00:00International black rights activist, political analyst, and a clinical specialist in youth affairs, Dr. Umar Johnson, says expectations of meaningful
00:10change for the issues facing the black rights movement following the Democrats' mid-term gains are misplaced.
00:18He describes the political rhetoric as smoke and mirrors.
00:22I think it is also an agenda to make American Africans in particular think that we actually have some say
00:27-so on the direction of the government.
00:30I believe that this was a smoke and mirrors plan to basically give us tokenism, optics, if you would, the
00:37appearance of progress.
00:39Same thing we went through 16 years ago with President Barack Obama, and I think they just simply want to
00:44hold the black vote until 2028,
00:47and after they get the black vote for the president of the United States, the next president in 2028, by
00:52that time they won't need us too much anymore.
00:54Dr. Johnson also weighs in on King Charles' recent remarks on the transatlantic slave trade,
01:00in which the monarch expressed profound sorrow and outlined measures to address the wrongs of the past.
01:07The activist says descendants of enslaved Africans need more than just expressions of regret, calling instead for reparations and meaningful
01:17institutional reform.
01:18So I think that the reason why the king, King Charles, stopped short is because he doesn't want to commit
01:25British resources to restitution,
01:27because we as African people don't just want an apology. That's emotional. I don't really care about an apology.
01:32I want restitution. You have to fix what you broke, you have to repair what you created,
01:37and you have to make sure we get a share of what we unlawfully were uncompensated for on those plantations
01:43throughout enslavement.
01:44He says the global reparations movement must unite.
01:49He tells the Morning Edition that justice must not be reduced to financial compensation alone.
01:56We need to be very clear that financial compensation should not be the primary form of restitution,
02:01because money runs out, but the benefit of slavery to the British, to the Americans, to the French, to the
02:07Dutch,
02:07it will never expire. So whatever we get in the form of restitution should likewise never expire.
02:13In my opinion, there's too much emphasis on financial compensation as opposed to resources, institutions, and systematic overhaul.
02:21Dr. Johnson, who is in Trinidad and Tobago for Black History Month,
02:25and is scheduled to address the Kwame Turi Centre this weekend,
02:29was joined on set by sociologist and director of the Black Agenda Project, Dr. David Mohamed.
02:36Nicole M. Romani, TV6 News.
