Rethinking Reparations for African Enslavement as Cultural, Spiritual and Environmental Repair

This project emerged from meetings held in the UK and West Africa with activist organisations and researchers as part of an AHRC networking project (2017-19) linked to the UN International Decade for People of African Descent (IDPAD, 2015-24) [Reparations for Slavery: From Theory to Praxis, AH/P007074/1]. Organized in collaboration with the Pan-Afrikan Reparations Coalition in Europe (UK) and the Association Panafricaine pour une réparation globale de l'esclavage (Benin), these meetings led to the creation of the International Network of Scholars and Activists for Afrikan Reparations (INOSAAR).

We concentrated on creating a more holistic understanding of the meaning of reparation and reparative justice from African community perspectives. This included finding creative ways of healing the longstanding legacies of African enslavement, including cultural loss and environmental degradation, and highlighting the lack of research into models of reparation that engage with cultural, spiritual and environmental forms of repair.

Existing models tend to favour top-down, state-led approaches that rely on international law courts and monetary repayment; whereas we identified the equal importance of grassroots, community-led initiatives that are focused on repairing the loss of African culture and spirituality, and the links between cultural repair and the environment. These two interconnected areas form the basis for this project.

The first relates to the processes by which the descendants of those who were forcibly displaced from Africa are able to re-establish their cultural and spiritual links to the African continent; a process known as 'rematriation'. The second relates the ways in which struggles for reparative justice are underpinned by the need for 'planet repairs' and the role that African culture and knowledge can play in contributing to ecological and reparative social movements more broadly.

In response, we identified a three-phase (P) project with specific aims and objectives:

P1. To create a high-quality video-documentary in Benin on cultural loss and the reconnection of African descendants to the continent with unprecedented access to Beninese cultural and spiritual sites;

P2. To expand African youth participation in reparations activism through a training workshop in Ghana focused on planet and cultural repair, including professional training in communications and video-making;

P3. To develop links to traditional African leaders in Ghana (building from our existing connections in Benin) through a workshop looking at rematriation and planet repair, and the importance of policymaking that facilitates these processes.

Each phase aims to raise awareness and deepen our understanding of reparation as linked to cultural, spiritual and planet repair, while contributing to the International Social Movement for Afrikan Reparations (ISMAR). Working closely with African community and activist groups in Ghana, Benin and the UK, while using the experience of our existing network, this funding will enable us and our partners to expand the benefits of our network to larger numbers of interested communities.

The video-documentary will promote the importance of cultural and spiritual rematriation, showing this to be an integral part of achieving reparation for African and African descended communities. The youth workshop will provide training in video-making and communication skills to build links and solidarity with the ISMAR and global climate change movements, such as Extinction Rebellion.

The workshop with the Ghanaian paramount chiefs will act as a pilot to feed into public policy on African rematriation and planet repair through traditional leadership structures. Together, these activities will make a positive contribution to the UNIDPAD by promoting the importance of African heritage and culture to global movements for reparative and environmental justice.