News Releases

Director of Centre for Reparation Research at The UWI to Speak at US Congressional Black Caucus

For Release Upon Receipt - September 22, 2017

UWI


Professor Verene Shepherd, Social Historian and Director of The University of the West Indies Centre for Reparation Research is carded to present at the Reparations Issues Forum at the 47th Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in Washington DC on Friday 22 September, 2017.

The forum will be hosted by Congressman John Conyers, author of H.R. 40, the legislative bill that calls for the establishment of a commission to study the historical impacts of slavery on African Americans and for developing a reparations programme to remedy those negative impacts. Congressman Conyers is also Dean of the CBC and the longest serving lawmaker in both houses of the US Congress.

“We welcome Professor Shepherd to this annual forum,” said Dr. Ron Daniels, Moderator of the forum and Convenor of the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC). “She follows in the footsteps of Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission who has spoken to this forum in previous years.”

Professor Shepherd will update the CBC forum on the establishment of the historic Centre for Reparation Research at The UWI, the first of its kind in the academy, to be officially launched on 10 October, 2017. In her capacity as a Vice-Chair of the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) and Co-Chair of the National Council on Reparation in Jamaica, Professor Shepherd will also report on the reparatory justice movement in the region and the strategy being pursued by the CARICOM Reparations Commission through its Ten Point Action Plan.

“Our responsibility at this year’s CBC is not only to mobilise support for H.R. 40, but also for the global reparation movement, because we have not yet reached the mountain top where justice and true freedom resides for all regardless of class, race, colour, origin or  gender,” said Professor Shepherd.

The Centre for Reparation Research (CRR) will support the CARICOM Reparatory Justice Movement, build awareness and conduct research which will advance the claim to Europeans for reparations for native genocide, African enslavement, deceptive indenture, colonialism and its legacies in the Caribbean region.

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Photo Caption: Professor Verene Shepherd, Director of Centre for Reparation Research at The UWI

About The UWI

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 40,000 students. Today, The UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. The UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation. For more information, visit www.uwi.edu

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

 

 

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