May 25, 2025 — In commemoration of Africa Day, the PJ Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy has issued a powerful call to action, urging former colonial powers to take concrete steps toward reparatory justice. The statement was delivered in alignment with this year’s theme, “Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.”
The Institute emphasized that symbolic apologies and self-reflective statements are insufficient in addressing the deep historical wounds left by chattel enslavement and colonial exploitation. It insisted that reparations must involve “structural change and material redress.”
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“Without a doubt, the people of Africa and the African diaspora have had their land, consciousness, and bodies brutalized by these systems of oppression,” the Institute said. “We recognize that righting these historical wrongs cannot be satisfied just by renunciations and self-reproachful statements without concrete actions of restitution.”
The organization called on global stakeholders, especially former colonial states, to implement policies and programs that aim to “heal the generational damage inflicted on African and diasporic communities.” These include educational reforms, economic investments, debt relief, and the restoration of cultural heritage.
“As Africans and people of African descent, we know too well the consequences of this long history of dispossession on our societies’ health, economies, and our collective well-being, which are still being felt,” the statement read. “Justice demands that the nations and institutions which perpetuated these atrocities restore what has been systematically denied.”
The PJ Patterson Institute, named after Jamaica’s longest-serving Prime Minister, reiterated that the call for reparations is not merely a retrospective pursuit of justice, but a forward-looking initiative aimed at building societies grounded in “mutual respect, shared purpose, and the unbreakable bonds of African identity.”
This comes amid a growing global reparatory justice movement. In recent years, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has advanced a 10-point plan demanding reparations from European nations. Several European institutions have begun issuing apologies, and some have pledged limited financial commitments. However, advocates maintain that meaningful reparations must go beyond gestures and address the enduring legacies of slavery and colonialism through substantial and sustained efforts.
