expressed a willing to engage with slaveholders, he famously replied: \u201cI would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Douglass went on to become a national leader of the abolitionist movement from Massachusetts and New York until his death in 1895 at the age of 77.<\/span><\/p>\n He wrote several autobiographies, describing his experiences and torture as a slave in his 1845 autobiography and bestseller, \u201cNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n His last autobiography, \u201cLife and Times of Frederick Douglass,\u201d came after the Civil War as Douglass continued his activism for social justice even after slavery was abolished.<\/span><\/p>\n Connecting the struggle of Black rights to those of women and other issues, Douglass was active in the women\u2019s suffrage movement. Victoria Woodhull, one of the leaders of the movement, selected Douglass as running mate and nominee for vice president, making him the first African-American in U.S. history to be nominated for the position.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"fight](\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/moorbey-z-blog.jpg\")
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\nHer Sexual Abuse, and Changed the Face
\nof North American Minority Literature<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nUS Vice President<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n