been recognized as a crime against humanity, demanding a full investigation of what happened, when and where. Only then can the suffering, degradation and exploitation that occurred be established, and the nature and extent of reparations determined. On another level, to understand slavery as forced migration, severance from home communities and imposed assimilation into new relationships requires careful historical analysis and reconstruction. How events of the past are interpreted is always contentious and subject to review and fresh insights. No other historical phenomenon deserves more attention than slavery because of the influence it has had on history over at least the past five hundred years.