Reparations Rebellion Groundings Protest

What We Are Demanding:

We are not Marching this year because we always knew that we could not March forever, furthermore we have listened to our respective supporting organisations and communities who have been calling for more effective tactics in drawing attention to our cause.

We have instead chosen to lock-down Brixton because WE are not being HEARD in our demand for the UK Government to establish the All-Party Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry for Truth & Reparatory Justice (APPCITARJ) and to commit to holistic reparations taking into consideration various proposals for reparations in accordance with the United Nations Framework on a Right to a Remedy and Reparation, as being called for by the Stop the Maangamizi Campaign.

The terms of reference for the APPCITARJ should be to study the impact of the United Kingdom’s Transatlantic Traffic in Enslaved Afrikans on social, political and economic life within the UK and the rest of the world in order to begin understanding the legacies of enslavement on individuals, communities and the society we live in and commence a dialogue on how to address it, which go further than a symbolic apology.

The APPCITARJ’s work should be of a participatory nature, calling for submissions from all those with knowledge of the nature and impacts of enslavement and colonialism. This will aim to include, but not be limited to, testimony from: individuals, organisations, academics, communities, and nations. Affected communities and individuals must have their own voice, agency, and self-determined solutions in effecting and securing Reparatory Justice and steps must be taken to facilitate their participation in any reparatory process in which the UK Government, State and Society are engaged.

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We hope you gain a fuller ovastanding about the purpose of the march, what we seek for our people and how you can get involved in the process. Please share with your friends and get them to sign the petition on https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-maangamizi-we-charge-genocide-ecocide

Watch This Video to learn the Rationale for the Reparations March

Why We March on 1st August:

The Afrikan Emancipation Day Reparations March Committee formed in 2015 continues to build on work of the organisers of the first Reparations March RMUK and other supporting organisations on 1st August 2014 after such organisers decided that would be a one-off event. Various community members and their constituencies at the time insisted that they wanted to March to continue the efforts that had been made to more visably bring to public consciousness awareness of a Reparations Movement.

The 1st of August was originally chosen as the day of the Reparations March because it is the officially recognised ‘Emancipation Day’, marking the passing of the Act for the Abolition of slavery throughout the British Colonies; for promoting the industry of the manumitted slaves; and for compensating the persons hitherto entitled to the service of such slaves (also known as the Slavery Abolition Act) on 1 August 1833 and took effect 1 August 1834. The significance of this date in history is that it is the date that after all the years of resistance by chattelised Afrikans, torn away from our Motherland, Britain and its fellow European enslavers of Afrikan people were compelled to recognise that they could no longer continue to enslave us without severe consequences. It therefore represents a symbolic day recognising our refusal to accept enslavement, in every manner, including its present-day manifestations and to remind ourselves of the need for our true emancipation which will not occur without holistic Reparatory Justice.

Contrary to popular belief, however, the Slavery Abolition Act did not free Afrikans who were then unjustly considered to be the legal property of Britain’s enslaving class. In fact, the act contained a provision for £20 million financial compensation to the enslavers, by the British taxpayer, for the loss of their so-called “property”. That sum represented 40% of the total government expenditure for 1834, the modern equivalent of between £16bn and £17bn and represented the largest bailout in British history until the bailout of the banks in 2009. It was the British Houses of Parliament, which in this unjust piece of legislation, upheld the notion that the Afrikan enslaved and their descendants were not human, but property and determined that our people in the Caribbean were assessed as having a market value of £47 million.

The British Parliament also determined that enslaved Afrikans in British colonies would receive nothing. Instead they were forced, through the provision of this unjust law, to pay the remaining £27 million costs for their so-called emancipation by providing 45 hours of unpaid labour each week for their former ‘masters’, for a further four years after the passing of the Abolition Act. Clearly, the British state cemented this legalised form of injustice by forcing the enslaved to pay part of the costs for their legalised ‘manumission’. It was recently discovered that up until 2015 our people and other members of the British public were paying taxes which went into paying off the ‘debt’ that was incurred by the British Government as a result of compensating European enslavers with the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act.

Fast forward to the contemporary era, the Afrikan Emancipation Day Reparations March has aims and are the reasons why we march on 1st August. Please visit www.reparationsmarch.org to familiarise yourself with the aims.

The March is supposed to be a culmination of the work that people are engaged in all-year round on reparations which is represented in the messages and banners for the March and show of strength but unfortunately it is still seen as a one-day event with no attention paid to reparations/activism the other 364 days of the year. The 1st August allows us to tie in and reclaim a day popularly known and commemorated as ‘Emancipation Day’ and reclaim it as a ‘Reparations Day’ which enables our people also living in 'former British colonies ' to engage with it too.

Many former colonies have 1st August as a public holiday as granted by their governments, often on the basis of activists on the ground who feel it is importance to commemorate the struggles of our Ancestors for emancipation. The Afrikan Emancipation Day Reparations March Committee (AEDRMC) is not advocating a state granted public holiday and feel there is more power in disruption in London to state agencies and the economy as well as the increase in visibility to international tourists during the holiday season. We do not advocate state recognition of a day where they will as they always do, redefine the narrative, hijack and take credit for the day! Please note that the petition gets same response whether MPs are sitting or not. The disruption to London happens whether MPs are there or not! Please also note the Campaign partner of the March, the ‘Stop the Maangamizi: We Charge Genocide/Ecocide! Campaign’ has other campaign tools which it is utilising 365/24-7 and has developed tools and lobbying guidance that supporters can use ALL YEAR ROUND. So please let's focus on the wider picture of the milestones we seek (contained in the petition) and in this way recognise that MPs being in recess on 1st August is really not a big deal - for the above stated reasons. Let us now consider how we are going to move forward towards our goals through our own contributions to Reparatory Justice activism.

We in the AEDRMC emphasize that the March is not the whole Reparations Movement, but only an aspect of it in terms of a street protest that happens annually. it is important that other initiatives that other groups, organisations and individuals in the Afrikan Heritage Community are showcased on the 1st August as stipulated in one of the aims of the March; hence why we have chosen the theme STOP TERMINATING OUR PEOPLE: REDRESSING YOUTH MENTICIDE/ECOCIDE for this year’s theme.

The challenge is being put to our people to bring forth and promote the work they have been doing on reparations all year round. It is easy to see the inadequacies in what other people do but far more transformative when we ourselves focus on the change that we are making, individually and collectively.
The Afrikan Emancipation Day Reparations March Committee.

These are the panels of the informative flyer for the Reparations March on the 1st of August.

The Reparations March 2019 Flyer
You can download this flyer, print it and distribute it.
Reparations March Flyer 3 folds (Front) [...]
Adobe Acrobat document [6.1 MB]

Help us to fundraise for costs towards the march and campaign!

We need your support towards our aims & mission

Please donate by clicking on the link below:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/reparationsmarch2020

THANK YOU!!

The Reparations March 2019 Flyer (FRONT)
You can download this flyer, print it and share it.
Reparations March Flyer 3 folds (Front) [...]
Adobe Acrobat document [29.0 MB]

The Afrikan Emancipation Day Reparations March Committee would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of you who took part in the Afrikan Emancipation Day Reparations Rebellion Groundings on 1st Moziah (August) 2020, THE flagship event of the Afrikan heritage community supported by the Stop the Maangamizi Campaign. We would like to thank:

All those who marched
All those who volunteered on the day
The artists, the speakers, the stewards and the practitioners operating in the healing zone on Windrush Sq
The UK regions who mobilised and attended
Our allies (local and International) with whom we have been working with throughout the year
All who donated money or items in kind
Our grassroots media who continue to profile our cause
The silent activists, workers and supporters
And the Divine force of the Universe and the spirits of our Indomitable Ancestors whose shoulders we attempt to stand on.

We thank you all for contributing to this mass show of strength and determination- not just to the State but to each other as we commit to do all we can to STOP THE MAANGAMIZI!

Needless to say the Afrikan Emancipation Day Reparations Rebellion Groundings is an important day of disruption, protest, challenge and for us, a contribution to our education, awareness and self repair. BUT IT IS JUST ONE DAY! We must not lose momentum! We have another 364 days to progress the aims of the Stop the Maangamizi Campaign and other Reparatory Justice activities that we are all involved in.

Visits our websites to find out how you can contribute to our quest to secure holistic Reparations. Find out how you and your family can prepare to contribute to the demands within the Stop the Maangamizi We Charge Genocide/Ecocide Petition:

Reparationsmarch.org
Stopthemaangamizi.com
And our You Tube Channel 'The Reparations March UK'
Twitter @uk_march and @stopmaangamizi

Once again; Asante Sana, Medase Pa, Tatenda, Modupe, Oyiwaladonnnnn (THANK YOU!!)

STOP THE MAANGAMIZI CAMPAIGN Call To Action

An International Call to Participate in the 1st Mosiah (August) Afrikan Emancipation Day Reparations March in Conjunction with the Stop the Maangamizi: We Charge Genocide/Ecocide Campaign (SMWeCGEC)

Please Support our Fundraising Campaign!

We need to raise hire costs for Windrush Sq, Public Liability Insurance, Mobility Transport for Elders, Health and Safety Equipment, Portaloos, Staging, Lost Children's Area and more!

You can contribute via gofundme.com/ukmarch or see our bank details in the photo on your left. A full budget of what is needed is available on the GofundMe site. Click here to donate!

Thank you!

WE NOW HAVE A YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0HJcrFPaWlJNdi13QtvQbQ

Check it out, subscribe and leave your comments!

THEME OF THIS YEAR'S PEOPLES OPEN PARLIAMENTARY SESSION ON AFRIKAN REPARATIONS (POPSAR) DEBATE

(at Parliament Sq)

#ReparationsMarch2020
Debate Topic at Parliament Square:

'BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE REPARATIONS MARCH, AS A FORM OF REPARATORY JUSTICE STREET PROTEST, IS BEING MADE IINADEQUATE DUE TO INACTIVITY BY THE MAJORITY OF ITS PARTICIPANTS IN TAKING STEPS TO ADVANCE THE CAMPAIGN FOR REPARATIONS BETWEEN THE ANNUAL MARCHES'

Come and have your say! Frame your arguments for OR against the motion! Stop hiding behind WhatsApp!!

#Reparations
#Stopthemaangamizi
The Afrikan Emancipation Day Reparations March
Stop the Maangamizi: We Charge Genocide/Ecocide