BlackPressUSA.com Reparations To Be A Key Focus In Atlanta At State Of The Black World Conference November 28 – December 2

NEW YORK, October 10, 2001 -- As the count down to the historical State of the Black World Conference (SOBWC) in Atlanta November 28 - December 2 begins, one thing is certain – the burning issue of reparations for Africans in America, the continent of Africa and the Caribbean will be a main focal point of the deliberations. As the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson remarked during the World Conference on Racism (WCR), which recently concluded in Durban, South Africa, “Reparations is an idea whose time has come.”

“The moral and political energy generated at the World Conference on Racism will be channeled in many directions, including the SOBWC, which now must become a critical convergence point and catalyst for intensifying the struggle for reparations in this country,” said Ron Daniels SOBWC convener. “With this in mind, we have adjusted the schedule to build a direct link between WCR and SOBWC.”

Dr. Raymond Winbush, director of the influential Race Relations Institute at Fisk University in Nashville and Beni Ivey, Executive Director of the Center for Democratic Renewal in Atlanta, have been asked to organize a briefing on WCR. The panel of presenters will include Viola Plummer of the December 12th Movement and Dr. Conrad Worrill, National Chairman of the Black United Front, among other organizational representatives who went to Durban.

In addition to the briefing, the SOBWC will include a plenary session on reparations with a panel of presenters organized by Dr. Jemadari Kamara, Director of the Black Studies and Haitian Studies Programs at UMass/Boston and the Chairman of the African American Institute for Research and Empowerment. The goal is to have representatives of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA) and other key reparations advocates in the U.S., Africa and the Caribbean serve as panelists and resource persons for this crucial session. Congressman John Conyers, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee and Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus, also is expected to be a part of this panel.

Mr. Daniels added,” I am pleased and optimistic that a reparations working group will be convened during the conference to discuss ways and means of forging greater operational unity and a united front at this critical juncture in the reparations movement. As a longstanding proponent of reparations, I believe that the time is ripe for a massive coordinated campaign incorporating widespread popular education, litigation, legislation and direct action.

“The pace of the struggle to win reparations has picked up dramatically. Accordingly, the State of the Black World Conference must be utilized as an important forum to advance the cause of vindicating the trials, tribulations and triumphs of our ancestors. There can be no reconciliation without repairing the damages of enslavement,” Daniels continued.

The State of the Black World Conference, which will take place at Atlanta’s Georgia International Convention Center, is expected to draw 3,000 – 5,000 people, including delegations from London, England, Toronto and Montreal in Canada, the Bahamas, St. Thomas and Barbados in the Caribbean and Senegal in Africa. Confirmed speakers and participants include The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin King, III, Congresswomen Maxine Waters and Cynthia McKinney, Haki Madhubuti, Sonia Sanchez, Jawanza Kunjufu and syndicated radio hosts Bev Smith and Tom Pope.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001