The conference contributes to the escalating calls for reparations, driven by the harsh reality that approximately 12 million Africans were forcibly taken by European nations between the 16th and 19th centuries, enduring enslavement on plantations that generated wealth at the cost of immense suffering.

According to a recent report from a special U.N. forum, individuals of African descent globally persist as “victims of systemic racial discrimination and racialized attacks,” with reparations identified as “a cornerstone of justice in the 21st century.”

Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Akufo-Addo, emphasized the urgency for Africa, whose “sons and daughters” endured stolen freedoms and were sold into slavery, to receive reparations. The conference, attended by senior government officials from Africa and the diaspora community, underscored the ongoing impact of systemic racial discrimination.

Akufo-Addo expressed that the issue of slave reparations is one the world “must confront and can no longer ignore.” He called out British and other European nations that enriched themselves during the slave trade while highlighting that “enslaved Africans themselves did not receive a penny.”

Delegates at the Accra conference did not provide specific details on how the reparation fund would operate. Gnaka Lagoke, an assistant professor of history and pan-African studies, suggested its use should be to “correct the problems” present in all sectors of the continent’s economy.

Ambassador Amr Aljowailey, strategic adviser to the deputy chairman of the African Union Commission, announced the resolution titled The Accra Proclamation. Alongside the establishment of the Global Reparation Fund, a committee of experts, in collaboration with African nations, will champion the initiative. Additionally, a “special envoy will engage in campaigns as well as litigation and judicial efforts,” as outlined by Aljowailey.

Activists have emphasized that reparations should extend beyond direct financial payments, incorporating developmental aid, the return of colonized resources, and the rectification of oppressive policies and laws.

The determination of the compensation amount will follow a “negotiated settlement (that will) benefit the masses,” according to Nkechi Taifa, director of the U.S.-based Reparation Education Project.

The post Accra Summit Agrees on Global Fund for Slave Trade Compensation first appeared on The Postcolonial.

King Ekuikui VI, donned in a traditional black-and-white robe and hat featuring his kingdom’s emblematic eagle, addressed the crowd, expressing the significance of their connection.

“Our presence here is to say to Afro-descendants, to our brothers, here in Brazil and especially in this quilombo, that we are here as roots that are alive, roots that keep this ancestry, roots that maintain our habits and customs,” he shared with the AP.

Camorim, dating back to 1614, stands as a testament to the endurance of the quilombo tradition. Today, nearly 100 people reside there, preserving their traditional religion and medicinal plants. King Ekuikui VI’s visit underscored the historical and cultural bonds that persist across oceans.

The monarch’s trip included a visit to Rio’s Valongo Wharf, a UNESCO world heritage site where as many as 900,000 enslaved people made landfall after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. This site holds immense historical significance, recognized by the international organization as “the most important physical trace of the arrival of African slaves on the American continent.”

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database notes that of the 10.5 million Africans captured, over a third disembarked in Brazil. Some experts suggest even higher numbers, estimating that up to 5 million Africans landed in the country. Brazil, as the last country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery in 1888, has since seen the persistence of communities of formerly enslaved people, until a new constitution recognized rights on land they occupied a century later.

The most recent census in 2022 identified quilombos in almost 1,700 municipalities in Brazil, home to 1.3 million people, comprising about 0.6% of the country’s population. These communities, rooted in a complex history, continue to play a vital role in preserving cultural heritage.

Resident Rosilane Almeida shared her anticipation of learning how her community’s culture compares to that of their root country. During the visit, she and others showcased Camorim’s archaeological site, where centuries-old ceramics are still being excavated, and its garden of medicinal plants.

King Ekuikui VI’s words resonated with the community: “I look to the south, I look to the north, and at the end of the day, we are not lost. We are here, and there are a lot of people who look majestic.”

This visit serves as a poignant chapter in the ongoing narrative of cultural resilience and interconnectedness between African roots and Afro-descendant communities in Brazil.

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After nearly four centuries of British rule, Barbados has now officially cut its ties to the monarchy. On Tuesday, November 30^th 2021, Barbados announced their republic status with a ceremony that swore in the country’s first President, Dame Sandra Mason replacing Queen Elizabeth II as de facto head of state.

‘Vessel Republic Barbados has set sail on her maiden voyage. May she weather all storms and land our country and citizens safe on the horizons and shores which are ahead of us,’ President Mason told the audience after being sworn in.

Barbados has been an independent kingdom for 55 years but by transforming into a republic, the island nation is leaving its colonial past behind. It was one of England’s first slave colonies as English settlers occupied the island in 1627, becoming a sugar plantation economy under British rule. The island nations slavery ‘forever stains our history’ Prince Charles said in his speech at the ceremony.

Remembering the British legacy

Despite leaving the monarchy, Barbados will remain within the Commonwealth. And this is not the only legacy from British rule that will remain in contemporary Barbados, which has been titled “Little England”. With the great atrocities that were committed under British rule, keeping memories alive from these times will be a significant priority for Barbados.

Less than a week after the ceremony the new republic announced its initiative to build a transatlantic slavery museum, the Independent reported last month.

Barbados has the second largest collection of slave records after the UK, which will come into the display at the new museum. The facility will also include a research institute that will focus on telling the story of slavery and what global impact the practice had.

The museum will engage in anticipated research partnerships between the Caribbean’s University of the West Indies and US academic institutions Harvard University and the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.

The Prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, announced the plans and said: ‘The most important gift we can give of our people and our children at this time is that sense of confidence and understanding of who we are.’

The Barbados Archives department hold slavery records dating back to 1635.

‘As we engage with these records and unearth the many stories in the current format and future state, it is believed that on the heels of republicanism a new national consciousness will emerge among our people which can only be done to the benefit of all,’ chief archivist at the Barbados Archives Department Ingrid Thompson told the Independent.

It is hoped that addressing the colonial past will lead to economic development creating jobs for the Barbadians in the cultural tourism sector. Tapping into the heritage economy also create opportunities for technological innovations, as museums around the world are already finding new ways to display history, giving Barbados a potential for knowledge export.

Marching the frontline

Heritage economy isn’t the only prospect of how Barbados potentially can become a heavy lifter globally. There’s a solid democratic foundation supporting the young republic, which could make them a beacon among the island nations of the Caribbean Sea.

With low levels of corruption, Barbados ranks well on Transparency International’s corruption index, currently placing 29^th out of 179 countries – a score better than the likes of Spain, Portugal and South Korea. Barbados score is the best in the Caribbean, although closely followed by the Bahamas.

In an opinion piece published at the Guardian, senior adviser at Intelligent Sanctuary Kenneth Mohammed states that ‘Barbados can learn a lot from the mistakes of Trinidad and Tobago,’ which has experienced several corruption allegations surrounding the presidential role since turning into a republic in 1976.

‘Barbados can be a beacon in making the president’s role more meaningful and relevant, ensuring strong institutions, and overseeing the fight against corruption. With presidential oversight, an independent, forthright, anti-corruption agency, supported by effective legislation, and a diligent and expert financial intelligence unit, can remove incentives for bribery and kickbacks within public services, police, parliamentarians and the office of the prime minister,’ he writes.

Surely, less corruption means efficient spending of public funds.

And with harsher conditions followed by climate change, Barbados will need to secure coastal zones for the sake of its people. Integrating political reforms prioritising structures that can counter, or provide shorter recovery times after extreme weather events will undoubtedly benefit the nation’s economic growth.

That is if Barbados’s government can follow through with prime minister Mottley’s words and prioritise climate change on the political agenda.

The post New republic Barbados cuts ties to monarchy but remembers history first appeared on The Postcolonial.

Buckingham Palace is facing new concerns about racist attitudes after an investigation from the Guardian revealed that ‘coloured immigrants or foreigners’ were banned from office roles in the royal household until at least the late 1960s. Papers from the English National Archives show how Buckingham Palace negotiated clauses that exempted the Queen from national laws implemented to fight discrimination based on race or sex.

In the 1960s the UK Government ministers wanted to introduce laws making it illegal to turn down job applicants based on their race or ethnicity. Yet the Queen was exempt from those laws for more than 40 years. When politicians accepted a series of laws to combat discrimination, official documents show that government officials and Queen Elizabeth’s advisers worked together on the wording of the new laws to exempt Buckingham Palace in the 1970s when the initiatives took action. 

In 1968 the Queen’s chief financial manager stated that it wasn’t normal practice to appoint coloured immigrants or foreigners to clerical roles at Buckingham Palace, but that they were permitted to work as domestic servants. It is not clear exactly when this practice ended. Buckingham Palace refused to answer any questions from the Guardian concerning the ban and when it was revoked.

The royal family is heavily linked to the history of the British empire, so it doesn’t come as a surprise for many when Buckingham Palace is confronted with having colonial attitudes.

Structural racism in the monarchy

The recent findings of Buckingham Palace’s systematic discrimination towards people of colour adds to a list of controversial allegations towards the royal family.

In March, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, made international headlines after saying that her son’s skin colour was a concern within the royal household when he was born. In an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey Meghan, who identifies as being mixed-race, along with her husband Harry, Duke of Sussex, declined to comment who raised the concern.

In an article for the Conversation Benjamin Jones, researcher in colonial history at Central Queensland University, writes that the case ‘is a tragic story at an individual level but it also points to a history of structural racism within the monarchy. Harry noted that the press attacks on his wife had “colonial undertones”, which the royal family refused to address. These are part of a longer history of colonialism and racism in which the Windsors are entangled.’

An ancestor to the present Queen, Elizabeth l, participated in the establishment of the British slave trade. An example of Elizabeth l’s involvement was her connection with Sir John Hawkins who was one of the founders of the trade in the 16^th century and who captured 300 Africans. Elizabeth was impressed by this and later contributed her ship Jesus of Lubeck to Sir Hawkin’s next voyage in 1564.

According to Jones ‘a colonial mindset has persisted’ since the British empire dissolved in 1960s.

‘This has been regularly demonstrated by the casual racism of Prince Philip. Visiting Australia in 2002, he asked an Aboriginal Australian if they were “still throwing spears”,’ Jones writes.

One could almost make an assumption that white privilege is ingrained within the royal household, if taking on account Meghan Duchess of Sussex’s allegations concerning her son’s skin colour into account.

A bottom-up paradigm shift

The past year has been quite turbulent for many past colonial powers, that are confronted to acknowledge their participation in one of the darkest periods of human history. Vandalism of Western statues, mass demonstrations against racism and nations proceeding to return stolen artifacts to past colonies are just few things that have happened, and accelerated decolonialisation efforts in the past twelve months.

But this process doesn’t necessarily match in pace at the royal Buckingham Palace. The royal household has been silent concerning their history of racism in Britain and how the family has benefitted from colonialism.

In contrast, the British citizens are taking action. This week, students at Oxford University’s colleges voted to remove a portrait of the queen from their common room, BBC reported. Members of the Magdalen College Middle Common Room said that their agenda was to make the common room more welcoming and recognised that ‘for some students, depictions of the monarch and the British monarchy represent recent colonial history.’

President of Magdalen College Barrister Dinah Rose clarified that students were behind the initiative, not the college, but supports the students right to ‘free speech and political debate.’

‘Being a student is about more than studying. It’s about exploring and debating ideas. It’s sometimes about provoking the older generation. Looks like that isn’t so hard to do these days,’ she says.

It seems that the younger generations are the main actors advocating for decolonisation efforts. If the societal elites don’t, who should?

‘If the royal family is not able to make similar attempts to [those of its people to] confront the racism in its past and present, it risks falling ever further out of touch with the people it is supposed to represent,’ Jones wrote.

The post Royal colonial attitudes first appeared on The Postcolonial.