New York, NY —

That's United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon banging on a ceremonial drum from Cameroon.

He was at the U.N. marking its annual day of remembrance for the victims of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It's also a day when the organization tries to draw attention to modern-day slavery, like the use of child soldiers and human trafficking.

Tonight a star studded concert at the UN will feature artists like Salif Keita from Mali, Brazil's Gilberto Gil, and soprano Angela Brown among many others -- but the show is by invitation only.

Earlier today, the U.N. hosted high school students from the Bronx and Stamford and Bridgeport Connecticut for a live video conference with students from Sierra Leone, St Lucia, Trinidad and Nova Scotia -- all places touched by the slave trade.