From The University of the West Indies

The first-ever ‘Reparations and Racial Healing StudyTour’ is taking place from July 24 to 28 in Bridgetown Barbados.

The topic of global reparations has been making headlines recently, including a prominent cover story in TIME magazine just last month.

This groundbreaking reparations study tour will include a gathering of prominent leaders from Africa who will convene in Bridgetown to unveil Barbados’ commitment to becoming a leader in the global reparations movement. Distinguished attendees include ambassadors and representatives from selected Member States of the African Union, Pan-African academics, advocates, and campaigners who have dedicated their efforts to reparations, healing, and Pan-Africanism. 

The study tour will culminate in a pivotal news conference on July 27, which will present outcomes of the study tour. The tour will delve into the power of reparations, the unprecedented alliance between the African Union and CARICOM, and the bridging of continents—Africa and the Caribbean. This is an important opportunity to hear from influential voices and engage in a conversation that has the potential to shape the trajectory of global social justice.

Kindly note the details below: 

Description: Media Conference: Reparations “Study Tour” on the advancement of global reparations and racial healing 

Venue: In person – Conference Room, Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management, The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Barbados

Online – via UWItv atwww.uwitv.global, www.facebook.com.uwitv or Flow Evo cable channels 

Date: Thursday, July 27, 2023

Time: 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM (AST/Eastern Caribbean)

Security Protocol: Media personnel attending in person are required to RSVP to Carol Jilombo at [email protected]. Media personnel should indicate full name, mobile phone and email contacts and be prepared to present government-issued, picture identification for verification.  

Presenters:

• HE Francia Marquez, Vice-President of the Republic of Colombia
• HE Youssouf Mondoha Assoumani, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Union of Comoros and Chair of the Permanent Representatives Committee of the African Union
• Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor, The University of the West Indies
• Dr. Hilary Brown, Program Manager for Reparations, CARICOM Secretariat 
• H.E. Dr. Epsy Campbell Barr, Former Vice President of Costa Rica and Chair of the UN Permanent Forum for People of African Descent
• Moderator – Mr. Kyeretwie Osei, Head of Programs, AU-ECOSOCC 

Background:

World leaders will gather in Bridgetown, Barbados on July 27 to hold a news conference to address the pressing issue of global racial and reparative justice and discuss the agreed-upon plans for advancement. Expected attendees include government officials, African Union Representatives, leaders in philanthropy, and representatives from CARICOM, Latin America, African Think Tanks, Caribbean media and academia. The news conference is organized as part of the Reparations and Racial Healing Study Tour, held from July 24 to 28 in Barbados building a united front for justice and reparations for Africans. The groundbreaking study tour marks the beginning of an intercontinental campaign process advocating for reparations and healing on both the African and global stages. Ambassadors and representatives will gather on a unified front to call for reparations for historical crimes against people of African descent. Their meetings will include strategy sessions, knowledge-sharing dialogues, plenaries, collective advocacy, exploration of approaches for racial communal healing, and critical reflection on addressing harms suffered within Africa and throughout the Diaspora. The news conference will address the development of a global framework for ongoing cross-regional learning and the development of a global advocacy agenda between governments in Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America and their civil society organizations involved in reparations and healing. 

The transatlantic slave trade is one of the oldest, unresolved mass atrocities in history. Today, the African continent and its diaspora face the highest levels of poverty, incarceration, police brutality, maternal mortality, and wealth inequality. Africa is one of the world’s most resource-abundant continents, yet Africans account for 70% of the world’s most impoverished individuals. Haiti, as the first black republic in the world, successfully overthrew slavery and colonialism to establish its own sovereignty. It remains one of the poorest nations in the world. These present conditions stem from a global history of slavery, colonialism, and apartheid; systems of racial exclusion that deprived and undermined an entire race of people from building wealth from their own labor and resources. The wealth accumulated during the slave trade and the forced labor camps gave rise to industries, institutions, and family estates – many of which still thrive to this day. Over two centuries of free labor fueled two industrial revolutions and a quantum leap in development for Europe and the U.S., while simultaneously producing the beginning of the climate crisis, underdevelopment, and persistent intergenerational poverty for African people. Today, we are living in the legacy of systems that have never been dismantled. At this unique moment in history, local movements are merging into a unified global movement to reimagine the future of democracy through the lens of reparations. Even with public apologies from governments, religious institutions, and financial institutions, there has been no repair or any remedy that is proportionate to the harm done. This news conference will bring key political and thought leaders together to address a potential roadmap for cooperation between the African Union and CARICOM in reparations advocacy.

This news conference is organized with support from The Open Society Foundations, the African Union Economic Social and Cultural Council (AU-ECOSOCC) and Caribbean Pan African Network (CPAN).