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Mission Statement

The mission of the Legislative Commission of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America is to work towards achieving a comprehensive award of reparations for African Americans based on slavery and post-slavery discrimination in the legislative arena through support of reparations initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels.

In support of this mission, the Legislative Commission will:

• Seek to achieve passage of HR 40, "The Commission to Study Reparations Proposals for African Americans Act," introduced each year since 1989 by Congressman John Conyers and be NCOBRA's official liaison with the office of Congressman John Conyers
• Work towards Congressional hearings on reparations
• Seek the introduction of a companion bill to HR 40 in the Senate
• Be an advocate for the introduction and passage of reparations legislation nationwide
• Maintain a repository of reparations legislation introduced and/or passed at the federal, state, and local levels
• Prepare and disseminate materials to assist NCOBRA chapters in their lobbying efforts
• Formulate objectives and a strategic legislative agenda for each congressional session

During the 107th Congress members of NCOBRA's Legislative Commission accomplished the following:

• Formulated draft resolutions for state and local legislatures to adopt, as well as resolutions for organizations and prominent individuals to endorse
• Provided comments to state and local legislators on their reparations proposals and testified in support of such legislation
• Formulated and distributed legislative packets for NCOBRA members and other interested parties to assist in their national lobbying efforts
• Adopted the "A Year of Black Presence" (AYBP) campaign as a strategic organizing tool to increase constituent pressure on Congress to support HR 40

The Legislative Commission's Objectives for the 1st Session of the 108th Congress are as follows:

• Implement the AYBP campaign, initiated by AYBP coordinator Milton McGriff of the NCOBRA Philadelphia Chapter
• Continue the compilation of state and local resolutions and organizational/individual endorsements of reparations
• Continue to support state and local legislators in adopting reparations/type legislation
• Targeting of specific Congressional Caucuses beyond the Congressional Black Caucus to support HR 40
• Liaison with other national and local organizations to coordinate legislative initiatives
  

DATE: November 17, 2002

TO: Organizations and Reparations Supporters

FROM: National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (NCOBRA)

SUBJ: Reparations Resolution Campaign

The NCOBRA Legislative strategy is fueled by the efforts of city and state initiatives to adopt resolutions acknowledging:

1) The Transatlantic Slave Trade was a crime against African descendants and humanity in keeping with language adopted during the 2001 World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in Durban, South Africa.
2) The necessity of investigating and documenting the impact of this horrible era in our nation's history, on African descendents
3) The lingering vestiges of the Holocaust of Enslavement that continue to impact Africans descendents in particular, and Americans in general.
4) The importance of supporting the passage of HR-40, introduced by Congressman John Conyers, which will establish a commission to study the affects of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and determine possible remedies.

NCOBRA encourages Reparations Supporters to lobby government officials at the local and state levels, as well as community based organizations, faith based institutions, etc. to adopt resolutions to support this initiative. The enclosed document provides an example of language that can be incorporated into a resolution.

Download (PDF)

Statement of Purpose:

This resolution supports the national request for congressional hearings and a federal commission to study and consider reparations for African Americans, and to educate Americans about the history of slavery and its current repercussions.

WHEREAS the dehumanization and atrocities of slavery in the United States were

mandated by formal laws that were codified and enshrined within the United States Constitution; and

WHEREAS the U.S. government has never acknowledged, apologized, or otherwise taken responsibility for its role in slavery

or segregation (de jure and de facto), and has never made reparation to African Americans for the generations of labor

expropriated from

them, deprivation of their freedom and rights, and terrorism against them resulting in widespread injury and death; and

WHEREAS, the 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa acknowledged that the

Transatlantic slave trade and slavery were crimes against humanity; and

WHEREAS, a bill pending before the United States House of Representatives, (H.R. 40), 1) acknowledges the fundamental

injustice and inhumanity of slavery; 2) establishes a commission to study slavery, its subsequent racial and economic

discrimination against freed slaves and the impact of those forces on living African Americans today; and 3) makes

recommendations to Congress on appropriate remedies; and

WHEREAS, H.R. 40 and the concept of reparations have been supported by state and local resolutions across the country,

including legislation passed in the states of Louisiana and California, and the city councils of Detroit, MI, Cleveland, OH;

Chicago, IL; Evanston, IL; Atlanta, GA; Washington, D.C., Baltimore,MDInglewood, CA; Dallas, TX; Philadelphia, PA;

Paterson, N.J., Burlington, VT; and

WHEREAS, numerous national, state, and local organizations as well as religious institutions, legal organizations, and labor

unions have officially endorsed the concept of reparations and HR 40;

WHEREAS, the United States government has acknowledged and taken responsibility for its role in the unjust internment of

Japanese-Americans during the Second World War and has undertaken to pay reparations to the internees and their

descendants and to apologize for the unjust abrogation of their rights; and

WHEREAS the United States has lent its support to other reparations claims even where such claims did not take place on

United States soil; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we recognize the date of February 25th of each year as Reparations Awareness

Day, having been celebrated as such by the growing reparations movement for the past decade.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we hereby express our support for HR 40, and call upon the state Congressional

delegation to endorse the bill and advocate for its passage in Congress; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we forward a copy of this resolution to Representative John Conyers of Michigan, the

author and primary sponsor of H.R. 40.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we engage in supportive activities to publicize the concept of reparations and the passage

of H.R. 40.

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• Mission and Work
• Legal Brief Filed Brief Amici Curiae
• Argument
• Cong. John Conyers Letter of Support for AYBP (Download PDF file)

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LEGAL STRATEGIES COMMISSION:

Mission and Work

N'COBRA's Legal Strategies Commission was formed in 1993 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It's mission is to develop legal strategies to advance the movement for reparations. Initially, the Legal Strategies Commission included legislative work as well as litigation. Under the Commission's leadership, numerous legislative bodies and civic and legal organizations passed resolutions in support of reparations for African Descendants in the United States and endorsing H.R. 40, the Congressional Reparations Study Bill introduced by John Conyers every Congress since 1989. In 2000, the legislative and litigation demands were so great that the Board of Directors created the Legislative Commission to focus solely on legislative initiatives.

In 1995, the Legal Strategies Commission began discussions with the National Conference of Black Lawyers and interested N'COBRA members about the development of reparations litigation. We were convinced that a litigation strategy was necessary and a memorandum was developed and shared with the Board of Directors in June 1997 that outlined the legal obstacles to such litigation and how they could be overcome. In September 1997 the Legal Strategies Commission created the N'COBRA Litigation Committee. This committee is composed of lawyers, social scientists and reparations activists. It is engaged in intensive research and analysis to develop and implement a reparations litigation strategy.

The Legal Strategies Commission's Litigation Committee is currently involved in litigation in a number of ways: (1) It has reviews and provides professional critiques on litigation proposed by individuals and other groups, serving as consultants to these individuals and groups on political as well as legal issues. (2) It was asked to join the Reparations Coordinating Committee in August 2000 and in April 2001, the Chair of the Legal Strategies Commission, Adjoa A. Aiyetoro, was asked to serve as co-chair of the Reparations Coordinating Committee (RCC) with Charles Ogletree. The RCC is developing reparations litigation in collaboration with N'COBRA. (3) It filed an amicus brief in the Michigan Affirmative Action and Diversity cases in the United States Supreme Court in February 2003. (4) It is engaged in intensive work to develop and file litigation seeking reparations for the continuing vestiges of slavery.

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Brief Amici Curiae

Nos. 02-241 & 02-516
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In the Supreme Court of the United States
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On Writ of Certiorari to the United States
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
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BRIEF AMICI CURIAE OF
THE NATIONAL COALITION OF BLACKS
FOR REPARATIONS IN AMERICA (N'COBRA) AND
THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF
BLACK LAWYERS (NCBL)
IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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INTERESTS OF AMICI CURIAE
IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENT

Amicus National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA) was founded in 1987 to work with individuals and other organizations to obtain reparations for the crimes against humanity known as chattel slavery and de jure and de facto racial discrimination.

Amicus National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) was founded in 1968, with the mission of serving as the legal arm of the movement for Black liberation, protecting human rights, achieving self-determination of Africa and African communities and working in coalition to assist in ending oppression of all peoples.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

Affirmative action in education is supported by Respondents on two grounds: remedial action for past and present discrimination and promotion of campus diversity. This brief focuses exclusively on the first proposition, and recasts it in the language of reparations: affirmative action in education is justified as reparations for the crimes of slavery and de jure racial discrimination. Such reparations are not only permissible under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, but may well be required in order to fulfill its mission.
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This brief is submitted with the consent of the parties, as lodged with the Clerk per the Docket Sheets. Pursuant to Rule 37.6, counsel represent that this brief was not authored in whole or in part by counsel for any party. All expenses of amici have been borne by their own resources, without support from any party. Counsel have served pro bono publico.

The Fourteenth Amendment is not a purely 'color blind' enactment, but is a necessary legal tool for equality in the aftermath of chattel slavery. Use of the Fourteenth Amendment to strike down reparations for African Americans is strikingly inapposite to its purpose, language and intent.

Strict scrutiny is not required in the cases before the Court today. Suspect racial classification is not required under a remedial affirmative action analysis, since the recipients are identified on the basis of a common injury rather than race. If the injured persons are in fact identified racially, that identification was made by the oppressors rather than the oppressed. Consequently, a less stringent level of review is appropriate here.

The remedial use of affirmative action is entirely consistent with Equal Protection, as demonstrated in the obligations of the United States under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The Michigan affirmative action educational programs before the Court today should be upheld as reparations to African Americans. If remand is necessary, lower courts should be instructed to uphold the programs to the extent they satisfy this compelling state interest.

Download Complete Brief Here
Introduction (PDF)
Argument (PDF)

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Our ancestors have shown us that people in power will never concede anything without a demand! The strength of our grass roots Reparations movement will determine whether our demands are met. Support for the Reparations movement will depend upon how well informed we are about the issue. As more and more information reaches the people there is growing acceptance of the worthiness of the African descendants' quest for Reparations, for this generation, for our children and for generations yet unborn. That is why NCOBRA's membership is growing and why your membership in N'COBRA is so important!

Membership in N'COBRA is based on an annual $10 nominal fee. Your membership is effective for a period of one year from the date upon which you started or renewed your membership. We trust that you will continue your commitment to N'COBRA and the Reparations movement by paying your annual dues of $10.00 and encouraging others to do the same.

N'COBRA continues to fight on a number of fronts. NCOBRA was well represented at the World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban South Africa in 2001, and played a critical role in persuading the body to declare that Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade are and always should have been crimes against humanity. Consequently, NCOBRA's participation in the international struggle for reparations was tremendously strengthened.

On January 30, 2003, N'COBRA launched the "A Year of Black Presence (AYBP)" lobbying initiative to urge Congress to pass H.R. 40 (also know as the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act). H.R. 40, sponsored by Representative John Conyers Jr. every year since 1989, has yet to move out of committee onto the House floor. AYBP aims to mobilize African-Americans to "walk the halls of Congress" one day a month for an entire year, creating the mass support needed to get H.R. 40 passed. Additionally, the Legislative Commission is encouraging organizations, and city and state municipalities to adopt resolutions in support of the passage of H.R. 40.

Support the Reparations movement and N'COBRA's efforts by recruiting 10 new members. Consider giving a membership to loved ones instead of holiday gifts or a birthday presents. We encourage you to duplicate the NCOBRA membership application and encourage people to mail in their membership fee as soon as possible. Take every opportunity to share with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers, your reasons for joining the movement. Help them to understand that the work that must be done to realize our quest for Reparations is worthy of our time and energy. Reparations are achievable in our lifetime if we all do our part!

Download Membership Application (PDF)

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Mission

The Commission will serve as the official organizational link for the dissemination and exchange of information on N'COBRA policies; Reparations issues, strategies and actions pertinent to U.S. and diasporan African descendants' struggle for Reparations. The Commission will assist with educating N'COBRA members and the general public about African Descendants just demand for Reparations, and developing the mass base support for Reparations.

Goals & Objectives

A. To develop a functioning Leadership Team of information activists representing N'COBRA and the Reparations Movement.
B. To create regular publications and communications supporting and promoting reparations for African descendants to N'COBRA members, other advocates in the Reparations movement, and the general public.
C. To raise adequate financial and other resources to support the work of the Commission and other N'COBRA efforts
D. To aid N'COBRA leaders in expanding the organization's membership and network
E. To build a safe, respectful and healing environment for the discussion of Reparations issues
F. To establish consistent relationships with targeted local, national, and international media outlets and workers in the media industry (especially in the African community)

Publishing Team

The Publishing Team will provide quality print material to support and expand N'COBRA and the Reparations Movement. Our goal is to be a clearing-house for N'COBRA information, distribution of print literature such as brochures, posters, books, stationary and etc. Our team members are writers, printers, journalist, graphic artists and others. N'COBRA and members of the coalition have produced many, books, information sheets, brochures and the like over the years; their views and approach to Reparations are as varied as the coalition membership.

Internet/IT Team

The primary goals of the Internet/IT Team are to broaden the distribution of information about the Reparations movement throughout the world via cyber space and provide high tech support for N'COBRA. N'COBRA Information and Media Commission realizes the World Wide Web is the fastest method, with the broadest potential for getting information around the world. Therefore the team will maximize use of it. To achieve our goals, the focus will be on three areas: 1. Websites, 2. Listserv and 3. WebPages

Public Relations Team

In consultation with the National Board of N'COBRA the Public Relations Team provides professional contact and information to other organizations and the general public that promotes good relations and understanding of N'COBRA and the Reparations Movement. The Public Relations Team will provide when needed, press releases, media packets, a bureau of speakers, and assistance to N'COBRA chapters and leaders regarding "public relations" issues.

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© September 2002

National Coalition Of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA)
P.O. Box 90604 - Washington, DC 20090
Phone 202-291-8400 Fax 202-291-4600 Email NationalNCOBRA@aol.com
(N'COBRA Listserve group) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Reparations_For_Africans

website designed by N'COBRA Information & Media Commission and Web Space America, LLC