Transatlantic boat christened on UN Slave Remembrance Day

United Nations Ambassadors and others will join New York AIDS activist Victor Mooney for the christening of his Brazilian rowboat named The Spirit of Malabo in New York.

NEW YORK CITY – United Nations Ambassadors and others will join New York AIDS activist Victor Mooney for the christening of his Brazilian rowboat named The Spirit of Malabo, which will raise awareness of AIDS and money for the United Nations permanent memorial for the transatlantic slave trade at New York’s Skyport Marina today.

In New York City, the Honorable Marty Markowitz, Borough President of Brooklyn and the Honorable Ruben Diaz, Jr. Bronx Borough President has proclaimed the Spirit of Malabo Day in their respective boroughs. Other elected officials are also expected to celebrate the boats christening.

August 23 marks the United Nations International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. This is annually observed to remind people of the tragedy of the transatlantic slave trade.

On Thursday, Mooney arrived with his boat at the Skyport Marina after rowing from the World’s Fair Marina in Queens, a division of the City of New York, Park and Recreation Department. World’s Fair Marina has been in operation since 1964 and is once home to Matinecock Native Americans. After the boats christening this morning, Mooney will row to SUNY Maritime College where he’ll base his training.

Later this year, Mooney will row the Spirit of Malabo 5,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to New York’s Brooklyn Bridge. This will be the rowers fourth bid at this feat. Mooney has lost one brother to AIDS and has another battling the disease.

H.E. Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea is the patron of the Spirit of Malabo. The Goree Challenge project is coordinated by New York based South African Arts International, Ltd. (SAAI) and supported by hundreds of corporations, international and national health institutions, numerous governments and individuals.

For more, visit www.goreechallenge.com.

Photo: Spirit of Malabo rowboat.