FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 4, 2026
On America’s 250th Anniversary, U.S. Civil Society Declares: “The U.S. Government’s UN Vote Does Not Speak for Us.”
More Than 150 Organizations and Leaders Submit Joint Letter to Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama Supporting Historic U.N. Declaration Recognizing the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding as a country, more than 150 organizations and individual leaders from across U.S. civil society today declared that America’s unfinished history must also be acknowledged. In a collective act of international solidarity, they submitted a joint letter to His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama of the Republic of Ghana—serving as the African Union’s Champion on Reparations—affirming their unequivocal support for the landmark United Nations General Assembly Resolution (A/RES/80/250) recognizing the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.
The letter, coordinated by the Reparation Education Project (REP), was transmitted through Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and addressed to President Mahama, the African Union, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
Issued on July 4—the symbolic anniversary of American independence—the letter offers a different declaration: that while the United States celebrates 250 years since its founding, justice requires an honest reckoning with the enduring legacy of racialized chattel enslavement and the continuing obligation to repair its harms.
The letter further affirms that the vote cast by the United States government against the historic March 25, 2026 United Nations resolution does not represent the views of the broad and growing reparations movement or countless advocates for justice throughout the United States.
The historic resolution, adopted by an overwhelming vote of 123 nations, was championed by President Mahama in his role as the African Union’s Champion on Reparations and marks one of the most consequential international affirmations of historical truth since the 2001 World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/80/250
“Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime against Humanity.”
“Today, as the United States commemorates 250 years since its founding, we also acknowledge an unfinished obligation that remains woven into this country’s history,” said Nkechi Taifa, Esq., Executive Director of the Reparation Education Project. “While the U.S. government voted no, civil society voted yes.”
Taifa continued:
“The United States government does not speak for all of us. This collective letter tells the international community that organizations across this country stand with the overwhelming majority of the world’s nations—and with the descendants of those who endured one of history’s most devastating systems of human exploitation—in recognizing the truth, supporting reparative justice, and advancing a future grounded in accountability.”
The joint letter commends President Mahama for his visionary leadership and recognizes the moral clarity demonstrated by the nations of Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the broader Global South in advancing the historic declaration.
The letter also rejects the rationale offered by the United States government in opposing the resolution, noting that recognizing racialized chattel enslavement as the gravest crime against humanity does not diminish other atrocities. Rather, as articulated by the Pan African Lawyers Union, it accurately describes a system unparalleled in its scale, duration, structure, and continuing global consequences.
Signatories represent an extraordinary cross-section of the expanding reparations ecosystem in the United States. Together they include grassroots organizers, descendant communities, legal advocates, scholars, faith leaders, media organizations, youth organizers, policy advocates, artists, and cultural institutions working to advance reparative justice at every level of society.
Among them are national coalitions such as the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA) and the Why We Can’t Wait Reparations Network; legal organizations including the National Conference of Black Lawyers and the Ogletree Reparative Bar Association; descendant organizations including Descendants of the St. Louis University Enslaved, Justice for Greenwood, and the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition; national organizations including the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL), the National Black United Front, December 12th Movement International Secretariat, and the National Black Political Caucus; grassroots and local organizations including the California Black Power Network, KC Reparations Coalition, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, and Equal Justice Society; youth organizations including Get Free; media and narrative organizations such as Media 2070: The Campaign for Media Reparations, and the National Black Cultural Information Trust; faith-based organizations including the Reparations Interfaith Coalition and Unitarian Univeralists; and reparations leaders and distinguished scholars including N’Nanba Robin Rue Simmons, Baba Omowale Satterwhite, Attorney Maynard Henry, Professor Emeritus V. P. Franklin, Dr. Akil Khalfani, Dr. Vickie Casanova-Willis and Professor Akinyele Umoja, amongst many others.
These signatories join the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, the National Urban League, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Attorney Ben Crump, all of whom publicly supported the declaration before the historic United Nations vote.
The joint letter further notes that five states and nearly eighty municipalities have established or are actively considering reparations commissions or task forces, reflecting a rapidly expanding movement that is reshaping public policy, historical understanding, and international discourse.
“This letter is about far more than registering disagreement with a single vote,” Taifa said. “It is about ensuring that the international community knows there is another America—one committed to truth, justice, repair, and solidarity with the Global South.”
She concluded:
“The seeds planted by generations of freedom fighters are bearing fruit. On this 250th anniversary of the United States, we honor not only the promise of liberty, but our collective responsibility to make that promise whole. Independence without repair is an unfinished promise. Reparations is no longer a distant aspiration. It is a moral imperative, an emerging global reality—and it is achievable in our lifetime.”
Although transmitted on July 4, the rolling sign-on process will remain open, allowing additional organizations and individuals to add their names in the weeks ahead as this growing national and international movement continues to expand.
Media Contact
Nkechi Taifa, Esq.
Executive Director
Reparation Education Project
REP@ReparationEducationProject.org
www.ReparationEducationProject.org
(202) 641-6605
About the Reparation Education Project
The Reparation Education Project (REP) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening, supporting, and amplifying the movement for reparations in the United States through education, advocacy, collaboration, and strategic organizing.