The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA) is an organization that advocates for financial compensation for the descendants of former slaves in the United States.


History

The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America was founded September 26, 1987, for the purpose of spreading information and supporting the long-term goal of gaining
reparations for slavery in the United States Reparations for slavery is the application of the concept of reparations to victims of slavery or their descendants. There are concepts for reparations in legal philosophy and reparations in transitional justice. In the US, reparations for sla ...
. Founders of N’COBRA were
Imari Obadele Imari Obadele (born Richard Bullock Henry) (May 2, 1930 – January 18, 2010) was a Black nationalist, advocate for reparations, and president of the Republic of New Afrika. Early life Richard Henry was born in Philadelphia, and as a young ...
and
Chokwe Lumumba Chokwe Lumumba (; August 2, 1947 – February 25, 2014) was an American attorney, activist, and politician, who was affiliated with the black nationalist organization Republic of New Afrika and served as its second vice president. He served as a ...
; other founders included the
National Conference of Black Lawyers The National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) is an American association, formed in 1968, to offer legal assistance to black civil rights activists, it is made up of judges, law students, lawyers, legal activists, legal workers, and scholars. ...
, the New Afrikan Peoples Organization, and the
Republic of New Afrika The Republic of New Afrika (RNA), founded in 1968 as the Republic of New Africa (RNA), is a black nationalist organization and black separatist movement in the United States popularized by black militant groups. The larger New Afrika movement ...
. In 1994, N'COBRA hosted a national gathering of members in Detroit. One of the speakers was
Queen Mother Moore Queen Mother Moore (born Audley Moore; July 27, 1898 – May 2, 1997) was an African-American civil rights leader and a black nationalist who was friends with such civil rights leaders as Marcus Garvey, Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, Rosa Parks, ...
, a founder of the Republic of New Afrika.


Organizational structure

The work of N'COBRA is based on nine national commissions: * Economic Development * Human Resources * Legal Strategies * Legislation * Information and Media * Membership and Organizational Development * International Affairs * Youth * Education N'COBRA membership is broken down into three categories: individual members, national and local organizational chapters, and organizational affiliates. N’COBRA membership is seen in many different parts of the United States (such as
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
) and in parts of Africa, Europe, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean. Primary leadership for the organization is handled by a national board of directors.


Positions

The stated mission of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America is: Since at least 2017, N'COBRA has advocated for reparations compensation to be in the form of community rehabilitation and not payments to individual descendants of slavery. In 2022, Taiwo Kujichagulia-Seitu of N'COBRA described the organization's goals for "full repair":


Juneteenth

N'COBRA has recognized
Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...
— commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans — as a holiday since the early 1990s.


H.R. 40

H.R. 40, entitled the
Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act The Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act, is an Act of Congress in the United States introduced in 1989 by Rep. John Conyers. The act aims to create a commission to examine the merits of introducing r ...
, is a Congressional reparations study bill that has been introduced by Representatives
John Conyers John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. The districts he represented always included part of western Detroit. ...
(D-MI) and
Sheila Jackson Lee Sheila Jackson Lee (born January 12, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who is the U.S. representative for , having served since 1995. The district includes most of central Houston. She is a member of the Democratic Party, and serve ...
(D-TX) to every Congress since 1989. In 2001, N'COBRA came out in support H.R.40; in fact, the organization, working with chief legal consultant
Adjoa Aiyetoro Adjoa Aiyetoro is a lawyer, an activist and the former executive director of the National Conference of Black Lawyers (1993-1997). She was the chief legal consultant to the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA) and co-c ...
, was preparing a lawsuit against the federal government to demand reparations.


2016 Movement for Black Lives policy platform

In August 2016, the
Movement for Black Lives The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) is a coalition of more than 50 groups representing the interests of black communities across the United States. Members include the Black Lives Matter Network, the National Conference of Black Lawyers, and t ...
, a coalition that is tied to the
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
movement, released a policy platform based around reparations. The platform listed six demands, comprising 40 policy recommendations, and "seeks reparations for lasting harms caused to African-Americans of slavery and investment in education and jobs."
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...
lauded the announcement of this platform as "the first time these Black-led organizations linked to the decentralized Black Lives Matter movement have banded together to write a comprehensive foundational policy platform."


Criticim

Critics of N'COBRA claim that the organization has done little to advance the cause of reparations in the U.S. Reparations scholar William A. Darity Jr., for instance, wrote, "The ... NCOBRA agenda will not result in a reparations plan that will provide direct payments to black American descendants of U.S. slavery."


Notable current and former members

*
Imari Obadele Imari Obadele (born Richard Bullock Henry) (May 2, 1930 – January 18, 2010) was a Black nationalist, advocate for reparations, and president of the Republic of New Afrika. Early life Richard Henry was born in Philadelphia, and as a young ...
— co-founder *
Chokwe Lumumba Chokwe Lumumba (; August 2, 1947 – February 25, 2014) was an American attorney, activist, and politician, who was affiliated with the black nationalist organization Republic of New Afrika and served as its second vice president. He served as a ...
— co-founder *
James Forman James Forman (October 4, 1928 – January 10, 2005) was a prominent African-American leader in the civil rights movement. He was active in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Black Panther Party, and the League of Revolutio ...
*
Adjoa Aiyetoro Adjoa Aiyetoro is a lawyer, an activist and the former executive director of the National Conference of Black Lawyers (1993-1997). She was the chief legal consultant to the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA) and co-c ...
— chief legal consultant *
Robin Rue Simmons Robin Rue Simmons (born March 12, 1976) is an American former politician and national leader for local reparations for African Americans. Rue Simmons was born and raised in the largely segregated 5th Ward of Evanston, Illinois. From 2017 to 202 ...
— lifetime member *
Conrad Worrill Conrad Worrill (August 15, 1941 – June 3, 2020) was an African-American writer, educator, activist, and talk show host for the WVON call-in program ''On Target''. Organizations he was involved with included the Million Man March, and the National ...
— economic development commissioner


See also

* H.R. 40 — Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act
H.R. 40 Wikiquotes
* American Descendants of Slavery * Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity * National African American Reparations Commission *
Civil Liberties Act of 1988 The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (, title I, August 10, 1988, , et seq.) is a United States federal law that granted reparations to Japanese Americans who had been wrongly interned by the United States government during World War II. The act was ...
— reparations to Japanese Americans interned by the United States government during World War II) *
Reparations Agreement between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany The Reparations Agreement between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany (German: ''Luxemburger Abkommen'' "Luxembourg Agreement" or ''Wiedergutmachungsabkommen'' "''Wiedergutmachung'' Agreement", Hebrew: ''הסכם השילומים'' ''Heske ...
(1952)


Further reading

* * *


References


Notes


Sources

* * * *


External links

*
N'COBRA legacy site
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Coalition for Reparations in America African-American organizations American reparationists Organizations established in 1987 Reparations for slavery