In the African tradition, we open this section on Reparations
with remembrance of the ancestors who perished in the Ma’afa
[the Holocaust of Enslavement] and a short excerpt
from one of our great griots:
Who’ll Pay Reparations on My Soul ?
Who’ll pay reparations?
Because I don’t dig segregation
But I can’t get integration
I gotta take it to the United Nations
Someone to help me get away from this nation
Tell me: Who’ll pay reparations on my soul?
– Gil Scott-Heron
Small Talk at 125th and Lenox
(Flying Dutchman label, 1970)
