ROV’s Draft Position on Pan Afrikan Reparations
for Global Justice
“Reparation is not
just about money; it is not even mostly about
money; in fact money is not even one per cent
of what Reparation is about. Reparation is mostly
about making repairs, self-made repairs, on ourselves;
mental repairs, psychological repairs, cultural
repairs, organisational repairs, social repairs,
economic repairs, political repairs, educational
repairs, repairs of every type that we need in
order to recreate and sustain viable Black societies…
More important than any monies to be received,
more fundamental than any lands to be recovered,
is the opportunity the Reparations campaign offers
to us for the rehabilitation of Black people,
by Black people, for Black people, opportunities
for the rehabilitation of our minds, our material
condition, our collective reputation, our cultures,
our memories, our self respect, our religions,
our political traditions and our family institutions;
but first and foremost, for the rehabilitation
of our minds.” Chinweizu, Abuja, Nigeria, 27 April 1993
(delivered at the first Pan Afrikan Conference
on Reparations)
The problems of Historical and
Contemporary Enslavement and the question of Reparations
are of utmost concern to Afrikan peoples on the
continent and in the Diaspora. As an Afrikan-led
heritage learning movement, ROV largely takes
its inspiration from the cross-community mass
mobilisations of anti-slavery abolitionist heroes
and sheroes, especially those who are Afrikan
such as Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, W.E.B
Du Bois, Aimé Césaire, Osagyefo
Kwame Nkrumah, Martin Luther King and Malcolm
X, who regarded the situations affecting Afrikan
people as a matter for the whole of humanity to
address.
The ROV position stems from consideration
of Chinweizu’s paper delivered at the first
Pan Afrikan Conference on Reparations on 27 April
1993, the Human Rights Watch position on Reparations,
and the Programmes of Action of the World Conference
against Racism in 2001.
ROV firmly believes that issues
of Afrikan Enslavement in particular, and those
of Historical and Contemporary Enslavement in
general, concern everyone and that we need to
understand the wrongs of the past within our present
day context. Reparations should be made for the
so-called slave trade, enslavement or other forms
of racist practices because wrongs were committed,
and because Afrikan people today, both on the
continent and in the diaspora, are continuing
to suffer the effects of the so-called slave trade,
enslavement and other forms of racist practice.
This can be seen by connecting the past practises
of the so-called slave trade and enslavement to
the continuing social, cultural, educational and
economic marginalisation of communities and populations
of Afrikans today all over the world.
By acknowledging this harm, and
the continuing effects of past wrongs, it is then
up to all of us, governments and civil society,
to be prepared to take responsibility for seeking
ways together to propose measures which can help
to rectify these effects, thereby making amends
for past injustices. There is a great deal of
research which has been carried out around psychological,
cultural, social, economic, political and educational
impacts of the slave trade and slavery and finding
ways of making practical use of this research
is critical to moving forward on this issue. ROV
is also linking its heritage learning work in
relation to Reparations, to the promotion of cross
community grassroots creativity in contributing
to the formulation, implementation and monitoring
of such relevant government policy frameworks
as those on community empowerment, regeneration,
cohesion, neighbourhood and civil renewal diversity,
equal opportunities and human rights.
It is not governments alone that
must take responsibility for wrongs of the past.
However it is the responsibility of governments
to acknowledge that these past wrongs have continuing
effects on peoples’ lives today and to be
prepared to engage with the wider community about
ways to address these contemporary legacies.
Links to the Global
Movement for Pan-Afrikan Reparations
The following are links to others
working on Pan-Afrikan Reparations, or their specific
Declarations and Positions.
