Reparations for slavery is the idea that some form of compensatory payment needs to be made to the descendants of Africans who had been enslaved as part of the Atlantic Slave Trade. The most notable demands for reparations have been made in the United Kingdom and in the United States, where slavery was the most pervasive. Caribbean and African states from which slaves were taken have also made reparation demands.
In 1870, Henrietta Wood Sued for Reparations—and Won. The $2,500 verdict, the largest ever of its kind, offers evidence of the generational impact such awards can have. By W. Caleb McDaniel, Smithsonian Magazine— On April 17, 1878, 12 white jurors entered a federal courtroom in Cincinnati to deliver the verdict in a now-forgotten lawsuit about American slavery. The plaintiff was Henrietta Wood, described by a reporter at the time as…
By News12, New Jersey — New Jersey’s African American lawmakers want to start studying how the state could make reparations for slavery. The New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus introduced a bill Thursday that would establish a Reparations Task Force. The task force would investigate the lingering effects of slavery and the role of state government. “The great national stain of this country’s history is this conversation around slavery. And the…
To truly understand the debt this country owes to Black people is to be liberated from the bondage of miseducation that we’ve remained shackled to in the so-called land of…
By Egan Millard, Episcopal News Service — At its annual convention on Nov. 8 and 9, the Diocese of New York established a task force to examine how it can make meaningful reparations for its participation in the slave trade and committed $1.1 million from its endowment to fund the efforts the task force recommends. It also passed four resolutions condemning slavery, which had first been introduced by John Clarkson Jay – grandson of…
Lizotte’s doctoral dissertation proposes more holistic approach to reparations at CSSJ. By Annie Gersh, Brown Daily Herald — Lizotte’s dissertation, entitled “Rethinking Reparations: A Critical Theory of Black Repair,” argued that current efforts for reparations that focus only on monetary compensation are misguided. Instead, she advocates for institutional and structural change. For Rutgers University PhD Candidate Kelsey Lizotte, reparations are about far more than a monetary exchange. At the Center…
By Sara Weissman, Diverse — Georgetown University recently announced that it would fundraise $400,000 a year to benefit the descendants of 247 slaves sold by the school’s Jesuit founders in…
By Meagan Flynn, The Washington Post — In an urgently worded letter recently sent to Harvard, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne demanded that the university pay his country reparations “for the gains Harvard enjoyed at the expense” of Antiguan slaves. Browne’s Oct. 30 letter to Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow — reported Tuesday night by the Miami Herald and Harvard Crimson — draws a direct line from Harvard Law School’s success today…
Says reparation is compensation, not a gift. By Jeremiah Poff, The College Fix — The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda recently sent a letter to the president of Harvard…
The iconic, progressive ice cream company is in favor of a House Bill that would develop reparations proposals—a sign that attitudes towards a once-radical answer to racial parity are shifting. Story Transcript JACQUELINE LUQMAN: This is Jacqueline Luqman with The Real News Network. Reparations for African Americans or the descendants of Africans brought to the US to be enslaved is a socially and politically charged topic. Widely discussed and advocated within…
St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has urged Caricom leaders to raise the issue of reparations for indigenous peoples and African slaves with their European counterparts as a priority. He said if those…
Black Student Union and the Caribbean Student Association lead discussion about reparations on Thursday. By Julian Roberts-Grmela, UB Spectrum — Jeffery Clinton says he can’t forgive or forget the injustices his family and community endured throughout U.S. history. Clinton, a senior English and African American studies major and president of the African American Studies Academic Association, is a descendant of slaves. Clinton’s great-grandfather acquired a “considerable” amount of property in…
Address by Ambassador David Comissiong to the West and Central Africa Conference on the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent Organized by the United Nations Commission for…
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