Reparations Today

It would be best if the church, the mosque, the temples and any other faiths in the country were to come together and be a united front on the issue of reparations because it is something that affects us all.

The moral and ethical arguments are substantial and calls on the Christian Church to engage truthfully and humbly. How can it be morally right for European nations to compensate the enslaver and not the enslaved?

CRAF is a network of men and women of faith committed to the application of their extensive professional experience and competencies to implement programmes of reparatory justice in partnership with churches, para-church and other organizations operating locally and overseas.

I feel like we’re all impacted by domestic violence, suicide in families, alcoholism, negative stereotypes, and the negative consequences of bad diets and overconsumption of sugar and alcohol.

Whenever you mention chattel slavery, put a comma and add indentureship. That’s all. Slavery and indentureship. Let us be together. You could not have indentureship without chattel slavery. The two are intimately entwined. They’re different in their form of unfree labour but they’re historically entwined.

To my mind, the most important part of reparations is acknowledging through scholarship and education the role of the empire in all our lives: Indian, African, Chinese, Irish and so on.

Our MISSION is to bring the Indian Diaspora in the Caribbean and elsewhere closer for intellectual discussions, unity, solidarity and empowerment weekly on one platform. Our VISION is to achieve a better understanding and appreciation of ourselves in seeking to create a diverse, just, equitable and non-discriminatory society in which Indo-Caribbeans and others thrive harmoniously with other ethnic groups. The forum was created, and is directed, by me, an academic and anthropologist, on the premise that Indians in the Diaspora are often marginal, or marginalised, in the mainstream media, and in formal discourses, and in public groups, organisations and institutions. This platform gives voice and visibility to this minority ethnic group in the region. It follows the Black Lives Matter movement with an objective to eradicate inequality, injustice, institutional discrimination and systemic racism. 

Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali made it clear that he supported reparations for both chattel slavery and indentured labourers. Indians support the plan because all or most of the points of the plan are inclusive of the indenture experience in Guyana, and the Caribbean.