The UWI Centre for Reparation Research and the PJ Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy held an all-day symposium themed “Reparations and Royalty, Africa and Europe: Exploding Myths and Empowering Truths” at Regional Headquarters on March 2, 2023 and a Youth Forum titled “Wha Gwaan Africa?!” at the Mona Campus on March 3.

This was in part to address the dangerous arguments by 19th Century traders and their allies that African commercial and political interests were their business partners in the Trans-Atlantic Trade of Africans.

A high-level delegation of royal African traditional leaders was hosted by the CARICOM Reparations Commission, who led conversations on the roles of African and European Royalties in said trans-Atlantic trafficking.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles provided historical context on the relationship between Europeans and Africans, emphasising that it is critical to examine the two sides of the equation. “While the royal families of Europe were organising their armies, building their corporations and establishing structures for the destruction of societies in Africa, so as to secure enchained and enslaved labour, the royal families of Africa were on the receiving end of that violence.”

He underscored, “No group of people have been more denigrated by the historians of Europe than the kings, queens and nobles of Africa within the context of colonization.”

His Royal Highness Paul Jones Eganda, Global Chief and President, Ateker International Development Organization (AIDO) Network, revealed that approximately 657 kingdoms and cultural institutions are affiliated with the network. He said, “This royal delegation has travelled to Jamaica with one objective, to demonstrate to you, our dear family of Africa in the Caribbean, that we are not a race created as slaves. The fact is that we have a rich, proud, living history of royalty in Africa that still exists today which we represent here.”

The Youth Forum examined the significanceof royal traditional leaders and other royals in Africa, their responsibilities and roles, the importance of reconnecting the Caribbean with African culture and traditions, the need for reparatory justice for people of African descent, and how young people could contribute to that process.

The symposium was part of a visit by the high- level delegation, which visited from February 26 to March 6 for a series or activities arranged by their hosts. Countries represented included Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana, and the Zulu Nation of South Africa.