Congressman John Conyers

What a glorious time this is! After nearly two decades of building support for and lobbying members of Congress and the Judiciary Committee for a hearing on H.R. 40, The Commission to Study Reparations Proposals for African Americans Act, we are so proud that you are finally calling forth this long overdue process. While this legislation was first introduced in 1989 by you, Rep. Conyers - and in every session of Congress since - the leadership of both the Republican and Democratic parties have denied us a full and fair public discussion before the world. Until now!

It is extremely important that we begin to address the continuing Maafas (which means, in Swahili, great disasters and mass catastrophes) sanctioned and perpetrated by the 13 colonies, the United States of America, the 50 states and other governmental bodies against Afrikan people. These include but are not limited to over four centuries of horrific enslavement; mass murder; deliberate lies, untruths and mis-education; unpaid labor; brutal rape and breeding; forced segregation and violent racial discrimination; untold lynchings and burnings; conspiracies to disinvest and destroy farms and communities owned and populated by Afrikans; destructive, for-profit mass imprisonment; deadly chemical warfare and medical experimentation; disinformation campaigns and assassinations to destroy our organizations, legitimate leadership and youth; and numerous other brutalities and crimes against our humanity.

An example of a Maafa for which reparations are due is the assassination 38 years ago, on Dec. 4, 1969, of Ancestors Chairman Fred Hampton and Defense Capt. Mark Clark of our Black Panther Party for Self-Defense by the joint counter-intelligence program (COINTELPRO) and military forces of the United States of America, county of Cook, city of Chicago and state of Illinois.

The call for reparations for Afrikan people is not a new one. For centuries our people - on both sides of the Atlantic, and from the northern to the southernmost regions of the world - have been demanding a full accounting of the genocidal wars before, during and continuing after the centuries-long enslavement and colonization periods. It is my hope that the upcoming and subsequent hearings will set the basis for uncovering and documenting the real truth, the full numbers, the devastating impact upon millions and millions of Afrikan people and certainly our just and self-determined remedies.

Now instead of focusing at this time on the personal battles of both sides of my own family to recover stolen land down South - in Hempstead County, Arkansas, where Hope is the county seat - or in up South areas where we migrated, I'd prefer at this time to offer some positive recommendations on the process for hearings on H.R. 40. Very respectfully, I would suggest first a meeting, or summit, if you will, with the leaders of organizations who have been advocating and advancing the reparations cause in a variety of ways, and also your legislation in varying degrees, for the past years.

These include N'COBRA, the Republic of New Afrika, National Conference of Black Lawyers, Nation of Islam, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other local elected officials, African People's Socialist Party, National Black United Front, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, December 12th Movement, NAACP, New Black Panther Party, Restitution Study Group and many other important entities. For the H.R. 40 hearing process to be truly fruitful, we need the assistance from a good number of our groups, activists, scholars, media and spiritual leaders to develop a common will and unity of action.

Second, in order to obtain the broadest possible voice, concerns and interests of Afrikan people in the U.S., I would suggest holding hearings not only on Capitol Hill, but to organize sessions in dozens of congressional districts. Possibly, we can begin in the areas where we have current members of the Congressional Black Caucus and then move on to areas where allies, like Reps. Dennis Kucinich or Mike Honda, have endorsed H.R. 40. This would include visits to federal, state and for-profit prisons where hundreds of thousands of Black men, women and children have been falsely convicted and harshly sentenced.

Third, I would strongly recommend taking the testimonies of our hundreds of imprisoned and exiled leaders who were, at the government's own admission, unjustly-targeted, severely tortured and wrongfully charged, convicted and/or incarcerated for the past 25, 35 and more years. Many of them were leaders in our Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, Republic of New Afrika, Black Liberation Army, MOVE Family and other political and spiritual formations.

Finally, I would hope that this process would include some critical conversations and data collection and sharing with our continental Afrikan family of nations, through the African Union, African Social Forum and others on the continent. It is also critical that we document more of the devastating affects that the horrific war on, trade in and relocation of generations of Afrikans have had on these nations and their development ... to this very day. Even more importantly, we need to discuss with them some common solutions, be they repatriation, debt cancellation, proper internment of Ancestors, return of wealth and artistic treasures, land redistribution, joint investments, collective cultural and educational projects etc.

I want to again thank you, Elder, Congressman and Chairman Conyers, for your consistent advocacy for human rights and reparations. As a lifetime member and past national co-chair of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA), I especially appreciate the encouragement you have always extended to numerous organizations in our years of work in communities across the U.S., on the continent of Afrika, on visits to Capitol Hill and in our media efforts. I am personally grateful that you and your staff provided us assistance with outreach and in organizing events when I resided in Chicago and New York City, and in my continuing work in the land of the original Ohlone people - currently known as the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area.

We are looking forward to helping build an inclusive and insightful process around H.R. 40. We know that this effort can lead to a new and in-depth OVERstanding of some of the worst crimes ever perpetrated by humans against other humans in our story of humanity, past and present.

Quite significantly, we are extremely hopeful that the upcoming H.R. 40 process will help lead to some major transformations in all of us, including a more determined Afrikan people; more enlightenment, especially for those persons of European descent; acknowledgement of crimes and public apologies by the U.S. and state governments and corporations that owe their tremendous wealth to the suffering of Afrikan people; release of our falsely imprisoned family members; amnesty and restitution for our imprisoned and exiled leaders; the return of a granting of land; and billions in resources for current and new programs for repatriation, political independence and new nation building, re-education and training efforts, economic development and much more.

May our Divine Creator and Beloved Ancestors continue to keep and direct you. Ase`. Amen.

Jahahara is a lifetime member and past national co-chair of N'COBRA, former editor of REPARATIONS NOW: Justice! Self-Determination! Healing! and author of the new book, "Reparations Sasa, Towards Ma'at... for Humanity." He can be reached c/o Foundations for Our New Alkebulan/Afrikan Millennium (FONAMI), P.O. Box 10963, Oakland, CA 94610, or at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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