Reparations Return to the Centre of Global Black Politics
By Alex Ababio
The Diaspora Summit held from 19–20 December 2025 at the Accra International Conference Centre marked a decisive moment in the evolving global struggle for reparatory justice. More than a ceremonial gathering, the summit placed reparations firmly back on the political agenda of Africa and its global diaspora. Across panels, keynote addresses and closed-door strategy meetings, a clear message emerged: reparations are no longer a moral appeal rooted only in historical memory, but a present-day political demand grounded in international law, political economy and enduring structural harm.
The summit reflected a growing convergence between African states, Caribbean reparations commissions, diaspora organisations, and Pan-African political movements. Within this convergence, the Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF) distinguished itself as an organised political force focused on converting historical grievance into enforceable political and material claims.
As one delegate remarked during the opening session, “We have moved beyond asking whether slavery happened. The question now is who benefited, who suffered, and how justice will be delivered.”
Historical Crimes and Present-Day Harm
One of the most substantive and widely referenced interventions came from Mr. Arley Nichau Salimbene Gill, Chairman of the Grenada National Reparations Committee, who spoke on behalf of CARICOM. Gill framed reparatory justice within international legal and historical terms, stating unequivocally that “the Atlantic slave trade and chattel slavery perpetrated against our African ancestors were crimes against humanity.”
Drawing on decades of research by the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, Gill argued that enslavement, genocide and colonial exploitation caused multi-generational structural damage across Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas. According to UN findings, these harms persist today through racialised poverty, underdevelopment, health disparities and technological exclusion.
“What was destroyed was not only labour,” Gill said, “but institutions, cultures, economies and futures—and that damage has never been repaired.”
He insisted that reparations must be understood as repair for measurable harm, not charity. “The destruction of African societies produced lasting structural injury that needs to be repaired,” he said, adding pointedly, “the cost of this repair must be borne by those who did it.”
Rejecting the Charity Narrative
Gill strongly rejected arguments that frame reparations as dependency or aid. “We are not sitting idly by waiting for anyone to help us. We are a proud and dignified people,” he told the audience. However, he made clear that self-determination does not cancel historical responsibility.
“Just because we aspire to look after ourselves,” Gill stated, “that does not mean the debt owed to us must not be paid.”
This position is consistent with findings from recent World Bank and UNDP historical inequality studies, which show that former colonial powers accumulated capital through forced African labour while denying colonies the infrastructure necessary for independent development.
CARICOM’s Ten-Point Plan: From Theory to Demands
Referencing the CARICOM Ten-Point Reparations Plan, Gill outlined concrete, policy-driven demands backed by historical documentation and international human rights principles. These include:
A full and formal apology from European states
Repatriation for diaspora Africans who wish to return
Restitution of stolen cultural property, in line with UNESCO conventions
Repair of public health systems, damaged by centuries of exploitation
Educational rebuilding, including curriculum reform
Debt cancellation for illegitimate colonial-era debts
Technology transfer and development cooperation
Psychological rehabilitation for trauma caused by enslavement
Monetary compensation
“Healing,” Gill stressed, “requires acknowledgement.” European governments, he argued, must “admit the crimes committed, express sincere remorse, commit to non-repetition and seek forgiveness.”
Recent UNESCO restitution reports and European parliamentary debates on museum returns, particularly in Germany, France and the Netherlands, were cited as evidence that restitution is already underway—albeit unevenly.
PPF’s Political Intervention: Reparations as Power, Not Pity
The Pan-African Progressive Front used the summit to sharpen its ideological position. For the PPF, reparations are not symbolic gestures, but political claims rooted in historical extraction, capital accumulation, and a global system that continues to reproduce inequality.
This position is formally articulated in the Special Accra Declaration on Reparatory Justice, adopted in November 2025 at a PPF-convened conference marking the 80th anniversary of the historic Manchester Congress of 1945. The declaration calls for:
The establishment of a global reparations fund
The return of stolen natural resources and cultural heritage
Cancellation of illegitimate colonial and post-colonial debts
The creation of binding international enforcement mechanisms
According to the declaration, “Reparatory justice is inseparable from sovereignty, development and political power.”
State Engagement Meets Grassroots Pressure
The summit took place amid renewed state-level engagement on reparations. Earlier in 2025, at the 80th United Nations General Assembly, President John Dramani Mahama described slavery as “one of the greatest crimes against humanity” and committed Ghana to submitting a motion at the UN to formalise this recognition.
Gill welcomed this development, noting that “Africa’s call for reparatory justice is no longer a whisper; it is a unified demand.” However, several speakers cautioned that declarations alone are insufficient.
A recent African Union policy brief was referenced during discussions, warning that without sustained popular pressure, reparations risk becoming symbolic diplomacy rather than material justice.
Kwesi Pratt Jnr.: Reparations and Political Economy
Within this broader context, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., a coordinating member of the PPF, played a central role. As a panellist on “Reclaiming the African Future: The Quest for Reparative Justice and Healing,” Pratt situated reparations within political economy and organised struggle.
“Justice has never been given freely,” Pratt argued. “It is won through organisation, mobilisation and resistance—not polite appeals to the conscience of those who benefited.”
Drawing on historical examples from the anti-colonial struggle, he warned against over-reliance on elite diplomacy. According to Pratt, reparations must be driven by mass Pan-African movements capable of exerting sustained political pressure.
Linking Global Black Struggles
Beyond formal sessions, the PPF deepened its transnational engagement. The organisation presented a copy of Kwesi Pratt Jnr.’s book on reparations to Fred Hampton Jr. and Benjamin Crump, symbolically linking African reparations struggles with the Black radical tradition and contemporary legal battles against racial capitalism in the United States.
A legal scholar present at the exchange noted that “reparations are not just about the past—they are about dismantling systems that still profit from racial hierarchy today.”
Recent U.S. congressional hearings, state-level reparations studies, and academic legal reviews were cited as evidence that reparations discourse is expanding across jurisdictions.
From Historical Grievance to Collective Action
As Gill concluded in his address, “The struggle for reparatory justice must be waged standing on our feet and not on our knees.” The Accra Diaspora Summit demonstrated that reparations have moved beyond rhetorical acknowledgement into the realm of organised political action.
Through ideological clarity, policy articulation, and Pan-African coordination, the Pan-African Progressive Front is contributing to a shift in the reparations movement—from memory to mobilisation, from grievance to governance.
As one closing statement declared, “Reparations are not about the past alone. They are about repairing the future.”