"Millions for reparations": UFORJE Joins N'COBRA to support national March for reparations.

During the weekend of August 16-17, 2002, members of UFORJE and WILPF staff members joined with the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA) in a "Millions for Reparations Demonstration and Protest" in Washington, D.C. and participated in other activities in support of the demand for reparations for African descendants in the United States. The call for Millions for Reparations in late 2001 by the National Black United Front (NBUF) and the December 12th Movement (D 12) was a follow-up to the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR).

The weekend began with Black Friday, August 16, a day on which N'COBRA specified we were to spend our money only with Africans and African descendants and spend our time considering the issue of reparations. The day's highlight was a standing-room-only Reparations Forum at Plymouth Congregational Church that was attended by more than 1,300 people. This forum, organized by N'COBRA, showed the breadth of support across the country for reparations in the African-American community.

Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam was the keynote speaker. Other speakers included Imari Obadele of the Republic of New Afrika, who issued the 1987 call for the formation of N'COBRA; Charles Ogletree, co-chair of the Reparations Coordinating Committee; Gary Grant of the Black Farmers Association; Maulana Karenga, recognized as the founder of Kwanzaa; Ron Daniels of the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Institute of the Black World; Senghor Baye of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA); Harriet Frost of the Rosewood (Florida) Idella Carrier Foundation; Conrad Worrill of NBUF; Malik Shabazz of the New Black Panther Party; Damu Smith of Black Voices for Peace; Hilary Shelton of the NAACP; and Omale Yeshetule of the African Peoples Socialist Party. I spoke as chair of N'COBRA's Legal Strategy Commission.

The presentations provided the audience with strong arguments in support of reparations. Frost discussed the destruction of the African-American community; Grant attested to the taking of Black farmers' land; and many speakers addressed issues surrounding slaves' forced labor; loss of rights to culture, language, family, and other aspects of identity; denial of education and health care; disparate treatment in the criminal punishment system; and the continuing vestiges of slavery experienced by African descendants in virtually every aspect of life. Damu Smith and Minister Farrakhan eloquently articulated the linkage between the demand for reparations and the demand for peace, urging resistance to the so-called "War on Terrorism" and the possible invasion of Iraq.

As I peered into the virtually all-Black audience, I saw the usual white allies. I wondered how it felt to be white in a sea of African descendants who were often enraged in their insistence on justice for crimes against humanity--crimes committed against African peoples by oppressors who were, overwhelmingly, white. As the crowd was dispersing, some of these white allies came up to me, sharing words of support and encouragement. Understanding the demand for reparations in the context of a racist, class-based society that made its wealth and name on the backs of people of color, these progressive whites had heard the color-coded message and reiterated their support.

Saturday morning, August 17, WILPFers joined N'COBRA at Lincoln Park for a Sacred Gathering organized by UNIA with N'COBRA support. The gathering dedicated the day to Marcus Garvey in honor of the 115th anniversary of his birth, as well as in recognition of other African ancestors who had suffered the abuses of slavery, fought against slavery itself and/or struggled to end its continuing vestiges. For me, a product of the '60s, the best part of this day was our march from the park to the Capitol, where the demonstration called by NBUF and D12 was being held. We chanted movement chants tailored to reparations: WHAT DO WE WANT? REPARATIONS! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? --Now!! Perhaps 100 strong, we made a small yet impressive sight as we moved up East Capitol Street.

The rally on the Capitol Mall was full of contradictions, and therefore uplifting to some while demoralizing for others. The mere fact that between 5,000 and 10,000 people, largely of African descent, gathered on the mall in support of reparations was inspiring and confirming. Yet, some were disappointed because they saw the crowd as small in comparison to the call for "Millions." The tension of what to do with white allies was intensified as some speakers vented rage and hatred at "the system" and "white people" without apology, and often without context.

In an attempt to avoid the "usual suspects" as speakers for the reparations movement, the organizers of the August 17 rally on the Mall offered few who actually addressed the history and status of the reparations movement and the role of reparations in healing the rage, racial divisiveness, and other harms attendant to chattel slavery and its continuing vestiges. And although the proceedings were broadcast to millions via C-SPAN, the organizers had not apparently conceived the program as a public relations tool that could be used to build the movement. Instead, the speakers were a mixture of those who did speak substantively on the issues, including Congressman John Conyers, Minister Farrakhan, and Ron Daniels; those who spoke mainly to rally people to join the Reparations Movement, such as Dorothy Benton Lewis, co-chair of N'COBRA; and those who spoke largely in racial epithets of their disdain for white people, such as Malik Shabazz, Pam Africa of MOVE, and Charles Barron. Sometimes it felt as if we were in the kitchen talking honestly about slavery and its lingering remains, devoid of the usual wrappings we use in so-called "polite society."

The jury is out on the long-term impact August 16 and 17 will have on the Reparations Movement. Clearly, the weekend provided yet another opportunity to speak to people throughout the country about reparations, and to make clear that this is a compelling issue with which society must wrestle. It also exposed the often unspoken racial tension between whites and African descendants--a tension that includes "white allies," not simply those who are silent or actively racist. It was, therefore, a contribution to our discussion on how to heal a society so injured by racism, which continues to display the deep and painful wounds of slavery and its vestiges. It established a place from which to continue the important work of UFORJE--United for Racial Justice: Truth, Reparations, Restoration and Reconciliation.

RELATED ARTICLE: TAKE ACTION

* Support H.R. 40. Numbered to remind us of the "40 acres and a mule" promised, but never delivered, to formerly enslaved people, the Reparations Study Bill has been introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) in every Congress since 1989. Contact your congressional representative and ask him or her to co-sponsor H.R. 40. You can also organize to get resolutions supporting H.R. 40 passed in your city council or state legislature. For more information, resources, and contacts, check out the UEORJE section of the WILPF website (www.wilpf.org) and/or Conyers' website: www.house.gov/conyers/news_reparations.htm

* Promote H.R. 906. In a healthy democracy, the right to vote is the most basic constitutive act of citizenship. Currently more than 1.4 million African-American men -- 13 percent of the adult male population -- cannot vote due to felony convictions. Racism in our criminal justice system assures this archaic rule disproportionately disqualifies Black voters. The Civic Participation and Rehabilitation Act, introduced by Rep. Conyers in 1999, would restore federal voting rights to roughly three million people who have served their time in prison but currently cannot vote. Conyers is expected to re-introduce the legislation early in 2003. Contact your legislators and ask them to co-sponsor, endorse, and actively work for its passage! Organize on a state level to restore voting rights in state elections as well. Regaining the right to vote reintegrates offenders into free society. For more information on the bill, visit Conyers' website: www.house.gov/conyers/news_voting_rights.htm

Adjoa A. Aiyetoro is a member of the UFORIE National Campaign. She is chair of N'COBRA's Legal Strategy Commission and co-chair of the Reparations Coordinating Committee.