 “Reparations lead to democracy and democracy is founded on the notion of inclusion,” said Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The UWI.
Sir Hilary, who has long been a scholar and advocate for reparations for slavery, was the featured speaker at the first event of the State University of New York's (SUNY's) Year of the Caribbean.
In his presentation, “Reparatory Justice and Economic Development: Critical Support for the Social Growth Paradigm in the Caribbean” at the 2017 Boyer Family Lecture, the Vice-Chancellor said:
“The greater the inclusion of more people into the centre of decision-making – black, brown, women, etcetera – the stronger the democracy.”
The Boyer Lecture, held on March 22, was part of SUNY Empire State Colleges annual All College Conference. The conference kicked off the “Year of the Caribbean” at SUNY Empire, the first theme of a new initiative designed to explore specific topics through a variety of activities at the college.
Sir Hilary noted that the 21st Century democratic movement will integrate many marginalised people and that role of education will be to make the community part of the democracy through the “education pipeline” that will help people become part of the economy and make contributions.
Since 2016, The UWI has been strengthening its relationship to the SUNY. In September 2016 the SUNY UWI Centre for Leadership and Sustainable Development was established at the SUNY Global Centre in New York. In February 2017 the Centre hosted its first major public event, a finance and banking symposium that dealt with correspondent banking and its impact on economic development in the Caribbean. |
