Amsterdam Rising

Strolling along narrow, red brick streets, making her way across the Singel canal in central Amsterdam, Jennifer Tosch points to Black history carved into the cityscape. Etched into stone ancient structures are Black cherubs farming tobacco, a marker for ‘Felix Meritis’ (an iconic cultural hub where the likes of Napoleon and Brahms waxed on European colonialism) and slavery, all leading, finally, to a hard-fought-for sculpted memorial to slavery in Oosterpark.

This year, Amsterdam celebrates its 750th anniversary. For nearly that long, Netherlands’ capital and most populous city has avoided public dialogue about Dutch peoples’ inhumane treatment of Black people during Dutch colonial history. But Tosch, founder of Black Heritage Tours, is part of a growing movement of activists and intellectuals in the ‘Dam casting new light on the era.

Spurred by grassroots protests, Femke Halsema, Amsterdam’s mayor, formally apologized in 2021 for the city’s role in slavery, saying it was “time to engrave the great injustice of colonial slavery into our city’s identity.” A year earlier, the city council had issued a public apology. As Mayor Halsema issued in a speech: “I apologize for the active involvement of the Amsterdam city council in the commercial system of colonial slavery and the worldwide trade in enslaved people.”

Tosch puts the sudden contrition this way: “We’re in a season of apologies.”

It’s just past noon. Tosch, fashionably dressed in wide-legged jeans, work boots, and a colorful wool cap, hops on a bus for the short ride over to The Oosterpark, located near the Singelgracht of the Mauritskade.

Tosch arrives early to ensure a seat at the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam (a colonial monument itself), which is hosting the launch of Slavery Heritage Guide of the Cape, a new book about the history of Dutch colonialism in Cape Town, South Africa. Written by Nancy Jouwe and Carine Zaayman, the book is the latest in a Mapping Slavery series that examines sites impacted by Dutch slavery. As expected, the room is fairly packed.

Born in New York City, Tosch is Surinamese-American. She spent her youth in Oakland, California, and became interested in Amsterdam - and her family’s roots here - during a postcolonial college history course. Tosch says the distortions and dearth of narratives about the contributions of the African Diaspora in the Netherlands led her to launch Black Heritage Tours in 2013. The tours explore Amsterdam’s “hidden history,” which include guided cruises along the city’s canals highlighting Black presence as early as the 16th century. When she’s not conducting tours, Tosch is doing her own research as a member of the Mapping Slavery Project Netherlands. She co-authored Amsterdam and The Netherlands Slavery Heritage Guides and Dutch New York Histories.

The book launch wrapping up, Tosch walks over and joins a roomful of friends and fellow historians at a wine reception. She steps over to hug Shishani, an award-winning Belgium-Namibian jazz singer, songwriter, guitarist, and cultural anthropologist. Soon, the party gathers around Shishana.

“This song is in honor of those we are forgetting, still,” Shishani says, guitar in hand.

Shishani strums the guitar and starts to sing: “Freedom for a few/ Maybe if they look like you….”

Ron Stodghill is the founder and publisher of DETOUR.

This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Amsterdam Rising."