BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FOR YEARS and years there has been talk of Reparation, sometimes with passion, sometimes with cynicism and sometimes with hurt and indignant feelings but it has been mainly ‘talk’. This year the UNESCO Slave Route Project Lecture by Michael Lorne was different. It spoke of actions being taken.
The night of the lecture on Tuesday 28th February at the Sir Cecil Jacobs auditorium of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank was a fitting tribute to the culmination of Black History Month and the culmination of the series of UNESCO Slave Route Lecture Series. It reined in for us our African ancestry which many feel more comfortable forgetting.
The ‘negro’ spiritual – ‘Until I found the Lord’ sung beautifully in harmonious a capella fashion by Quattro Vocci brought reminders of the past sufferings of our enslaved ancestors, their dependence on a mighty God, and the gift of pure singing which seems indigenous to the African spirit.
The Okolo Tegremantine Arts Theatre, which provides us with positive on-going reminders of our African ancestry, brought us up close to the heartbeat of Africa with their thrilling drumming and the fiery sprit of their dancers. Their extremely high standards always make us proud of ourselves and Africa.
A very fitting inclusion was the talk by Leonard Stapleton, Heritage Researcher, on the results of his research on the inventory of sites that are associated with the experience of the enslaved African. His findings amazed him and us and brought our landscape in sync with times past and times present. We look forward to the publication of his entire findings.
“Demystifying the Reparations Debate” was the topic of this final lecture in the UNESCO Slave Route Project Series. The lecturer was Michael Lorne, a lawyer by profession, an activist steeped in African consciousness and a Garveyite by nature.
His legal mind and ability to present persuasive arguments made him a fitting choice as one who could ‘demystify’ the reparation debate. In his perspective, reparations meant to repair and restore black pride.
In true legal fashion he brought ‘precedents’ to show that seeking reparations was justified, for even if Slavery was legal at that time in history , he claimed that slavery also represented murder and murder was never legal and there was no statute of limitations related to murder.
He spoke of Queen Elizabeth II apology to the Maori people of New Zealand in 1993. Research shows that in 1995 Queen Elizabeth approved a land grievance settlement for the Tainui people of New Zealand; the legislation expressed regret and apologized for the losses suffered by the Tainui people; the bill included payment of $112 million and the return of 39,000 acres to the Tainui people; Queen Elizabeth is New Zealand's Queen and Head of State.
Research also shows that at a state banquet in Dublin during the historic visit of Queen Elizabeth II to the Republic of Ireland - the first by a British monarch since 1911 - she acknowledged that "the relationship has not always been straightforward; nor has the record over the centuries been entirely benign."
She expressed her sorrow for the pain experienced by victims of the conflict saying, "To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy."
Lecturer and activist Lorne also spoke of the $222 million that was paid to half a million Jews who in 1952 claimed compensation for having had to leave Nazi Germany and resettle elsewhere.
He argued and surmised how much more reparation was due to Blacks when it is estimated that 50 million died as a result of slavery and another 50 million were displaced as a result of it.
He also pointed to the fact that Planters claimed compensation for the loss of slaves as a result of Emancipation and they estimated that a slave was worth sixty pounds then.
What was startling to some was that Haitians were forced to pay millions of francs to France for declaring their freedom and independence from France (although it was already hard-won through their success in three famous battles) and up to 1940 they were still paying back this sum with the fruits of their ‘free’ labour.
Lecturer Lorne tried to impress upon the audience the seriousness of the Reparations struggle even if it meant demanding that the colonial powers “give back that which we were forced to give you”.
The giving back, he acceded, could come in many forms – returning the precious artifacts housed in their prestigious museums which had been ‘stolen’ from our lands; debt forgiveness; and returning land.
On the question of land, he found it extremely significant that most of the families of Nevis own land – that knowledge brought great joy to him for he recounted even in South Africa, even though blacks now held the reins of power, whites still owned the bulk of the land.
What was not known was that Lawyer Lorne, in conjunction with other international lawyers had already begun legal proceedings addressing the issue of reparation.
One case had already been thrown out by a ‘black judge’ who concluded that they had not proved that they were the descendants of Africans. Now that DNA evidence is now available, he said they were prepared to persist and remove obstacles along the way which had been placed in their path.
A lively discussion followed the very well-received lecture listened to by a contingent of students and many African conscious patrons including Rastafarians.
Also in attendance were H.E. the Governor General Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister Condor and Minister of Education Hon. Nigel Carty. MC of the Evening was Rev. Canon Isaiah Phillip, member of the Slave Route Education Committee. Vote of thanks was given by Mr. Lloyed Lazar, Chairperson of that Committee.
At the start of the lecture, Lawyer Michael Lorne, Featured Speaker, donated Afro- relevant books and CDs to Secretary General of St. Kitts and Nevis National Commission for UNESCO, Antonio Maynard from the Headstart Printing and Publishing Company of which he is Founder and Owner.
