CALL FOR REPARATIONS TAKEN TO THE NATION'S CAPITAL

Donna Lamb
Aug 22, 2002

On Saturday, August 17th, thousands of people of African descent, as well as their allies of all colors and creeds, converged on the Capital Mall in Washington, DC for the historic Millions for Reparations Rally.

From all over the nation they came, from 60 different cities, arriving by bus with organizations such as the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA), the December 12th Movement, the Black United Front, the All Peoples Congress, National Action Network, Labor for Reparations, and the International Action Center. There were also two white reparations organizations, Caucasians United for Reparations and Emancipation (CURE) which supports all Black-led reparations initiatives, and the African People's Solidarity Committee which works under the leadership of the African People's Socialist Party.

Many people traveled long hours to get there, such as a contingent of about 100 persons who made the 30-hour bus trip from Houston, Texas. Some had sold fish dinners and CDs and solicited contributions to pay for their $150 bus fare, and then slept in the sanctuary of a local temple the night before the rally. Explaining why getting to this rally had meant so much to her, Doris Cleveland said, "We're making history. When reparations come, I want to be able to say that I played a part in the movement."

Others came by car, such as Antoinette Harrell-Miller and her husband Dennis who drove 19 hours from New Orleans in order to attend. "They owe us. I want justice," said Harrell-Miller. "They built this country off the free labor of our ancestors."
And there were those who only heard about the rally at the last minute, but were still able to make it to Washington. For example, Manotti Jenkins, a corporate attorney living in Chicago, learned of the march through the Internet and flew to Washington with his wife and two young daughters. "Regardless of how much money I make, the impact of slavery is still here," he stated. "We don't have the dignity and the respect we deserve as humans."

At the rally, perhaps the most well known speakers were MinisterLouis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam; Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Democrat from Michigan; and Ron Daniels, Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Also highlighted were grassroots speakers from all over the country who have been doing the actual work organizing their communities around reparations. Some of the New York City-based speakers were Rev. Herbert Daughtry, pastor of Brooklyn's House of the Lord Church; Malik Zulu Shabazz, National Chairman of the New Black Panther Party; Deadria Farmer-Paellman, the lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit against FleetBoston, CSX and AETNA Inc.; and Larry Holmes, co-director of Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (ANSWER).
With the US Capitol as his backdrop, Farrakhan spoke about the fact that they were gathered in a city laid out by a Black man with a Capital built by enslaved Africans. "America owes black people a lot for what we have endured," he said. "We cannot settle for some little jive token. We need payment for 310 years of slavery, of destruction of our minds and the robbery of our culture." And he added, "We're not begging white people; we are demanding what is justly ours."

Rep. John Conyers Jr., who has introduced reparations legislation in every Congressional session for the last 13 years, urged people to contact their Congressional Representatives and tell them to back his HR-40 Bill because Blacks have been dealt a "historical injustice that can only be corrected" in Congress. "We built this country from the ground up. We want reparations--not next century, not 10 years from now, but now," Conyers said.
Other speakers talked of the need to unite the African American community around this issue and the necessity of lobbying lawmakers and others who are skeptical about the merits of reparations. Others spoke of the continued economic disparity between Blacks and whites, and how reparations are crucial for this to change. Twenty year old Kanonianike Witcher said "Slavery was a real business with real merchandise--us. The destruction of our culture, language, religion was real. We are the visible evidence of that. And the reparations movement is real. It didn't start with us, but it must live within us."

New York City Councilman Charles Barron, author of the "Queen Mother Moore" Reparations Resolution for Descendants of Enslaved Africans in New York City, displayed some of his well known cutting-edge humor which, as usual, left the entire audience--white as well as Black--laughing. Using the Black humor hyperbole style, he talked about storming the treasury and about wanting to slap a white person to improve his mental health. He then went on to deliver his serious message about why reparations are owed.

In general, the atmosphere at the rally was excitement, with a lively, energetic buzz everywhere. The sweltering heat drove most people off the Mall and into the shade around the edges where many sat in lawn chairs or on kente cloth and African print blankets listening to the speakers. Others networked, sold books and other Afrocentric materials, and expressed their own views about reparations to anyone who gathered around to listen. It was an important first in this nation's Capital, one more sign that a national reparations movement has indeed been born and will continue to grow.

Donna Lamb, who is Communications Director for CURE, can be reached at [email protected].

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