You can see a growing list of events here.
But some organisations are offering the chance to study aspects of slavery in depth. All emphasise the contrast between the slave fields of the Caribbean, and the homely and domestic destination of their most famous product: sugar.
1. The Women's Library study day looks at the involvement of women in the slave trade from three perspectives. Mary Prince, who lived in Britain before and after 1807 had to fight for her freedom and was separated from her husband in the process: she could not go back to Jamaica without being re-enslaved. Sexual rights are also picked up in Diana Paton's talk, who looks at how Caribbean women were forced to bear children by plantation owners both before and after abolition.
Clare Midgeley looks at how women made their housekeeping political - with slave-sugar boycotts as an early example of consumer power.
£15/£20 Call 020 7320 2222 for details
 |  | An African woman drawn on an 18th century business card. Courtesy of London Metropolitan Archives. |
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2. London Metropolitan Archive also looks at the role of women, exploring female slave owners, as well as the enslaved and the vocal liberation campaigners. It discusses how the slave trade can be best presented today - and how the worlds of the archivist and activist collide.
£30/£50 including lunch 020 7332 3820 for details.
A list of slaves held by the owners of Greenwich Park. Courtesy of London Metropolitan archive. | |  |
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3. The V&A will be running a free exhibition Uncomfortable Truths and trails through its collections for visitors to the museum. There will also be an academic conference
which looks at how slavery issues spill over into design - talks include "Silver Service Slavery" which describes the Black presence in the British home, and a look at what material from the Medieval and Renaissance period can tell us about slavery.
£100 for both days of the conference, but with very substantial reductions for some concessions. Phone 020 7942 2000 for details. Uncomfortable Truths exhibition FREE.
 | | The Duchess of Portsmouth with a young black girl - will the exhibition reveal her name? Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery. |
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4. The National Portrait Gallery is running a trail from March - July exploring the many faces of slavery as they appear on the walls of the gallery. Free to all, it should be an interesting primer in the interactions of the 'great and good' of the 18th and early 19th century with both sides of the conflict. This picture of the Duchess of Portsmouth with a young Black girl is typical of the images that the gallery will be looking at again for the exhibition.
FREE
