Emancipation Day March: Hundreds take to streets of Brixton calling for slavery reparations

Chloe Chaplain1 August 2016

Roads were closed off today as hundreds marched from Brixton to Parliament Square calling for reparations to be made for slavery.

The Afrikan Emancipation Day Reparations March is part of a campaign calling for amends to be made for enslavement endured by generations of African people.

Organisers carried a petition to central London demanding the government acknowledges the historic and ongoing impact of colonisation and slavery.

The petition states: “The blood, sweat and tears of our Ancestors financed the economic expansion of the United Kingdom.

Protest march: The demonstration will go from Brixton to Wesminister 
‏@JosephTumaini

“The immoral and illegal acts inflicted on Afrikans against their will cannot all be undone.

“However, the perpetrators, their descendants and all other beneficiaries, ought to be compelled to address the harm that has resulted from them.

“Today the offspring of the stolen Afrikans encounter direct and indirect racial discrimination daily. This results in impoverishment, lack of education, unemployment, imprisonment and ill health.

Petition: The march is in support of the Stop the Maangamizi petition 
‏@JosephTumaini

“Now is the time for the victims of these inhumane atrocities to demand, effect and secure holistic, adequate, comprehensive and intersectional reparations for the wrongs that continue to be inflicted on Afrika, Afrikans on the Continent and in the Diaspora.”

Deputy leader of The Green Party Shahrar Ali joined in with the marchers.

He tweeted: "Really proud to join Reparations march. Vital opportunity to reflect on struggle to overcome enslavement and fight against prejudice."

The protest is due to return to Windrush Square this evening after delivering the petition to Westminster.

Parts of the A23 are being closed off to make way for the march and Transport for London are advising people to check bus and train routes for disruptions.

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