Overview

The Centre for Reparation Research (CRR) officially began operations in March 2017 but was launched to the public in October 2017. The CRR was created to promote, research and engage in advocacy around the legacies of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, African enslavement, Asian indentureship, colonialism and its legacies in the Caribbean; and help to bring justice and positive transformation to societies affected by these legacies.

As the Centre for Reparation Research goes into its 6th year, its commitment to research, knowledge creation, documentation and the dissemination of information to what has become a Global Reparatory Justice Movement could never be stronger. The CRR, therefore, supports and contributes to the implementation of CARICOM’s Reparatory Justice Programme, which broadly seeks to foster public awareness around the lasting and adverse consequences of European invasion of Indigenous Peoples’ lands, African enslavement and colonialism in the Caribbean. The CRR also supports long-standing reparatory justice advocates, including Indigenous Peoples, Rastafari, civil society groups and individual academics, politicians and national reparation committees/councils/advisory groups locally, regionally and internationally. The Centre has embraced an additional responsibility – working with DISCUS at The UWI (for example, The P.J. Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy, and the Institute of Caribbean Studies) and other educational institutions, including Caribbean high schools, to promote education on colonial legacies and the need for justice and repair.

TThe CRR embodies the goals of The UWI Triple ‘A’ Strategy 2022–2027– Phase Two: Revenue Revolution, that is, to advance learning, create knowledge and foster innovation for the positive transformation of the Caribbean through access, alignment and agility powered by digital transformation. This is evidenced in the CRR’s primary interlocking objectives which are:

Access

The CRR reflects Access within the context of the Triple ‘A’ Strategy, as its main goals include:

• To promote research on (a) the legacies of colonialism, native genocide, enslavement and indentureship in the Caribbean; and (b) how to bring justice and positive transformation to these legacies.
• To promote education at The UWI and across Caribbean school systems on the legacies of colonialism, enslavement and native genocide and the need for justice and repair, especially as the CAPE History syllabus now contains a theme on reparation. To this end the CRR has recently been on a regional tour to promote the recently published (December 2021) text, Introduction to Reparation for Secondary Schools.
• To drive independent funding, including grants in furtherance of the goal of revenue revolution.
• In keeping with the fact that the University is a global university that encourages diversity, the CRR has been host to international speakers and participated in global events, both face to face and virtually. The CRR has also been facilitating visiting researchers from all over the world.
• The CRR, in achieving these goals, will improve the quality of learning and student development at the secondary and tertiary levels, while improving the quality and impact of research on students specifically, and on the wider Caribbean community.

Alignment

Alignment, the second tier in The UWI Triple ‘A’ Strategy, refers to the promotion of greater activism and public advocacy. It includes the improvement of academic and industry research partnerships as well as promoting a cohesive single UWI brand consciousness. The purpose of the establishment of the CRR was not only to conduct research that will advance the claim for reparations, but also to promote greater activism and public advocacy. The Centre’s establishment has resulted in the increased promotion of those areas, as proven by the requests for consultancy that are regularly made to the CRR.

This is also reflected in another main goal of the CRR, which is to promote advocacy for reparatory justice by building a capacity for:

• consultancy to CARICOM, Caribbean states, the UN and other relevant institutions
• raising public awareness
• supporting activism for reparatory and decolonial justice from grassroots to governments.

The capacity of the CRR to promote advocacy is integral to its practical, solution-oriented and extroverted focus. The CRR takes very seriously its capacity to act as a consultant, a raiser of consciousness, as well as an activist on matters of colonial legacies and decolonization.

Agility

The final tier is Agility which refers to the desire to expand the physical presence of The UWI on all continents, to restore financial health to The UWI, to generate economies of scale and scope for The UWI, all while fostering a creative, caring, accountable, motivated and professional team.

After the Triple "A": The Revenue Revolution

The UWI has implemented an operational plan dedicated exclusively to addressing its financial sustainability, which was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, since face to face operations resumed in January, 2022 the CRR has bolstered its commitment to diversify its income stream, which has been a part of its mandate since 2017. Therefore the CRR will continue to seek institutional partnerships and opportunities for grant-funding, which every member of staff is charged to do.

Fund-Raising and Research Projects 2022–2023:

• Culmination of funded research from Campari Group/J Wray & Nephew which led to the publication of a coffee table book on Appleton Estate, Jamaica
• Funded research towards the publication of a booklet on reparation for schools right across the Caribbean. (Research part-funded by CRC)
• Research to culminate in the creation of a book for the National Stadium of Jamaica with Independence Park Limited, the managing company for the National Stadium (to be funded)
• Collaboration with the South African High Commissioner’s Office with a view to facilitate meetings and discussions on ways for partnership with interested stakeholders in South Africa
• New collaboration with Professor Miles Ogburn at Queen Mary University, UK, on the project, “Whose Freedom: Mapping the Sam Sharpe War” (awaiting result of application for funding)
• Upcoming research project with Heritage developers of Bushy Park and Friendship estates in Jamaica (awaiting result of application for funding)

Staffing

The CRR is woefully under-staffed based on the extent of its work. Up to 2020, the CRR had a full-time director. It now has a consultant director, hired on one-year renewable contracts and termed an independent contractor.

The short-term contract of other staff members also affects the stability of the CRR and its work, with constant movement of staff to more sustainable jobs. At the moment, both Mr. Omar Ryan, the administrative assistant, and Ms. Mia McMorris, the junior research fellow, are on one-year contracts.

Visiting Students

The Centre attracts requests for attachments by Fulbright and other students and academic visitors. During the past two years, the visiting students were Ms. Shodona Kettle, a PhD student at University College of London and Mr. Wayne Weaver, a PhD student from the University of Cambridge. Mona students also volunteer at the CRR from time to time.

Departmental Activities (Conferences/Seminars) with Staff Participation 2022–2023

The following is a sample of the virtual and face to face activities in which the director and staff were involved since 2022 up to the time of this report.

August 23, 2022	Speech on Reparations hosted by the Mayor of London. (Director, face to face)
September 6, 2022	Presentation at the Conference for the International Day for People of African Descent in Cartagena, Colombia. (Director, face to face)
September 28–30, 2022	Participated and presented at the Cambridge University Reparations Conference, England. (Director, face to face)
October 12, 2022	Centre hosted an International Walter Rodney webinar with New York University, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Dag Haamarskjold Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies and the Walter Rodney Foundation.
October 13–14	Presented at the UN’s Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Recommendations. (Director, virtual)
October 24, 2022	Guest speaker at the annual Paul Bogle Candle Lighting and Vigil, Morant Bay. (Administrative assistant, face to face)
October 27, 2022	Panel discussion participation hosted by the Institute of Training and Development. “Celebrating Our Heritage: igniting the Spirit of the John Canoe”. (Director - virtual)
November 1, 2022	Presented at the Fordham University School of Law's event, "Can the United Nations End Racism?" Symposium on the Global Anti-Racism Architecture of the UN. (Director, virtual)
November 28–29, 2022	Presented at the Global Forum Against Racism and Discrimination on the 29th. (Director, virtual)
December 14, 2022	Presented at UNESCO launch of the Transcultura project at ROK Hotel. (Director, face to face)
December 21, 2022	CRR collaborated with CRC in a press conference commenting on the apology by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. (Virtual)
January 20–21, 2023	The CRR collaborated with the National Commission of Reparations Jamaica to highlight and bring awareness to reparations at the annually staged Rebel Salute. (Hybrid)
February 9, 2023	Book launch of Appleton: A History at AC Hotel, St. Andrew. (Face to face)
February 17, 2023	The CRR hosted a seminar with Dr. Sabine Cadeau, Chief Researcher of the Cambridge Legacies of Slavery Report. (Hybrid)
February 21, 2023	Presented Black History Month speech at Canadian High Commission. (Director, face to face)
February 27, 2023	Participated in the launching of the monument, “Lest We Forget” at Appleton Estate, St. Elizabeth. (Face to face)
February 28, 2023	Book launch of An Introduction to Reparations for Secondary Schools at Jamaica College, St. Andrew. (Director & JRF, face to face)
March 2, 2023	Collaborated with the Office of the Vice-Chancellor and the CARICOM Reparations Commission and hosted the Symposium- “Reparation and Royalty, Africa and Europe: Exploding Myths, Empowering the Truths” at Regional Headquarters, UWI. (Virtual)
March 16, 2023	Presented on Reparation at Tufts University (Director and JRF, virtual)
March 24, 2023	Participated and presented at the Walter Rodney Symposium hosted by the Walter Rodney Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia. (Director, face to face)
March 26-30, 2023	The CRR collaborated with the Institute for Gender and Development Studies and hosted the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, Mr. Francisco Cali Tzay. On the 27th of March a seminar was hosted where members of Indigenous communities such as the Garifuna, Rastafari and Maroons were invited. (Face to face)
May 16-20, 2023	Collaborated with Brown University, New York and hosted private conference at the Regional Headquarters, UWI. (Face to face)
June 8, 2023	Collaborated with international jurist, Judge Patrick Robinson and ASIL and organized a hybrid event carried on UWItv to present the Brattle Group Report on the Economic Quantification on Reparations at the Regional Headquarters, UWI. (Face to face)
June 28, 2023	Hosted seminar for Sienna Brown, author of Master of my Fate, discussing the history of deported enslaved Africans following the 1831–32 War of Emancipation in Jamaica. (Hybrid)

The Centre attracted a significant number of visitors (professors, students, members of civil society) during the period under review.