By George Alleyne
For CARICOM nations to
begin a growth process taking
the region away from the ravages
of slavery there needs to be a $50
billion contribution to a fund,
donated as a starting point by
entities that profited from slavery,
and apologized for their role
in capitalizing on unpaid labor.
Money from this Fund is not
to be passed on to individuals but,
go towards capital outlay productive
projects and to prop up social
advancement of the people.
Those who are being asked to
contribute to the fund include
organizations, which recently
admitted to using gains from
slavery for start-up operations
that remain profitable today.
“Every bank on the high
streets of England, all the banks
that you know, Lloyds, Barclays,
National Westminster, Midlands,
all of them began their journey
in the financing of slavery and
colonisation, and they all issued
apologies,” said University of
the West Indies Vice-Chancellor,
Hilary Beckles, Sunday.
This is the view of a CARICOM
Reparations Committee.
Beckles, who chairs that Committee,
spoke of the organisation’s
Caribbean L 20 ife, October 16-22, 2020
intent during interview,
conducted by Professor Andy
Knight, commemorating International
Day for Reparations the
following day, Oct. 12.
That date is the anniversary
of Christopher Columbus’ first
landing in the Americas in 1492.
Professor Knight of the University
of Alberta said, “in doing
so he Columbus ushered in a
cycle of occupation, violence,
genocide and slavery and heralded
the advent of colonisation.”
“And that colonial legacy continues
to plague the people of our
region.”
Beckles, a historian and
author, singled out two financial
houses that owe their successful
existence to some 200 years
of free labor of Africans in the
Caribbean.
“Lloyd’s of London the largest
insurance company in the world
that made its fortune from insuring
not only the slave ships but
insuring the Africans as property.
They have issued their apology.”
Another company to admit its
role and apologize is the Bank
of England which, Beckles said,
“was established to regulate all
of the cash coming into England
from slavery. There was so much
cash and so many small provincial
banks the government put
the Bank of England together
to regulate all of that cash coming
in, standardize it and make
it available to industrialists in
England who could borrow that
money from the provincial banks
and invest it to build factories
for industrial development. So
Caribbean cash would circulate
in the British economy through
a guided model.”
“We have said an apology is
never enough when the damage
is still here,” the Vice-Chancellor
said, adding, “what we
are looking at now, is that there
should be a launch under the
auspices of the United Nations
… an Investment Development
Fund, in which all of the countries,
companies, persons and
institutions that gave all those
apologies in recent years … put
this money into this fund.”
According to Beckles, the
CARICOM Committee’s concept
is not new.
“This is the model that was
used largely by the Jewish Reparations
Committee … that got
reparations out of Europe.”
This proposed initial deposit
into the Fund is chicken feed
University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor, Hilary Beckles.
Photo by George Alleyne
compared to the amount of earnings
European countries, benefitted
from Caribbean slavery.
Beckles disclosed, “we did the
numbers, 200 years of free labour,
from about 15 million people…
you’re talking about seven trillion
pounds sterling.”
Beckles clarified a misconception
that CARICOM states
want cash payments directly into
national coffers or the hands of
citizens.
“The reparations that we are
talking about is about laying the
foundation for investment in the
economic development of the
Caribbean. At the same time, it
is about building institutions to
allow for issues of identity and
sovereignty and rights and education
to be rooted in the pedagogy
of identity and education
and culture.”
No handout in repatriation
For decades, museumquality
pieces by well-known
and emerging artists have
graced college campuses
throughout New York City.
Many of our city’s college
campuses are homes to impressive
art collections ranging
from contemporary and
modern to historical. Magnificent
works grace the walls of
college art museums. Sculptures
sunbathe on campus
lawns, and tantalizing textiles
and decorative artwork
adore the halls of academic
buildings.
In Brooklyn, on the Kingsborough
campus, art has real
soul. From the moment you
walk through our gate, you
are greeted by a piece from
famed artist Osamu Shimoda.
But the works that
will garner most of your attention
are those of talented
students, many whom have
gone on to become widely
known and respected, such
as Bisa Butler, a fiber artist
in Brooklyn known for her
quilted portraits celebrating
black life.
Students have long been
exposed to and have created
interesting, challenging, and
engaging art. Brian Edward
Hack, Ph.D, director of the
Kingsborough Art Museum
(KAM) points out that university
galleries are different
from the local museums because
the curators consider
how an exhibit will both benefit
and inspire student artists.
KAM hosts six shows
annually; a faculty show, a
student show and local and
international exhibits. A student
awards ceremony is held
in the spring. Many winners
have gone on to have their
works shown nationally and
in major shows, including
Antonio Pulgarin, a Colombian
American lens-based
artist who utilizes photography,
photographic collage,
and mixed media in his practice;
and Allen Pierre, a native
of Haiti who cultivated
a love for street photography,
and for capturing moments of
the City in black and white.
In photographs, KCC Professor
Janice Mehlman, a
prominent New York photographer,
has witnessed
students’ emotions unfold in
their portfolios. Although
everyone in her classes is
given the same assignment,
each picture is very individual.
Professor Mehlman’s
spring class captured some
amazing images on their cell
phones during the COVID-19
pandemic. Some of the pictures
were so impressive,
they were purchased by outside
individuals and corporations.
And while cameras capture
the world, our students
captivate audiences with riveting
performances in the
KCC Playhouse. What the
College strives for is for the
theater experience to be community
art. It’s a place where
students can come together
and collaborate, express
themselves and discover
their voices and engage all
members of the community.
Entering his 13th year
at Kingsborough, Professor
Ryan McKinney, MFA, MA,
director of Theatre Arts Program,
said he has found that
theater is very often the catalyst
that makes students want
to stay in school. “They have
found the thing that they are
passionate about. They want
to spend time working and
learning their craft, and exploring
how to be a theater
artist and how to give back
to their community in that
way,” he said.
The KCC Theatre Arts
Program was awarded four
National Kennedy Center
American College Theatre
Festival Awards this year for
the production of Pass Over
by Antoinette Nwandu. Pass
Over is a student’s commentary
on black men searching
for a world where they don’t
have to worry about police
violence.
The experience of student
artists, whether on stage,
through a camera lens, sculpture
or painting, is usually
emotional. They’re beginners
revealing their inner
most ideas and sometimes
personal feelings through
their work. As their creative
visions become a reality on
public display, the students
come to realize that they are
not alone in their thoughts.
They have a community.
Dr. Claudia V. Schrader
is president of Kingsborough
Community College (KCC),
a 72-acre academic oasis located
in beautiful Manhattan
Beach, Brooklyn. Kingsborough
Community College
is committed to enhancing
learning opportunities for the
Brooklyn community.
EDUCAT I O N PROFI LE
Art and Soul
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