New York City Insider: Rep. Adriano Espaillat Introduces Resolution Honoring Fight Against Slavery in the Americas.

 

PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release: December 23, 2021

Rep. Adriano Espaillat Introduces Resolution Honoring Fight Against Slavery in the Americas. Resolution Recognizes December 26th as the “Quincentennial of the Fight Against Slavery in the Americas”.   NEW YORK, N.Y. – Today, Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) introduced a resolution recognizing the first revolt of enslaved people in the Americas, when Africans revolted against colonial powers in the Caribbean – the Santo Domingo Slave Revolt of Dec. 26, 1521, starting at a sugar plantation owned by Diego Columbus, the son of Christopher Columbus. “Historians believe the Santo Domingo Slave Revolt – the first revolt of enslaved people in the Americas – took place on Dec. 26, 1521, when enslaved people marched over sixty miles in an attempt to reach freedom,” said Rep. Espaillat. “I am introducing this resolution to ensure that history remembers each of these men, women, and children as the valiant warriors they were – who carried with them a spirit of unwavering resistance and an overt rejection of oppression. “This resolution serves as a stark reminder that our nation’s civil rights movement was a continuation of the work of the ancestors who came before us more than 500 years ago – their struggle, their courage, and their unwavering fight for true freedom for all. It remains incumbent on each of us to enshrine this history into the fabric of our nation so that it will inspire future generations.” Click here to read Rep. Espaillat's resolution in its entirety. ### Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his third term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities. He is also a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves in a leadership role as the Second Vice Chair and is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, where he serves as Deputy Whip. Representative Espaillat also currently serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/.