We made a small guide of Amsterdam with some information on the city’s involvement in slavery, attached the guides to ice cream (Raketjes) and handed them out on the streets.
We made a small guide of Amsterdam with some information on the city’s involvement in slavery, attached the guides to ice cream (Raketjes) and handed them out on the streets. We figured that handing out ice cream would be a small interruption in someone’s day, and the guide that we attached to it might change their experience of the city. We based this on my own experience of the Black Heritage Tour that we did during the course — getting to know more about the colonial history and the traces of it throughout the city made my experience of the city different, it made me look up more in search of more gable stones and depictions of people of color, and it changed the feel of the city for me. We got the ice cream at the Albert Heijn at Dam Square. From there we walked over to the Warmoesstraat, through the Wallen over to the Zeedijk. We handed them out mostly to tourists, but also to some people who were working in the area. We ate the last two Raketjes ourselves.
