September 23, 2017 Post Update:
Professor Verene Shepherd’s CBC, Washington D.C. speech available here
Professor Verene Shepherd, Social Historian and Director of the Centre for Reparation Research at the University of the West Indies (UWI) will participate in the Reparations Issues Forum at the 47th Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in Washington DC on Friday September 22.
The forum will be hosted by Congressman John Conyers, author of HR40, the legislative bill that calls for the establishment of a commission to study the historical impacts of slavery on African Americans and for developing a reparations program to remedy those negative impacts. Cong. Conyers is also the dean of the CBC and the longest serving lawmaker in both houses of the US Congress.
“We welcome Prof. Shepherd to this annual forum,” said Dr. Ron Daniels, moderator of the forum and convenor of the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC). “She follows in the footsteps of Prof. Sir Hilary Beckles, Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission who has spoken to this forum in previous years.”
Prof. Shepherd will update the CBC forum on the establishment of the historic Centre for Reparation Research at the UWI, the first of its kind in the academy, to be officially launched on October 10 this year. In her capacity as a vice chair of the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) and co-chair of the National Council on Reparation in Jamaica, Prof. Shepherd will also report on the reparatory justice movement in the region and the strategy being pursued by the CARICOM Reparation Commission through its Ten Point Action Plan.
“Our responsibility at this year’s CBC is not only to mobilize support for HR-40, but also for the global reparation movement, because we have not yet reached the mountain top where justice and true freedom resides for all regardless of class, race, color, origin or gender,” said Prof. Shepherd.
The Centre for Reparation Research (CRR) will support the CARICOM Reparatory Justice Movement, build awareness and conduct research which will advance the claim to Europeans for reparations for native genocide, African enslavement, deceptive indenture, colonialism and its legacies in the Caribbean region.
Contact: Don Rojas
Email: donrojas636@gmail.com
Tel: 410-844-1031
