Reparations To Africa

What is the just measure of Western obligations to Africa? As Africans and their supporters mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the United States and Great Britain, the question becomes increasingly salient. Calls for reparations for the evils of slavery, as well as for past colonial and current economic and political abuses, can be heard across Africa and the African diaspora. Human rights scholar Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann examines these calls for redress in Reparations to Africa. Her study analyzes the reparations movement from the perspectives of law, philosophy, political science, and sociology. While acknowledging the brutal background of the slave trade and colonialism, and the mistreatment of the peoples of Africa, Howard-Hassmann finds that the complexity of this history, along with facts of the contemporary situation, weakens the case for financial compensation, although she does recommend acknowledgment of, and apologies for, some actions. The book not only provides a bold reckoning of the root causes, both internal and external, of African underdevelopment and unrest but also suggests alternative means for restorative justice and examines the role that institutions such as the International Criminal Court can play. By including the voices of 74 African academics, diplomats, and activists interviewed by Howard-Hassmann and Anthony P. Lombardo, Reparations to Africa makes a valuable contribution to the reparations debate. In an emotionally and politically charged postcolonial environment, this book serves as a judicious guide to the search for economic justice for Africans today and into the future.

The rise of Western powers to global dominance is understood without excluding the relationship of Western Europe and the Americas with Africa between the 1400s and late 1800s. The industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries Europe rests significantly on the labour, intellect and overall industry of Africans. The forced migration of about 12 million Africans to three different continents had come to shape the world as it presently is. Its legacy mostly remained a striving one of human acknowledgment, historical realities, equal rights and justice. The acknowledgment of governments of this epic history and its profits and losses to the parties involved can shape public policy of a remarkable reparation of the pernicious outcomes of the politics of race.

African historians documented the histories of their tribal people and have not investigated the role of slavery and colonialism in the shaping of the African personality; or how the two evils have in some way or other contributed to the slow economic growth of Africa. It is the belief of the author that reparations should be sought not to bring about economic development or to reduce dependence but redress wrongs the degradation, vandalism, terrorism and other inhuman treatment Africans have experienced nor is the demand racially motivated. The demand is for indemnity for inhuman acts committed against African people and is made in the belief that the international community will accept the reality of slave trade and later, imperialism and colonialism are crimes against humanity.

Slavery and the Atlantic slave trade are among the most heinous crimes against humanity committed in the modern era. Yet, to this day no former slave society in the Americas has paid reparations to former slaves or their descendants. Ana Lucia Araujo shows that these calls for reparations have persevered over a long and difficult history. She traces the ways in which enslaved and freed individuals have conceptualized the idea of reparations since the 18th century in petitions, correspondence, pamphlets, public speeches, slave narratives, and judicial claims. Taking the reader through the era of slavery, emancipation, post-abolition, and the present day and drawing on the voices of various of enslaved peoples and their descendants, the book illuminates the multiple dimensions of the demands of reparations. This new edition boasts a new chapter on the global impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, the seismic effect of the killing of George Floyd, calls for university reparations and the dismantling of statues. Updated throughout, this edition includes primary sources, further readings, and many illustrations.

Slavery Reparations in Perspective discusses the claims for reparations for the Atlantic slave trade by Black-Americans and some Africans. It identifies the true victims and all the perpetrators. The book examines the pros and cons of the claims and highlights the resurgence of the African slave trade. It appeals to everyone to help in the resolution of the reparations question, as well as nipping the emergent slave trade and the associated problems in the bud. Governments, international organizations and N.G.Os are all to get involved.

A moving and persuasive presentation of the case for repairing the damage done and addressing the injustice inflicted on Africa and people of African descent as a result of centuries of slavery, slave trade and colonialism. A practical proposal for using the quest for Reparations as an instrument for achieving Caribbean integration, international economic revival, and the unity, solidarity and upliftment of the scattered sons and daughters of Africa. This work is of monumental importance to all Africans and people of African descent.

As South Africa prepares to enter its second decade of democracy, there are no easy answers about how to best repair the damage inflicted by the past. This book features over 20 essays from leading commentators about the past, present, and future of reparation in South Africa.

"Pawned Sovereignty will be a collector's item, alongside Welsing's Isis Papers and Woodson's Mis-Education of the Negro." - Rolling Out Magazine ""Aharone's bold blueprint for black sovereignty sounds more like a long overdue prescription than an incendiary manifesto." - Lloyd Kam Williams, Syndicated Writer "The themes of Ezrah Aharone’s political book, Pawned Sovereignty, revolve around Black America being a "free," but not a "sovereign" people. The book however does not promote a sovereign movement, but rather a sovereign consciousness and evolutionary outlooks. "Since sovereignty (not civil rights) is the pinnacle of all freedoms, the book provides Black America with solutions and insightful viewpoints, based on sovereign-minded frames of reference. This approach pierces the core of mainstream body politics and leads to redefined ideals and worldviews which better serve Black/African interests. According to Aharone, "Such outlooks also help bridge the political and philosophical gap that now separates Hip Hop from the Civil Rights/Black Power generation." "A central premise of Pawned Sovereignty concerns what he calls different "Concepts of Freedom." According to Aharone, Black America's concept of freedom has historically been limited to "Civil Rights, Integration, and Citizenship." However, freedom for White America entails nothing less than "Sovereignty, Independence, and Statehood." Aharone says, "This conceptual distinction is arguably the most consequential, yet most unrecognized, source of racial disharmony and inequities. As a result, certain sociopolitical conditions that Whites would never tolerate have become normalized within the Black Experience." "Aharone surgically dissects and separates the flaws and misperceptions from the realities of American democracy, while drawing political distinctions between the character of America and the image of America. In prototype fashion, he reconfigures today's sociopolitical landscape as he expounds on 55 original topics. "Among other things, Aharone asserts that whether the issue is international terrorism; domestic crime and homicides; or inadequate numbers of Blacks in government . . . the solution does not lie within America's current "Brand" of democracy. Pawned Sovereignty addresses the root causes of such issues, while offering prescriptions to remedy both the human and systemic failures of American democracy. The blueprint he outlines will undoubtedly enhance or make you rethink your worldviews.