The global expression of pain and protest, provoked by the brutal and violent police killings of Black citizens in the United States of America, has sparked a movement that points to the need for conversations and actions to acknowledge and rectify the injustices of racism.
This is a momentous occasion to call on world leaders to add their voices to the efforts of people everywhere. For this reason, the Africans Rising movement is calling on these leaders to take action so that leaders in countries like England, Belgium, France, and many other countries, can start to right the wrongs of the past and inspire similar actions in other European countries.
What are Our Demands?
1- Honest acknowledgements of the harm and human cost of slavery and colonialism
Only an honest acknowledgement of the harm and human cost of slavery and colonialism can begin the process of healing. If the governments of countries like England, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and many more can provide heartfelt and genuine apologies that recognise the truth of their crimes against African people, then true healing can possibly follow.
2- Truth and Healing Commissions
We are appealing to world leaders for expeditious truth and healing processes that allow for full acknowledgement of the crimes of slavery, colonialism and ongoing systemic racism. Such processes would create a space for all Africans to express sorrow and allow for a just peace to emerge, which can form the foundation for true global healing and reconciliation.
We want to note that Africa is not a poor continent; instead, it has been impoverished by slavery, colonialism and corruption. This impoverishment continues to burden our continent today, in part because of various governments’ ongoing economic policies that put profit before people, discriminate against African people and other people of colour, support unfair trade policies that maintain ‘global-economic Apartheid’, and much more. It is time to right these wrongs. We have chosen not to come up with our definition of reparations, and to instead allow individuals, communities and countries to define what reparations mean to them based on their historical context and lived realities. We recognise that for some countries, reparations may mean financial compensation for atrocities and exploitation in the hands of former slave-traders or colonial powers. For others it may mean repairing structural injustices that are a result or continuation of historical injustices. For some communities, reparations could mean the return of stolen properties, artefacts, cultural or spiritual items. For Africa’s small-holder farmers, it could mean environmental repair, self-determination and sustainability.
In the immediate short term, we ask that governments write off debts owed by all African countries, given that the ongoing economic challenges have been made even more devastating by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Africans Rising movement is issuing a demand to the leaders of Belgium to initiate a process of apology and redress for the historic crimes and present-day injustices committed against the people of the Congo, all of which are a result of Belgium’s brutal colonial reign in the Congo.
Your Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England, we write to appeal to you to join us in taking a stand for truth and justice by lending your voice to help heal the wrongs of the past and dismantle the racism of the present.