The mission of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA) is to win full Reparations for Black African Descendants residing in the United States and its territories for the genocidal war against Africans that created the TransAtlantic Slave “Trade,” Chattel Slavery, Jim Crow and Chattel Slavery’s continuing vestiges (the Maafa). To that end, N’COBRA shall organize and mobilize all strata of these Black communities into an effective mass- based reparations movement. N’COBRA shall also serve as a coordinating body for the reparations effort in the United States. Further, through its leadership role in the reparations movement within the United States and its territories, N’COBRA recognizes reparations is a just demand for all African peoples and shall join with others in building the international reparations movement.

A necessary requirement of all forms of reparations is an acknowledgment by the government or corporation that it committed acts that violated the human rights of those making the claim for reparations. Some groups may want an explicit apology; however, neither the acknowledgement nor apology is sufficient - there must be material forms of reparations that accompany the acknowledgment or apology.

Reparations are a way of making peace with the past. Reparations will allow United States' residents to make peace with a significant part of this country's shameful past and end the intergenerational trauma of its current effects. It will allow the story of the Maafa (The Trans Atlantic Slave "Trade" and chattel slavery), Jim Crow and ongoing racial discrimination and violence against Black people of African descent to be accurately recorded and inclusive of the African descendants’ perspective. It will demonstrate the link between chattel slavery and the current social, health, economic and political status of African descendants and therefore destroy the myth of White Supremacy. In setting the record straight and devising and implementing reparations packages to aid in healing African descendants, the nation as a whole will become stronger. Truth and atonement are essential ingredients for a just and peaceful society. Although some may assert that reparations will increase racial divisiveness, this does not have to be the result. Indeed, it should decrease racial divisiveness because it is an acknowledgment that allows us to go forward rather than remain stuck in the pain of the present that is caused by the unresolved pain of the past.

Since its inception N'COBRA has embraced public education, mobilization, organization, and more recently, transformation, to obtain reparations. It has organized town hall meetings and rallies in cities throughout the United States, bringing long-time reparations advocates, the newly converted, and skeptics together to talk about the necessity of reparations to obtain racial justice.  Its members and leaders have participated in conferences, radio and television programs and people's tribunals discussing conditions that require reparations and strategies for moving forward. N'COBRA utilizes a periodic membership newsletter “Reparations Now!,” a quarterly news magazine “Black Reparations Times” and a website, www.NCOBRA.org, to inform the public about the Reparations movement.

 N'COBRA supports legislative initiatives.  In 1988, Detroit Advisory Board member, Reparations Ray Jenkins, encouraged Congressman John Conyers to introduce a Reparations Bill.  In Washington, the DC Chapter held public meetings to discuss the drafts and provided comments on the drafts to Congressman Conyers. N’COBRA remains committed to the passage of H.R. 40 although Congress has not yet favorably acted upon it. N'COBRA puts this in context: the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Bill took 12 years to pass in Congress, a bill much less contentious than H.R.40. N'COBRA has organized a number of legislative lobby days on Capitol Hill during which people lobbied Members of Congress to support H.R. 40. Buttressed by this success, N'COBRA's Legislative Commission initiated, A Year of Black Presence lobbying initiative, inspired by "The Debt" by Randall Robinson. This project enhances N'COBRA's presence on Capitol Hill, by increasing the numbers of reparations supporters lobbying for the passage of H.R. 40.  

N'COBRA also supports State and municipal legislative initiatives. Its members have participated in the successful efforts in Michigan, Louisiana, District of Columbia, California, Illinois, Ohio and other places to obtain resolutions in support of reparations initiatives.   

N'COBRA, along with the Reparations Coordinating Committee and other organizations, is developing lawsuits that raise the issue of the legal right of African descendants to reparations based on the continuing vestiges of slavery. These lawsuits will focus on the many areas in which we as African people continue to suffer due to the legacy of slavery including health, wealth/poverty, education, self-determination and the imposition of criminal punishments. 

N'COBRA engages in direct action to obtain reparations. Its leadership organized a highway slowdown on the Washington Metropolitan Area Beltway in the early 90s, and demonstrations in front of federal buildings.  From these demonstrations it created Reparations Awareness Day on February 25. The Economic Development Commission initiated an annual demonstration on April 4, on which day people are asked to boycott school or work and engage in reparations education and mobilization activities. As a part of the Economic Development Commission’s work Black Friday was developed in August 2003.  People of African descent are encouraged to only patronize Black businesses on Fridays.  Black businesses are asked to support Reparations, principles of cooperative economics, and a code of professional responsibility by which they agree to service their customers with the utmost integrity and quality of service. N'COBRA also joins in direct actions organized by other groups.

 

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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


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