Caribbean L 8 ife, June 14–20, 2019 BQ
European slave trading nations
tions payments will also
be sent to Sweden, Russia,
Norway, Germany
and modern day Latvia.
These would be in addition
to similar demand
documents that have
already been sent to Britain,
France, Spain, The
Netherlands, Portugal,
Belgium, Denmark and
others. CRC spokesman
Eric Phillips said that The
Netherlands is the country
which “appears to be
more open than the others
to talking about the
situation while Britain
has outrightly refused to
engage in any serious discussion.
The others have
been a bit non committal
but have mostly replied to
our demand letters. We
want to have a summit
with Europe to discuss
development issues as
slavery was about underdevelopment.”
The commission was
appointed back in 2013
and has been compiling
some amazing data about
the slave trade in the past
six years. Barbados is the
lead country coordinating
the work of the commission.
The commission said
after a meeting in Jamaica
earlier this week that the
latest available research
showed that there were
an astonishing 36,000
voyages “between Africa
and the Americas,” noting
that the slave trade
“reinforces the fact that
the trafficking was a global
enterprise.”
Caribbean government
have long hired the British
law firm of Leigh Day
to represent its case for
reparation payments for
the descendants of slavery
in large part because
that same firm had forced
Britain to pay millions in
compensation for slaughtering
Kenyan tribesmen
during the colonial era.
The research found
that at least 12.5 million
Africans “were captured
and transported with a
death rate of about 14
percent per voyage. Children
as young as a year
old and adults up to their
late 70s were brought to
work sugar, coffee and
other plantations in the
region the CRC said.
The commission said
that the latest findings
strengthens the case of
governments against
complicit European states
and will help it hold them
accountable and aware of
their responsibility “in
ways they would never
before have confronted.”
In previous missives
about the commission’s
work, officials have made
links between an epidemic
of chronic diseases like
hypertension, heart diseases,
strokes and diabetes
directly to the stress
of slavery, poor diet and
abysmal living conditions
that started during capture
and on slave ships.
Additionally, several
American universities
including Harvard have
benefited from the proceeds
of slavery and are
also being engaged in
discussions about some
form of reparatory payments.
The body said that it
has been able to compile
data on an additional
1,000 voyages in the
past year. “We are coming
across more and more
information as we continue
our research, as we do
more work,” said Phillips.
Britain has tried to
indirectly address this
issue by increasing its
grant aid disbursements
to the region but has
steadfastly refused to
engage in direct talks,
fearing it might well be
overwhelmed by the preponderance
of evidence
the CRC has about its
role in slavery. Barclays
Bank and others are living
beneficiaries of the
slave trade and there are
thousands of documents
showing that Britain had
paid out millions to slave
owners for loss of property
in the West Indies
after slavery was officially
abolished.
Continued from Page 1
Brooklyn Civil Court election
countywide Civil Court
seat,” the Grenadianborn
court attorney referee
said. “We are also
encouraging everyone
to exercise their right to
vote.”
“I am optimistic about
winning the race,” she
added. “I possess the
integrity, experience and
legal scholarship necessary
for the position.”
Neckles said she was
vetted by many screening
panels, including the New
York City Bar Association,
the Brooklyn Bar Association
and the Kings County
Democratic Screening
Committee, and was
“found qualified to be a
Civil Court judge.”
In addition, Neckles
said he has been endorsed
by many Democratic district
leaders, elected officials
and community
organizations.
The list includes: Kings
County Democratic Executive
Committee; Independent
Neighborhood
Democrats (IND); Central
Brooklyn Independent
Democrats (CBID);
Vanguard Independent
Democratic Association
(VIDA); North Brooklyn
Progressive Democrats
(NBPD); Brooklyn Young
Democrats LAMBDA
Independent Democrats;
and Jim Owles Liberal
Democratic Club.
Among the elected officials
who have endorsed
Neckles are: Assembly
Members Helene Weinstein,
Joanne Simon,
Maritza Davila, Nick
Perry, Rodneyse Bichotte,
Tremaine Wright, Walter
Mosley III and William
Colton; Senator Velmanette
Montgomery;
Council Member Matthew
Eugene; and Congressional
Reps. Yvette
Clarke, Hakeem Jeffries
and Nydia Velazquez.
“I am vying for the
position for two reasons:
first, to achieve my personal
dream of becoming
a judge; and, second,
to promote justice, fairness
and equal treatment
under the law for
everyone, including Caribbean
born folks now
residing in Brooklyn,”
Neckles reiterated.
Continued from Page 6