Reparations Today

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.

My hope is the affirmation of Indigenous leadership in a way that honours and respects that there are different ways of knowing and different ways of being.

Chattel enslavement and the burden of production fell disproportionately on women. Therefore, I want to help to shape the review of the plan to ensure that fact is there and that there’s a specific demand for reparatory justice for what happened to women.

Women were often at the centre of resistance in a variety of ways – as leaders, healers, nurturers, mothers … but there are also many instances where women found ways to engage in silent or lesser-known acts of resistance.

For racialised women, the materiality of gendered and sexual violence is embedded in histories of colonial violence.

Our work is significantly impacting and empowering these women as well as their whole families so they can approach farming as a family business.