‘Tackling Reparation Together: A New Decade for Reparatory Justice’

Can you apologise for a wrongful act by an ancestor?

Should reparations be paid to governments?

How do we engage youth on matters of reparatory justice?

These and more are questions that are being tackled by the Centre for Reparation Research (CRR) at The University of the West Indies (UWI), in order to strategically engage the next generation.

“As debates on reparatory justice for peoples of African descent sway from conservative to liberal in orientation, there is need for strategic intervention,” noted the CRR.

“International debate has thus far centred on economic aspects, with former colonisers such as Britain advancing anti-justice sentiments and ultimately resistance to repair in the form of apologies or compensation. However, debate is a crucial plank in the corpus of strategies to advance education, promote advocacy, and generate research.”

In collaboration with partners and key stakeholders, the CRR will launch the International Reparation Debate Competition for secondary school students today at 4:00 pm.

Twenty-four schools from The Bahamas, Curaçao, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom have entered in the first batch of participants.

“By engaging secondary level students in structured debates, the initiative will increase advocacy, enhance historical understanding, and promote meaningful conversations inside homes, communities, schools, and, by extension, the public domain on the legacy and future of African-descended peoples,” said CRR.

“Most importantly, the debating competition will achieve one important plank in the CRR’s strategic plan to mainstream reparation from street to stage. With support from Caribbean governments and expansion of allies in the Global North, this intervention is broad-based and will use debate as a strategy for reparatory justice education and outreach.”

Partnering with the CRR are the CARICOM Reparation Commission, the Repair Campaign, Jamaica Association for Debating and Empowerment, the UWI Press, PJ Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy, the Wilberforce Institute – UK, among others.

Through this competition the CRR intends to harness the intellectual and communicative capabilities of youth in addressing pivotal issues of reparation and Pan-Africanism.

By fostering an environment of rigorous debate and informed discourse, the competition will promote historical awareness and contribute to meaningful advocacy for African-descended communities in the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.