July 1st, Keti Koti - Framer Framed takes time off
On July 1, 1863, Dutch slavery in Suriname and the former Netherlands Antilles was abolished. In reality, the enslaved were forced to continue working for another ten years, until 1873. The consequences of the slavery past still affect today’s society. Next year we will commemorate and celebrate 150 years of the abolition of slavery. However, July 1 (also known as Keti Koti) is not yet recognized as a national commemoration and bank holiday in the Netherlands. As an organization we would like to contribute to this.
The call to declare July 1 a national holiday is getting louder every year. On June 24, 2021, the petition ‘July 1 should be a national holiday and commemoration day’ was launched by ‘Nederland Wordt Beter’, FunX and The Black Archives. More than 62,000 people signed the petition within a week. Pending the handling of the petition, more and more companies and organizations are already taking a step in the right direction and offering a day off for their employees on July 1.
Together we will make July 1 a national day off.
