Slavery’s Enduring Legacy: America’s Unpaid Reparations Debt

The legacy of slavery, and the stolen labor of millions of Africans forcibly brought to the Americas between the 15th and 19th centuries, continues to shape the political, social, and personal lives of all Americans today, especially Indigenous and African-descended communities. This webinar examines the enduring consequences of slavery with a focus on reparations: the unpaid debt that still looms over our society. We will take an alternative approach to the subject of reparations: We will trace its roots in the expansion of the American empire and the ideology of white supremacy. We will explore slavery’s continuation embedded in the 13th Amendment, including the ongoing legality of forced labor for incarcerated people and the industry that profits from incarceration, punishment, and surveillance. And we will address the city of Boston, whose wealth was built on the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Together, we will consider the obstacles to repair and explore how to forge a new path forward.

Speakers:

Stephanie Guirand holds a PhD in Sociology from Goldsmiths, University of London, where she is currently a Graduate Fellow. She serves as the Program Function Manager and Researcher for The Black Response (TBR), an abolitionist research and advocacy organisation under Community Service Cares, Inc., based in Cambridge, MA.

Kevin Peterson is the founder and executive director of The New Democracy Coalition, a non-partisan and non-profit organization that focuses on civic literacy, civic policy and electoral justice. Mr. Peterson studied philosophy and politics at Boston University and is currently a Senior Fellow at the Center for Collaborative Leadership at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Tony Van Der Meer, PhD is a Senior Lecturer in the Africana Studies Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston and serves on the MAPA Board. Professor Van Der Meer was selected for the 2024 Scholar Activist Award from Critical Educators for Social Justice (CESI), a Special Interest Group (SIG) of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Rosemary Kean serves on MAPA’s Board and also is co-convener of MAPA’s Racial Justice and Indigenous Solidarity Working Group. She is co-chair of the Social Justice Community at First Church Boston UU.

We hope to see you there, click below to register