A move to properly publicly acknowledge Liverpool's past links to slavery is set to go ahead after councillors backed a motion to publicise the history of key city road names to slave traders.
Rodney Street, Parr Street and Earle Street are some of the roads that would receive new plaques highlighting their links to a period in which much of Liverpool's economy and society revolved around the trading of black people as slaves.
Mayor Joe Anderson said the move, which was backed unanimously, was an important step in reconciling the city with its history and improving public education about slavery.
He said the city would move more quickly on the issue than it had done in the past.
His comments came after Liverpool Black History Research Project's Laurence Westgaph, speaking at yesterday's meeting, praised the move but said past inaction by the council meant it needed to be treated with caution.
The city council formally apologised for its role in slavery in 1999 but Mr Westgaph criticised the council's role in the two decades since for leaving many of the aims within that apology unfulfilled.
He said: "I remember that we have been here before, more than 20 years ago.
"The actions contained in that motion are still to be implemented."
Mayor Anderson said he accepted criticisms of the council's actions on the issue.
He said: "I think it is absolutely fair and right to challenge the city that we have not done enough in the past.
"It is absolutely right for me to accept and acknowledge that on behalf of myself and the council."
Mr Westgaph called on the council to ensure that dialogue with Liverpool's black community, which he called slavery's "most precious" legacy to the city, continued at all stages of the process.
Many councillors used speeches in favour of the motion to draw attention to the pervasiveness of slavery's legacy within the city's roads, buildings, statues and paintings.
Picton councillor Nathalie Nicholas used Liverpool Town Hall, where full council meetings are held, as just one example.
Councillor Nicholas said: "This building here has paintings depicting men that became wealthy thanks to the trading of human lives.
"We all feel contempt about human trafficking today.
"We should view with the same contempt the way that these men became rich."
Councillor Mirna Juarez added that the city "has not moved to educate people about the city's wealth and where it came from".
Now that the motion has been passed the council's highways department is set to draw up a list of roads that will be affected and work to figure out how best to publicly acknowledge the sources of their names.
The council also passed a key motion to acknowledge the work done by Liverpool Unison's Babs Hennessy in memorialising the women sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp during the WWII.
Cabinet member Barry Kushner's motion highlighted the work done by Ms Hennessy in studying and education people about Ravensbruck, a camp created solely for women.
