The issue of reparations has probably never enjoyed as consistently high a profile as it has in the past two years, especially with the advent of the government sponsored Caricom Reparation Commission (CRC) in 2013. As evidence of this, the University of Edinburgh, UK, in collaboration with Wheelock College, Boston, US, hosted a conference entitled Repairing the Past, Imagining the Future: Reparations and Beyond… from November 5th and 7th.

The event brought together academics and activists primarily from the UK, Europe the Caribbean and the USA, with the aim of creating, “a network in which to explore the wealth of established and nascent activism and creativity centred on reparations… a central theme of the conference (was) ‘reparations and beyond’; that is a desire to explore the potential of reparations in overcoming the legacies of racial discrimination and socio-economic disadvantage rooted in the slave and colonial pasts”: The Maafa!

A number of community organisations were in attendance including: Alkbu-Lan Revivalist Movement, Black Mental Health UK (BMH-UK), Emancipation Day Reparations March Committee (EDRMC), Global Afrikan Congress (UK), interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament (iNAPP), Nubia African Community Foundation School, Pan Afrikan Reparations Coalition in Europe (PARCOE), Windrush Foundation and Afrikan Hebrew Israelites (AHI).

The conference consisted of a range of panels as well as an opening keynote address from Prof.Verene Shepherd, co-Vice Chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission, who laid out the CRC’s 10 point programme, but sparked a debate when Bro Kweku Bonsu (EDRMC) challenged suggestions that the CRC was the axis of the global reparations movement. Bro. Kofi Klu of PARCOE, further emphasised the importance of grassroots structures “developing from below,” and argued for “an inclusive dialogue where each and every element has an equal role.” He insisted further: 

“No government has the right to speak for us.” 

Similarly, his PARCOE Co-Chair, Sis. Esther Stanford-Xosei, held a “grounding” session to introduce delegates to ISMAR (International Social Movement for African Reparations), which was developed as a counter to the “ground-up reparations movement denial.”  She also emphasised the importance of “extra-legal strategies” (i.e. going beyond standard legal frameworks) and that reparations is not just about “give us money” but also (re)establishing nation. 

In many respects this latter theme was covered by Prof Jessica Gordon Nembhard of City University of New York, who provided a historical overview of the orientation towards self-reparation of Afrikans in America, through the development of co-ops such as the Coloured Farmers National Alliance and Cooperative Union (CFNACU) that had over one million members in late 19th century USA.  Prof Gordon Nembhard highlighted:

“There is a continuous history of African-America co-ops from before the civil war up to the 21st century.”

She also detailed white America’s consistent attempts to destroy these co-ops from the 1889 Leflore Massacre onwards.

Sis. Isis Amlak of GAC (UK) continued the self-determination theme with a dynamic and insightful presentation that outlined five key elements that to enable activists to become “agents of change” rather than “agents of reform.” This included: 1) clear vision; 2) Patient yet persistent; 3) ask tough questions; 4) being knowledgeable and lead by example; 5) building strong relationships based on trust.

The main feature of the second day was a lecture by Prof Sir Hilary Beckles, Chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission and author of the book, Britain’s Black Debt: Reparations for Caribbean Slavery & Native Genocide.  His address covered the sweep of the Caribbean phase of the Maafa (slavery, colonialism and ongoing racial oppression, including the various “coups” that the UK government has pulled on the region in the guise of “abolition” and “independence” for example. 

Prof Beckles also exposed the subterfuge of European governments around the World Conference Against Racism, in Durban (2001) and how they conspired to exact pressured, by threatening the governments of Afrika should they side with the Caribbean on the issue of slavery being a crime against humanity and their rightful demand for reparations. He noted however that Zimbabwe was staunch in its support. Of most critical note was Prof Beckles’ declaration that the population profile of the Caribbean over the last four centuries was proof of genocide and that

“The reparatory justice movement is going to be the largest political movement of the 21st century.” 

A movement he contended should be led by civic society and not the CRC, which he stressed was just one important aspect.

Other, somewhat unscheduled, debates in Edinburgh revolved around the role and/or prominence of European scholars, scholarship or “allies” in the pursuit of reparations or in the reparations discourse. The appropriateness of this was challenged by Eld Bro Ator (AHI) and Sis Matilda Macattram (BMH-UK). This deeply troubled some activists, one of whom cited “John Brown,” the white man who puportedly die fighting to end slavery. 

Against a backdrop of fissures in the Afrkan-UK community, occurring in recent months (e.g. iNAPP leadership crisis, Reparations March/Rally split), one of the undercurrents was the state of the reparations movement in the UK, which Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka, representing iNAPP, addressed with an impassioned plea:

“While we have a duty to constructively critique governments everywhere, we have a challenge in the grassroots community. We do not have a cohesive and coherent national reparations movement and that is because some of the same contradictions and hypocrisies that we recognise occur at the government level and the same betrayals that we recognise occur at the government level happens also at the grassroots level.  I see the mentality of the “postcode war syndrome” that we criticize in our young people but because we are intellectuals, we shoot each other down with words, we shoot each other down with rhetorical brilliance but the effect is the same – it is very, very destructive.  Reparations begin with self-repair, what is our agenda for self-repair?  Even when we disagree, are we prepared to come to the table of reconciliation and resolution or will we continue to preach reparations and practice demolition?”

Some of the main concluding discussion points, include the need:

•        To avoid academic genocide ie the appropriation of the reparations narrative and agenda by white scholars;
•        For Afrikans to take back the power to define, determining the lexicon for the reparations discourse and discarding inappropriate terms such as ‘slave’ and ‘slave trade’;
•        To own and affirm the right to speak to our historical pain as Afrikans, regardless of who gets upset.
•        For sustained well-funded community programmes and spaces for meetings and work;
•        For the global reparations movement to be grassroots led and not led by governments and the academy;
•        To lobby governments to take appropriate reparatory actions, including education ministries to design appropriate curricula for educational repair.
•        To challenge the media where misinformation is disseminated;
•        To facilitate multilingual conferences and debates;
•        For a national and global network of reparations activist and a robust global reparations movement. 

So, tonight, we ask the question,

Do we need a national reparations strategy in the UK?

1)    Did you know about the Edinburgh Reparations Conference?
2)    Would you like to attend a community feedback meeting on the conference?
3)    What is the role of European scholars/allies in the reparations movement?
4)    Is there a tendency to preach reparations and practice demolition in the Afrikan community?
5)    What is the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament’s national reparations strategy?

Our special guests are:

Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK.  A veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An Africentric Guide To Excellence.

Bro Olatunji Heru: Veteran activist and commentator.  Bro. Olatunji is the editor-in-chief of The Whirlwind newspaper and producer of Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan.