KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, will address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Monday as part of a global program to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
The UWI said that the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade is observed annually on March 25, 2007. It is dedicated to honoring and remembering the victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which enslaved over 13 million Africans for more than 400 years. The day also aims to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice.
Beckles is a renowned public activist in social justice and minority empowerment. He is also the chairman of the Caribbean Community [CARICOM] Commission on Reparation and Social Justice and a United Nations committee official.
“His life’s work has been dedicated to the reparatory justice conversation. In 2013, he coordinated the policy positions of Caribbean governments on reparatory justice, established The UWI’s Centre for Reparation Research, served as an associate member of the University College London’s Legacies of British Slave-ownership research project, and the University of Hull’s Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation,” Tthe UWI said.
He also led the Caribbean non-government organization’s delegation to the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. He is the author of Britain’s Black Debt, the first scholarly work to examine the reparations discussion in the Caribbean comprehensively.
On Monday, The UWI Vice-Chancellor will speak on “Creating Global Freedom: Countering Racism with Justice in Societies and Among Nations.” According to the university, he will set out the narrative that captures the rise of reparations from a network of spontaneous local moments to a highly organized global movement.
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, as well as the President of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis, who is also the Trinidad and Tobago Ambassador to the UN, as well as Yolanda Renee King, author and granddaughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Will address the UNGA.
“It is always an honor to address the UN General Assembly. I wish to thank Secretary-General Gutteres for this recognition. But to speak with the President of the Assembly, Ambassador Francis, a UWI alumnus, in the chair is special and priceless,” said Beckles.