Nationwide — On November 28, 2017, N’COBRA, the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America will hold a press conference at Chicago’s City Hall, LaSalle and Randolph, at 11am, in demand of reparations.
Assembled with N’COBRA will be the Reparations At the University of Chicago Working Group, (RAUC) and representatives of dozens of Chicago-area community organizations.
Earlier this year RAUC, composed of four graduate students in the history department at the University of Chicago, published a paper detailing the University of Chicago’s founding from profits from enslavements.2
RAUC began their report with, “Like so many other venerable American institutions, the University of Chicago is built on slavery.” And went on to say, “Hundreds of enslaved people lived and died on that [Douglass] plantation to make the University of Chicago, and its $7 billion endowment, possible. Reparations are long overdue.”
They called for 3 major demands, which N’COBRA supports and adopts:
* acknowledge the hundreds of [enslaved Africans] on the Douglas plantation whose work, suffering, and deaths gave life to the University of Chicago.
* immediately change the official founding of the University of Chicago to April 2, 1856—the day it agreed to accept as its founding endowment [for] the land
* establish a truth and reconciliation committee that would produce a comprehensive reparations program
In addressing the Open Letter to Mayor Emanuel, N’COBRA seeks that the City of Chicago enforce The Slavery Era Business / Corporate Insurance Disclosure Ordinance that mandates that companies doing business with the city disclose its’ financial ties, in detail, to the institution of enslavement. To not do so, requires that the city void its contracts with the injuring companies. N’COBRA seeks that the Mayor halt all contracts with the University of Chicago until they comply with the Chicago ordinance and address the demands of RAUC.
As the Obama Library is being built in partnership with the University of Chicago, and the fact that the Obamas both have ties to the University, N’COBRA calls on the former President and First Lady to stand on the side of reparatory justice.
(2) https://app.box.com/s/bd9w85wam0pzwt0wngapkf66vojn9bwy
PRESS CONTACT:
Kamm Howard
ncobrachicgo@gmail.com
773-520-0369