Lessons Learned from 25 Years of Resistance and Remembrance
If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress *
“While calls for financial reparations to the descendants of enslaved people have been gaining traction in recent years,” explains ICSC Executive Director Elizabeth Silkes, “there is currently no platform for moving these processes forward in an inclusive and effective way. The Descendants’ Reparations Initiative will change that, providing the solidarity and systems needed to ignite a tangible and transformative movement.” According to a 2023 report , total harm estimated from enslavement across the Americas and Europe ranges from USD 100 trillion to USD 131 trillion. There have been calls for reparations to enslaved people – and broken promises to do so – since the end of the U.S. Civil War. Despite this, the world is at a critical point where symbolic and financial reparations are at the center of global discourse , as governments , churches and even educational institutions like Harvard pledge funding to right this historical wrong. The initiative will build upon this momentum to leverage global reparations processes already underway by former colonies in Africa and the Caribbean that are collectively advocating for reparations funds from colonizers. It will do so, in part, by bolstering the capacity of Sites of Conscience directly connected with this history to establish reparatory justice programs.
Descendants of Sally Hemings, a woman enslaved by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, who also gave birth to at least six of his children. Jefferson’s home, Monticello, is a Site of Conscience in Virginia that offers multiple tours, including one focused on the history of slavery at the site.
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