Today on Sojourner Truth:
On Juneteenth, June 19, 2019, a historic congressional hearing was held on HR 40, a bill first introduced by the now-retired Rep. John Conyers in 1989 to create a national commission to study reparations proposals for African Americans. The hearing was held before the House Judiciary Committee and HR 40's new sponsor, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. The Sojourner Truth team was on the ground for the hearing. Following the hearing, an event titled, "Healing and Reconciliation: HR 40 and the Promise of Reparations for African-Americans" was held at the Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C.
Today, we bring you the in-depth analysis on the movement for reparatory justice by Prof. Sir. Hilary Beckles. He is the Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies. Before assuming his office in 2015, he served the University as a professor of economic history, pro-Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Studies and Principle of its Cave Hill Campus in Barbados.
In 2013, Beckles was invited to coordinate Caribbean government's positions on the global reparatory justice conversation. In this capacity, he was asked to chair the Caribbean Commission on Reparations. Under his guidance, the University of the West Indies has established the Caribbean Center for Reparations Research. He served as an associate member of the London University Legacy of Slavery project and the University of Hull's Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation.
