JamesG
02-17-2009, 08:48 AM
Jackson To Build Museum At Slave Port
17 February 2009 4:10 AM, PST
Former pop star Marlon Jackson has come under fire after investing in a "slavery theme park" and resort in an African town once linked to human trafficking.
The ex-Jackson 5 singer, brother of superstar Michael Jackson, is involved in a $3.4 billion (£2.4 billion) plan to build the Badagry Historical Resort Development Project in the historic port town of Badagry, Nigeria, which was a central hub during the height of the slave trade.
But historians have criticised the scheme, which would include a theme park with a slave ship replica, a collection of Jackson 5 memorabilia, and a museum about slavery.
Writer C Don Adinuba says, "This plan is morally reprehensible, it's like dancing on the graves of dead people and telling them you're honouring them."
The Motherland Group (Tmg), the plans' developers, maintains the site will boost the Nigerian economy by attracting African-American tourists tracing their roots, and will provide vital employment opportunities for locals.
A spokesman says, "The Badagry Historical Resort Development Project of Nigeria in essence can become the newly desired and sought-after vacation destination of the world."
And Jackson himself believes the historic slave town is the perfect setting to house a Jackson 5 tribute.
Tmg executive Gary Loster says, "The Jackson family had been looking for a place to site their memorabilia collection for some time.
"We visited the site of the slave port in Badagry and Marlon turned to me and said: 'Let's put it here, this is right.' It's such an emotional place, and I think we all felt that it was the right place to have the Jackson family memorial."
-IMDB News
17 February 2009 4:10 AM, PST
Former pop star Marlon Jackson has come under fire after investing in a "slavery theme park" and resort in an African town once linked to human trafficking.
The ex-Jackson 5 singer, brother of superstar Michael Jackson, is involved in a $3.4 billion (£2.4 billion) plan to build the Badagry Historical Resort Development Project in the historic port town of Badagry, Nigeria, which was a central hub during the height of the slave trade.
But historians have criticised the scheme, which would include a theme park with a slave ship replica, a collection of Jackson 5 memorabilia, and a museum about slavery.
Writer C Don Adinuba says, "This plan is morally reprehensible, it's like dancing on the graves of dead people and telling them you're honouring them."
The Motherland Group (Tmg), the plans' developers, maintains the site will boost the Nigerian economy by attracting African-American tourists tracing their roots, and will provide vital employment opportunities for locals.
A spokesman says, "The Badagry Historical Resort Development Project of Nigeria in essence can become the newly desired and sought-after vacation destination of the world."
And Jackson himself believes the historic slave town is the perfect setting to house a Jackson 5 tribute.
Tmg executive Gary Loster says, "The Jackson family had been looking for a place to site their memorabilia collection for some time.
"We visited the site of the slave port in Badagry and Marlon turned to me and said: 'Let's put it here, this is right.' It's such an emotional place, and I think we all felt that it was the right place to have the Jackson family memorial."
-IMDB News