Dr. Marcus Garvey, International Decade for African Descendants, Guyana 2018

Emancipation from enslavement and independence from colonialism refer to two distinct events, eras, and processes; yet the outcome has been the same: a majority population left destitute from the ravages of exploitation. Post emancipation and independence resulted in strangleholds on the political economies of Caribbean countries, thereby pre-empting autonomous development. Slavery continued in the British possessions after the formal end through an indentured system of forced, unpaid labor to supplement the balance of reparation payments made to the enslavers. At independence, the islands experienced massive illiteracy (80 percent in Barbados in 1966), inadequate health care, and unemployment that led to other social ills. The European governments and private interests held on to the productive sectors and were exonerated for their crimes of slavery and unbridled extortion, thereby abdicating any responsibility for their wreckage. The onus was on the fledgling governments to address the economic and social problems driven by a neo-colonial mindset, one steeped in the social realities of the people; yet, shaped by their former colonial masters. Working within capitalist parameters, and lacking an adequate financial structure, uneven individual mobility ensued, yielding an ever-widening gap between the poor and middle-class African Descendants. Those, as mentioned above, formed the landscape in which the Caribbean community has made their demand for reparations, i.e., economic, social, and physical restoration through monetary and in-kind means. The legal basis for reparations is unjust enrichment and the present effects of slavery evidenced in socio-economic deprivation; a legacy of inferior education and housing; unemployment; inadequate health; high rates of incarceration and the mental/emotional impact known as Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome. Although there have been requests for reparations by African Descendants throughout history, the Caribbean call represents the first region-wide effort, thus setting the stage for future claims.