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Honoring the Father of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD): Silis Muhammad and His Interventions On Behalf of Afrodescendant Self Determination

“Self Determination is our right, Separation with all our might, Reparations is our fight.”

“The prayers of African Americans for justice and reparations have been rejected by the U.S. Government and, seemingly, the United Nations. Because the struggle seems hopeless, the African American population has reached a state of extreme anxiety. We observe that some leaders are considering changing their tactics because of the failure of peaceful and legal means of solving the problem. We believe that African Americans may decide to use extreme measures and thereby gain the attention of the world community. We fear that the U.S. Government may respond with imprisonment of African American leaders.”

— The Honorable Silis Muhammad, written statement to the United Nations, 1997

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that recognition of the inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Here, at the beginning of the histories of the so-called African-Americans, the enslaved Africans brought to America were defined in the same terms as the ‘cattle’ belonging to Anglo-American rulers. Thus, our rights were those of their ‘cattle’: ours were not human rights. Yet we were then-and are, still, members of the human family. Our inalienable rights were distorted so completely, that we are damages goods, still. We are lost from our original inherent culture, religion and language. America cannot lawfully force us to accept the choices which she deems to be our inalienable rights; nor can she force us and our progeny to abandon the hope for the reclamation of our own. One hundred thirty four years of forced assimilation has not abrogated the desire to know, and to be ourselves. Today, we have no permanent national recognition, as a result of slavery. We have been identified as slaves, Niggers, Negroes, Coloreds, Black-Americans and today we are so-called African-Americans. Thus, we are to this day a revolving nation, suspended withing a nation: rent from our roots, as a result of slavery and its lingering effects. We are detached, still, from our inalienable rights. To this extent, the very foundation upon which freedom, justice and peace among nations is established is for us non-existing; our inalienable rights are extinct! Recognition of inalienable rights, for us, is a faith hoped for. And this poses a threat to peace for the United States of America, for the Americas and potentially for Europe. Why? It is a threat because of the despair of the many; which will endlessly be ignited to loathing and, or rioting. It will be ignited, lawlessly, by the perpetual humanitarian desires of the few: if the fever, or this abnormal situation, is not reversed by the few humanitarians who aim lawfully and by sanctions to efficaciously stamp out violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. . . . African-Americans have looked toward and exhausted all remedies made available by the majority government, although, it is viewed as the oppressor. . . . We wish to address the question of whether we choose to reclaim or recapture our original culture, language, religion and identity, or whether we choose to assimilate into the majority culture of America. Upon this matter we have never enjoyed the freedom of choice. We pray to the Commission on Human Rights for the right to make our choice within the protection of a United Nations Forum.”

- The Honorable Silis Muhammad written statement to the 55th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights

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Mr. Muhammad’s abbreviated list of United Nations (UN) interventions delivered in advancement of Afrodescendant human rights and reparations for plantation slavery is listed below:

  • 1994 Petition for Reparations to the UN under 1503 Procedure - Mr. Muhammad delivered a 1503 communication to the UN WOrking Group on Communications on behalf of African Americans. Although it was received, it was not heard nor was it responded to by the UN.

  • 1997 Written Statement to the UN - Mr. Muhammad recommended a forum so that African-American human rights grievances, that formed the basis of a petition submitted, can be expressed systematically, as well as officially recorded, evaluated and remedied. [Siphwe Note: Here then is the vision that first called for the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD)].

  • 1998 Written and Oral Statments - Mr. Muhammad urged the Commission on Human Rights to assist African Americans in their efforts to recover from official U.S. policies of enslavement, apartheid, and forced assimilation. Mr. Muhammad prayed that the human rights of African Americans be recaptured politically and amicably, rights to self-determination rectified, and the damages sustained be awarded in great measure in order to accomplish the cathartic cleansing mentally, emotionally, and physically of 400 years of long-suffering. Mr. Muhammad prayed that the U.S. Government not be given tacit approval of the UN to subvert the opening of a forum wherein African-AMerican grievances can be expressed systematically and officially recorded, evaluated and remedied.

  • 1999 Written and Oral Statements - Mr. Muhammad requested recognition of the African American choice of human rights and inalienable rights. He requested the crime of plantation slavery, and its lingering effects, be rectified - which was, and is still, a crime against African Americans and against humanity. Mr. Muhammad asked the U.N. to establish a forum for the purpose of restoring African American human rights, their political being, and their status as a people. Mr. Muhammad urged recommendation that the Sub-Commission pass a resolution recognizing slavery and the slave trade as a crime against humanity. He urged the writing of a working paper as a way to begin analyzing African American’s situation. Mr. Muhammad urged African American inclusion in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, or a new declaration be written for African Americans. Mr. Muhammad asked the International Labor Organization to look into America’s privately owned prisons.

  • 2000 Written and Oral Statements - Mr. Muhammad asked that the U.S. pay reparations to the so-called African Americans, since the U.S. cannot restore the “mother tongue” of African Americans if ever it wanted to. Mr. Muhammad recommended the U.S. be held liable, at the least, for the last 51 years, plus the additional years which are needed to resolve this issue. He asked that the UN place a reparation sanction upon America if the identity and language of minorities and Peoples are to be preserved. Mr. Muhammad asked that a precise dollar amount be given at a future date, if warranted, and that he stated that he would ask for the release of a number of African-American human rights victims who have been unjustly incarcerated in federal and state penitentiaries. Finally, Mr. Muhammad asked the UN to impose a sanction on the U.S. in the form of exemption from all taxation upon our people for as longa s this issue is in the hands of the UN.

  • World Conference Against Racism Written and Oral Statements - Mr. Muhammad recommended that the World Conference Against Racism declare a decade to consider the issues of slave descendants, including whether “LOST FOND Peoples” is the term that best identifies slave descendants.

  • Regional Seminars for Afrodescendants Oral Statements - Mr. Muhammad put forth the name Lost Found Peoples as a name in order to gain human rights protection for slave descendants, but the name Afrodescendants was agreed upon by unanimous consent.

  • 2001 Written and Oral Statements - Mr. Muhammad urged UN intervention to protect and assist African-American leaders within a forum as they seek to determine the damage they have sustained and the means of reparation needed in order to bring them back to life as a People. Mr. Muhammad prayed for the Commission on Human Rights to hear the African American demand for the right to choose to reconstitute, and reconstruct lost ties, since no international instruments, arbitrations, mechanisms or laws requiring the recognition of minorities that can restrain ethnic conflict during 2001. Attorney Harriet AbuBakr, Mr. Muhammad’s wife, asked the Working Group on Minorities to cause minority protection to develop in accord with the African American needs for resurrection.

  • 2002 Written and Oral Statements - On behalf of African Americans, Mr. Muhammad asked the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights to acknowledge the decision that African Americans be recognized as Afrodescendant Minorities. Mr. Muhammad also recommended that the Commission on Human Rights pass a resolution requesting that the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights place African Americans on its agenda, alongside Indigenous Peoples and Minorities. Mr. Muhammad also put forth a prayer for official recognition of a self-chosen collective identity and reparations for African Americans.

  • 2003 Written and Oral Statments - Mr. Muhammd requested official recognition of new minorities, urged the establishment of an International Year for Minorities, requested support for the efforts of the Working Group on Minorities, and recommended that the Working Group on Minorities organize a second Regional Seminar for Afrodescendant Minorities. Attorney AbuBakr asked the Working Group on Minorities to validate Afrodescendants self-chosen identity in its documents, and use any other means available to place the fact of the existence of Afrodescendants before the UN and the world.

  • 2004 Written and Oral Statements - Mr. Muhammad called upon the UN to grant Afrodescendants protected collective human rights. Mr. Muhammad also asked the Sub-Commission to make a commitment to minorities that their interventions will be heard. Mr. Muhammad requested the recognition, protection and assistance of the Commission on Human Rights, and the authorities of the UN.

  • 2005 Written and Oral Statements - Mr. Muhammad recommended santions against all governments that have deprived Afrodescendants, for every day Afrodescendants have been so denied human rights. He also requested assistance to Afrodescendants in efforts to have a self-chosen identity recognized and protected by the entire UN and by the governments under which Afrodescendants live.

  • 2006 Written and Oral Statements - Mr. Muhammad requested formal UN recognition of slave descendant’s self-chosen name, Afrodescendants, and requested restoration of slave descendants to the human families of the earth.

  • 2008 Oral Statment - Mr. Muhammad requested that the UN Working Group on Minorities assist Afrodescendants to establish education for Afrodescendants in their original (mother) tongue.

  • 2014 Open Letter to U.S. President Barack Obama - Mr. Muhammad sent a letter to U.S. President Obama, Congress, General Dempsey, and the Pope of Rome requesting reparations for Afrodescendants.

MY CONNECTION TO SILiS MUHAMMAD

Though I have yet to meet him, I feel a strong connection to the Honorable Silis Muhammad. And that’s because in 1997, I was tasked with studying and submitting a petition to the UN under its 1503 procedure by a former student of Malcolm X, Dr. Y.N. Kly. Although petitioning the United Nations was nothing new - W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey had petitioned the League of Nations, and William Patterson, Paul Robeson and Queen Mother Audley Moore had already petitioned the United Nations, the 1503 procedure was new. In my studies, I came across Silis Muhammad’s 1994 1503 Petition. As far as I know, my 1997 Petition of the Nkrumah-Washington Community Learning Center On Behalf of their Members, Associates and Afro-American Population Whose International Protected Human Rights Have Been Grossly and Systematically Violated By the Anglo-American Government of the United States of America and Its Varied Institutions was the second such petition submitted under the United Nations 1503 Procedure. And hence my collegial connection to the Honorable Silis Muhammad.

But the connection goes a bit deeper. The Honorable Silis Muhammad is a man, a leader, ahead of his time, fighting for our liberation in the international arena with very little acknowledgement or support. Even today his work is under-appreciated in the various movements and I was guilty of overlooking Mr. Muhammad’s contributions to the reparations movement when I compiled this history of the modern reparations movement.

When a national/international forum entitled “Revitalizing the Reparations Movement” was convened at Chicago State University on Saturday, April 19, 2014, incredibly the Honorable Silis Muhammad was not there!

The exclusion of Mr. Muhammad’s work and legacy is unfair. I feel this same way about my own work, begun in earnest in 2003.

Like Mr. Muhammad, in the mid to late 1990’s, my focus was on the United Nations as an arena for the reparations struggle. However, Let us recall that in 1996 the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations granted consultative status to the Rastafari Movement who were represented by Ras Bongo Spear and Ras Boanerges. In 1998, at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Ras Bongo Spear and Ras Boanerges asked: “What is the responsibility of the nations to Africans in the diaspora with respect to the age-old quest for Repatriation?” Said the Rasses, “Our advice from that committee and from the UN Office of Human Rights . . .. was simple:

“The United Nations as an organization of states cannot at this time in any serious way entertain the issue of repatriation without the consent of the African states and the African Governments to which we want to go in Africa. So we were directed to seek the support of African governments with respect to the acquisition of land. And after that, the matter can be brought up again to the United Nations and the issue of [settlement] can take place.” 

As a young, devout Rastafari youth, I then switched my focus to repatriation and the Organization of African Unity (OAU). In 2003, I went to Ethiopia, and as a credentialed journalist for the Rastafari Speaks newspaper, attended the 1st Extra-Ordinary Summit of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa. It so happened that, like Malcolm X at the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1964, I was the only Afrodescendant at the African Union when the decision was made to invite and encourage the African Diaspora in the African Union through the Article 3q amendment that was adopted while I was there. As the de facto representative of the Afrodescendants at this pivoral moment in history, I felt a deep sence of responsibility and obligation. Ultimately, I becme the Director of the African Union 6th Region Education Campaign, working in this new arena of the African Union. At the time as well as now, much of my work went unreported and thus, un-recognized. It was my job to make the importance of the new AU 6th Region known and elevate the struggle to have Afrodescedants’ Right to Return to their ancestral homelands recognized.

So at the time that Silis Muhammad was championing the cause of Afrodescendants at the United Nations, I was championing the cause at the African Union.

It is no coincednce that at this next pivotal moment in our history, when Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traore and the Alliance of Sahel States is leading the fight against neocolonialism and imperialism in Africa, that the Afrodescendant Nation led by the Honorable Silis Muhammad and myself are playing key leadership roles in the Friends of President Ibrahim Traoré In the West Delegation. Some things are just a matter of destiny.

Oral Statement to the Forum on Minority Issues, First Session,
Agenda Item VI: The Relationship Between Desegregation Strategies,
Cultural Autonomy and Integration in the Quest for Social Cohesion, December 2008

Greetings Madam Chair, Madam Gay McDougall, Experts, Country Representatives, Scholars and Minorities:

One of the purposes of this Forum is the identification of challenges and problems facing minorities and States. We, Afrodescendants, want for ourselves and for our children an education, especially now at our inception as an internationally recognized human family. We want an education in our original (mother) tongue. UN scholars state that language, not just any language, but one's "mother tongue" is intimately bound with identity. Thus, the right to such an education is an identity right.

Article 1, Section 1.1 of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Minorities indicates States shall protect and promote the identity of minorities. The United States of America, mainly, as well as other States, have breached this United Nations obligation. Since the abolition of slavery until now, Afrodescendants have been denied self-identity: education in our mother tongue. It is the very dignity we are without. The former slave-holding States have a duty to protect not only the existence but the national, ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of Minorities.

Mr. M. Cherif Bassiouni stated, in his final report to the 56th session of the Commission on Human Rights, that economic compensation for victims of gross violations of human rights should be provided for any assessable damage resulting from violations of international human rights and humanitarian law: (b) lost opportunities, including education. Since we were forcibly deprived of our mother tongue due to slavery and its lingering effects, we want compensation from those States, especially the United States, responsible for denying us an education intimately bound with identity. Afrodescendants claim the right to compensation for violations of international law, articulated in the Declaration on the Rights of Minorities as well as Article 27 of the ICCPR, due to lost opportunities, including education.

In conclusion, we suggest that the regional forums for Afrodescendants, started under the auspices of the former Working Group on Minorities, be continued so that Afrodescendants can discuss practical, acceptable and adaptable solutions to the unique problems we face.

Thank you.

Mr. Silis Muhammad

OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA 2014

President Barack Obama/President of the United States,

U.S. Congress, General Martin E. Dempsey, Joint Chief of Staff and The Pope of Rome

Silis Muhammad

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

THE LOST-FOUND NATION OF ISLAM

TO: President Barack Obama, President of the United States

U.S. Congress

General Martin E. Dempsey, Joint Chief of Staff

Pope of Rome

FROM: Silis Muhammad

RE: THE BLUEPRINT: OUR PLAN FOR AMERICA AND ITS AFRODESCENDANTS

DATE: January 15, 2014

The peoples and Governments of the world are well aware of the duplicity of the United States Government as it calls for Human Rights and democracy while continuing, to this day, systematic discrimination against and disenfranchisement of its Afrodescendant population--the inheritors of the legacy of plantation slavery (the so-called African Americans). While we recognize that moral leadership is the tone that the United States Government wishes to convey to the world, it as failed to take the key moral action that would begin to repair the ongoing wrong that has existed since the very inception of this government. Does anyone recognize the significance of this key to peace?

I am Silis Muhammad, Chief Executive Officer of the Lost-found Nation of Islam. If we could summon the hatred our ancestors had for this Caucasian American Government and bring that condition to bear on the shoulders of this generation of Afrodescendants the resulting wrath would be like unto a blaze of fire, the size of which would engulf the United States. It would burn for 1,000 years! The evil done to the Black man by the American government far surpasses the evil done by any other Government, especially the Governments of France, Germany, Great Britain, and Canada.

We are determined to leave America, not less than 144,000 of us, Arfodescendants. We, the children of plantation slavery, were subsumed by the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments of the Constitution of the United States of America, which does not, in the least, express our will. We want no part of the prophesied imminent doom of America.

We want the United States, in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, to arrange for forgiveness of all debts owed by St. Kitts and all other members of CARICOM, who would welcome, with full citizenship, appropriate numbers of educated and industrious Afrodescendants from the United States. We are asking for sea-going and air-going ships or vessels and freeway, highway, bridge, and road building materials and equipment. We are asking for equipment to cultivate land. We need materials and machinery with which to make clothing, shoes, and furniture and we need materials and equipment to for putting in infrastructure. We want housing, apartments, and multi-story building materials and equipment. In addition, we ask for the cost of a one-way ticket to whatever islands that would accept us as full citizens. Whether the Government of America will or will not give this, we, not less than 144,000 of us, are determined to leave America and live amongst our own kind.

The American Government gives billions of dollars to Israel each year. It has committed to giving Haiti $20-million per year for the next four years, for food. In addition, she gives to Haiti and other countries her surplus old clothing, foods, and machinery. Will she give to her ex-plantation slave children our request of her? Abraham Lincoln stated, "keep them here as our underlings."

We, today, observe daily that we are treated and kept as underlings here in America. The images of how we are looked upon by this Caucasian American Government are yet on our minds and in our lives today.

The killing of Travon Martin in 2013 is a prime example, of which the world is well aware. Yet, perhaps the greatest example of the systematic immorality of the United States Government is her claim to the largest prison population in the world--prisons filled with Black men and women due to discriminatory policing, prosecution, and laws. There is no justice here. We are subjected to an ongoing slavery system--slavery by another name. The world can see that you are not our brothers and neither are we yours.

The ex-slave masters of the CARICOM countries have departed and left the Governments in the hands of their ex-slaves. What has this American Government given to her plantation slave children besides a subservient position as her underlings?

Psychiatrists and those in other related sciences say if a husband hits or beats his wife, his wife is to leave him immediately. Has the American government not done far worse to us, Afrodescendants? We have been whipped until blood gushed from our backs, boiled while yet alive until dead, and hung from trees: to say nothing of the cruelest of inhumane treatments. The loss of our mother tongue, culture, and religion renders us a spiritually dead nation. . These are losses of Human Rights as defined by Article 27 of the ICCPR of the United Nations.

We, the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, have been in the International community since 1989. Our first written statement to the U.N. was in 1993. Our first oral statement to the U.N. was in 1998. Our last statement and appearance in the U.N. was in 2006. We spoke to the Commission on Human Rights, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and the Working Group on Minorities and had significantly gained their attention. But the American Government along with the British Government , the Governments of all slave-holding countries and other countries whom Britain and America provide support, shut down the Commission on Human Rights, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and the Working Group on Minorities--every U.N. group whose attention we had gained. In its place, they created the Human Rights Council.

We spent nine years in the U.N. only to learn that we did not exist as a Nation of people, with God-given human rights. As Americans, we were classified along with Caucasian Americans in the United States. We had achieved a unified name and identity that Black people from 19 countries agreed upon, in 2002--Afrodescendants. God-given Human Rights are: the right to speak your own mother tongue in community with others who speak your mother tongue; the right to practice your own culture in community with others who practice your culture; and the right to practice your own religion in community with others who practice your religion Our Human Rights were lost during plantation slavery. This American government made us a debased people. This is why this letter is presented to the President of the United States and the United States Government. We are determined to achieve ethnogenesis.

The following is a statement of American history. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote "The Truth Behind 40 Acres and a Mule," on pbs.org's '100 Amazing facts About The Negro'.

January 16, 1865, Union General William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15, upon approval of President Lincoln: "The islands from Charleston, South Carolina, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the St. Johns River, Florida, are reserved and set apart for the settlement of the negros now made free by the acts of war and the proclamation of the President of the United States (Abraham Lincoln).

400,000 acres of land--a strip of coastline stretching from Charleston, South Carolina, to the St. Johns River in Florida, including Georgia's Sea Islands and the mainland thirty miles from the coast--would be redistributed to the newly freed slaves.

For the first time in the history of this nation, the representatives of the Government had gone to these poor debased people to ask them what they wanted for themselves.

Baptist minister Ulysses L. Houston, one of the group that had met with Sherman led 1,000 Blacks to Skidaway Island, Georgia where they established a self-governing community with Houston as the "Black governor." And by June, 40,000 freedmen had settled on 400,000 acres of "Sherman Land." By the way, Sherman later ordered that the army could lend the new settlers mules; hence the phrase "40 acres and a mule."

What happened to this astonishingly visionary program, which would have fundamentally altered the course of American race relations?

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. goes on to say:

Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's successor and a sympathizer with the South, overturned the Order in the fall of 1865, and, as Barton Myers sadly concluded, 'returned the land along the South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida coasts to the planters who had originally owned it--to the very people who had declared war on the United States of America.'

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, along with 450,000 followers, from 1960 until the day of his death in 1975, repeatedly asked this Government to establish a state or territory of our own. The American Government turned a deaf ear. Is there not a moral-minded Caucasian in America's Government today? In 1865, we have in evidence at least two moral-minded statesmen: the United States President, Abe Lincoln, and General Sherman. They, at least, possessed enough moral insight to inquire of the new allegedly free Blacks what it is they wanted: "To live scattered amongst Whites or to live separate?" "Land" was the Black soon-to-be governors answer. Moreover, the Black soon-to-be governor stated, "there is a prejudice against us in the South. We would rather live in a separate territory." To date, the majority of Black people everywhere in the United States still experience this prejudice.

Is the Government of the United States incapable of the moral fortitude that it would take to grant to not less than 144,000 souls our humble request? Is there not one white man in the Government today, who has the wisdom, moral fortitude, and leadership ability of General Sherman and Abraham Lincoln? Ease the souls of my people, as well as make clean the souls of white people, by correcting your nation's wrongs. You claim that your nation has has changed, but our lawyers, doctors, teachers, and people feel your nation's prejudices even today.

To quote my daughter, Amira Arshad Muhammad, who is an attorney: "We are the peace that the world has been waiting for." You know what is right to do; just do it. Nature equips you from birth with the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. You know more about our history than the majority of us do, for it was your government that placed us in plantation slavery, debased us, and made us your underlings. Men and governments advance in age and in wisdom. Has your government advanced in wisdom, or does it lag behind?

______________________________________

Silis Muhammad

Servant of Allah

Friends of President Ibrahim Traoré in the West Delegation Meets with the President of the Commission for the Alliance of Sahel States

Delegation leader Mmoja Ajabu and Mr. Bassaloma Bazie, President of the Commission of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)

Ouagadougou, June 27 - After meeting with H.E. Karamokio Traoré, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Burkina Faso and appearing on National TV yesterday, The Friends of President Ibrahim Traoré in the West Delegation met with Mr. Bassaloma Bazie, President of the Commission of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), to discuss the solidarity between Afrodescendants and the people of the Sahel region.

The delegation emphasized the support from Afrodescendant people for the AES, which recognizes it as the leading force towards a United African States. For his part, President Bazie acknowledged that the Afrodescendant people and the support of the Pan African movement globally, in response to former US Africom Commander Michael Langley’s comments targeting President Ibrahom Traoré provided a “shield” which effectively protected President Traoré from assasination. President Bazie expressed deep appreciation for this and instructed Afrodescendants to consider themselves “citizens” of Burkina Faso and that the most important passport is the one that exists in the “heart”.

The delegation extended an invitation to the President of the Commission of AES to address the Afrodescendants during the July 4 live broadcast that will feature prominent Pan African leaders from around the world.

Special Envoy Siphiwe Baleka and President of the Commission of the AES Mr. Bassolma Bazie wearing the Pan African Alliance pin gifted by the delegation.

Friends of President Ibrahim Traoré in the West Delegation Begins Successful Mission in Burkina Faso

Friends of President Ibrahim Traoré in the West Delegation: (back row from left to right) Baba Mukasa Dada, Dr. Tauheedah Bronner, Mmoja Ajabu, Siphiwe Baleka, Rashan Muhammad. (front row) Maimuna Dada, Olimatta Taal, Harriet AbuBakr Photo credit: Olimatta Taal

Ougadougou, June 26 - The Friends of President Ibrahim Traoré in the West Delegation (FPITW) held a press conference in the capital city of Burkina Faso to explain its mission. Following the press conference, the delegation then met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Karamoko Traoré.

Special Envoy Siphiwe Baleka effectively linked the Afrodescendants’ self determination struggle in the Americas with the same struggle against neocolonialism in Africa and particularly in the Sahel region where Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali have formed the Alliance of Sahel States. The delegation has invited President Traoré to speak to the 250 million Afrodescendants in the African Diaspora during the July 4 Black Summer 2025 event.

Following the press conference, the delegation had a successful meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré who stated that the next step is the preparation of a broad framework for FPITW engagement in Burkina Faso. FPITW is now seeking to establish a headquarters to serve as an Embassy for Afrodescendants and Pan Afrikans coming to the country from the West. According to Attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz, “FRIENDS OF PRESIDENT TRAORE IN THE WEST was founded to solidify support in the West for the complete liberation of Africa through supporting Burkina Faso and its innovative pursuit for independence.”

Watch the full press conference:

LETTERS OF SUPPORT

BLACK SUMMER 2025: DECLARATION OF SELF-DETERMINATION FOR NEW AFRIKAN AND AFRODESCENDANT PEOPLES

From the New Afrikan Military Science Institute (MSI) 2-2:

“The Anglo-social order/polity, purportedly established on July 4, 1776, put forth in its founding Declaration the position that ‘all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.’ I (as a New Afrikan, descendant of African-slave-captives, kidnapped and brought to this land under force and duress), did not create the U.S. government, or any of its subordinate governments. I inherit no legacy of my forebearers participation in its creation, nor of their knowing, intelligent choice to so participate. Therefore, I am not aware of any relationship or valid contract, which poses a burden of obligation or even reciprocation upon me. I have not consented to be governed by the United States, and thus, no ‘just powers’ or ‘authority is derived from me. I recognize no duty based upon ‘place-of-birth’ nor any requirement to conform-or-leave. I can not be expelled on refusal to comply. My presence here is the product of crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Anglo-social authors, and therefore, the fact of my birth confirms no valid, or recognizable lawful interests in the so-called governing bodies of the purported ‘U.S.’ body-politic or social-order.

The only correct perspective, outlook, point-of-of view, for the sentient, sane politically-conscious African-slave-descendant, in regards to the master/oppressor class’ continued imposition of its will, control and domination over us, is that which expressly stipulates:

I neither want nor accept your ‘apology’ for slavery;

I neither want nor accept your ‘welfare-state’, subject-citizen ‘enfranchisement’ persona; 

I neither require nor will seek your permission (with respect to anything I choose to do or not do);

I neither consent to nor recognize any authority or jurisdiction in you as applicable to me;

I will not tolerate your control or influence of my acts in any manner or to any degree; and,

I will not leave this continent except as I should so desire.

We must embrace and exercise what Brother Malcolm described as: Self Determination! 

FREE THE LAND!”

READ/STUDY:

The Military Order of Jesus Christ in Portugal Started the Misnamed TransAtlantic Slave Trade

THE POLITICAL-LEGAL HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC OF NEW AFRIKA AND THE WAR WAGED AGAINST IT BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

LAND HAS ALWAYS BEEN CENTRAL TO THE SOLUTION OF AMERICA’S RACE PROBLEM

𝐏𝐆𝐑𝐍𝐀 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 - Queen Mother Audley Moore's Speech to the Summit Meeting of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Kampala, Uganda - July 28, 1975

A Matter of War: Imari Obadele, Our Enslavement in the 13 Colonies and the United States, the Republic of New Afrika and Reparations

STOP CALLING IT A SLAVE TRADE: YOUR ANCESTORS WERE PRISONERS OF WAR! NKECHI TAIFA REFLECTS ON THE TEACHINGS OF IMARI OBADELE

ARE BLACK PEOPLE IN AMERICA STILL PRISONERS OF WAR IF THEY HAVE VOTED?

JUNETEENTH: THE LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION'S RECOGNITION OF NEW AFRIKAN RIGHTS UNDER NATURAL AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, THE 14TH AMENDMENT FRAUD & THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF MALCOLM X AND IMARI OBADELE

NEW AFRIKAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS: Statement to the 20th session of the UN Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration

TAKING THE AFRO DESCENDANTS CASE TO THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: A PEOPLES' MANDATE ISSUED TO THE PERMANENT FORUM ON PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT

Siphiwe Baleka Statement to the 1st Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

STATEMENT TO THE 2ND SESSION OF PFPAD: MANDATE TO REQUEST AN ADVISORY OPINION FROM THE ICJ

Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika Statement to the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

Analysis by the Republic of New Afrika of Legal Issues Requiring an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika addressed the Afrodescendant Nation National Reparations Convention in Washington, D.C.

PGRNA Minister of Foreign Affairs Siphiwe Baleka discussed the UN Permanent Forum and the Request for an Advisory Opinion from the ICJ on the 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒘 podcast

Plebiscite Workshop at the New Afrikan People's Convention, December 30, 2023

THE UNITED STATES AND ITS COLONIAL EMPIRE

The Republic of New Afrika Returns to the African Union for Diaspora Day

THE ABSENCE OF THE BLACK NATIONALISTS IN TODAY’S REPARATIONS MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: A FAILURE TO LEARN THE LESSONS OF HISTORY

Another Member of the Balanta Society in America Returns to Guinea Bissau and Receives Passport

June 11, 2025 - Titna, also known as Joshua Roberts, received his Guinea Bissau passport today from Coronel Lino Leal Da Silva, Diretor Geral, da Migrcao e Fronteira e Ministerio do Interior, completing his journey to becoming a citizen in his ancestral homeland.

From left to right, Claudio Altip, Assistant Coordinator, Decade of Return program; Siphiwe Baleka, President of the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA) and Coordinator of the Decade of Retrun program; Titna “Joshua Roberts”; and Coronel Lino Leal Da Silva, Diretor Geral, da Migrcao e Fronteira e Ministerio do Interior

Titna received his permanent residency card back on August 31, 2024 after the Basketball Federation of Guiné-Bissau announced in June of 2023 that American Guard Joshua Roberts would be helping the development of basketball in the country and to add strength to their national team roster. Titna made his debut playing for the Niki Basket team in his ancestral homeland of Guinea Bissau during the U21 AMILCAR CABRAL CENTENARY TOURNAMENT on September 20, 2024.

Titna is departing to play professional basketball in Cape Verde and plans to return to and establish himself in Bissau later this year.

Titna becomes the fifth Afro Descendant to receive their passport in the past 30 days as part of the Decade of Return initiative after the government of the Republic of Guinea Bissau granted the first 20 citizenships in January and February of this year. The naturalization process was launched back in April of 2021 by BBHAGSIA.

“It’s great to see a young man returning home to Guinea Bissau and help develop the sports infrastructure,” said Mr. Baleka, who was the first Afro Descendant and Guinean citizen to represent the country in the African Continental Swimming Championships.

NCOBRA International Affairs Commission Hosts Workshop on REPARATIONS, DECOLONIZATION AND SELF DETERMINATION: SPOTLIGHT ON THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, BONAIRE AND ST MAARTE

Meeting summary for REPARATIONS, DECOLONIZATION AND SELF DETERMINATION: SPOTLIGHT ON THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, BONAIRE AND ST MAARTEN (06/07/2025)

passcode to watch the workshop: .T3VYh5!

Quick recap

The meeting explored the historical and current status of New African territories in the United States, focusing on the Virgin Islands and Bonaire's efforts for decolonization and self-determination. Participants discussed the challenges these territories face in gaining international recognition and assistance, including the complexities of navigating international forums and the deceptive use of language in colonial contexts. The group emphasized the importance of using indigenous terms to define concepts like independence and sovereignty, while highlighting the need for unity and support from African nations in the ongoing fight for decolonization and self-determination.

Next steps

  • James Finies: Pursue efforts to get Bonaire recognized and added to the UN's list of non-self governing territories through international support and General Assembly resolution

  • Russ Christopher: Attend UN meetings next week to advance Virgin Islands' autonomy efforts and explore ways to circumvent the requirement of colonizer approval for UN visiting committees

  • Afro-descendant delegation: Meet with President Traore's administration in Burkina Faso to discuss support for Caribbean territories' self-determination movements and potential alliance building

  • James Finies: Initiate outreach to African Union to gain support for Bonoire's self-determination movement

  • Republic of New Africa: Continue developing logistics and infrastructure plans for conducting an independent plebiscite among Black Americans, particularly focusing on utilizing Black churches and HBCUs as potential polling locations

  • NCOBRA International Affairs Commission: Plan follow-up discussions to continue building connections between various Afro-descendant self-determination movements in the Caribbean region and United States

Summary

US Colonial Territories and Reparations

Siphiwe discussed the historical status of New African territories in the United States, highlighting the failure of the US to recognize and declare these territories as trust territories under the UN Charter, which would have provided international assistance for decolonization. James Finies shared his experience as a human rights activist from Bonaire, a Caribbean island with a significant African descendant population, emphasizing the ongoing struggle for decolonization and the need for reparations. Russ Christopher introduced himself as a Virgin Islander and explained the unique colonial status of the US Virgin Islands, with a population of about 95,000 Afro-descendant people. The discussion aimed to explore strategies for the US reparations movement using the colonial framework and to learn from the experiences of James and Russ in international arenas like the UN Special Committee on Decolonization (C.24).

Self-Determination in USVI and Bonaire

The meeting focused on the self-determination movements of two territories: the US Virgin Islands and Bonaire. Russ explained that the US Virgin Islands are seeking to gain autonomy by removing themselves from the UN's list of non-self-governing territories, while Bonaire aims to be added to that list to gain international recognition for their right to decolonization. James Finies elaborated on Bonaire's history, noting that their removal from the UN list in 1955 hindered their progress towards self-determination. Both speakers highlighted the challenges of navigating international forums and the complexities of achieving true self-rule amidst colonial legacies and neocolonial tactics.

Bonaire's Path to International Recognition

The group discussed the historical context and challenges faced by Bonaire in gaining international recognition and self-determination. James Finies explained that Bonaire is far behind other Caribbean islands in this process, as they were not included on the list created by the United Nations for colonies seeking independence. He highlighted the unique historical experiences of Bonaire, including delayed abolition of slavery and subsequent recolonization, which have hindered their development compared to other Caribbean islands. Siphiwe summarized the intended purpose of the UN list as a pathway for colonies to gain international recognition and assistance in determining their political future. The discussion emphasized the need for Bonaire to be included on this list to have a voice in the international arena and move towards self-determination.

Bonaire's Colonial Status and Identity

Russ and Siphiwe discussed the deceptive use of language in international relations, particularly how the term "independent" is misleadingly applied to colonized territories. James Finies explained that for Bonaire, being on the United Nations list represents their best hope for gaining recognition of their rights and protecting their cultural identity, as they currently face cultural erasure and colonial domination. The discussion highlighted the contrast between Bonaire's situation and other Caribbean nations, with James emphasizing that Bonaire's unique colonial status makes them fundamentally different from other Caribbean islands.

Self-Determination for Bonaire and Islands

The meeting focused on the self-determination efforts of Bonaire and the Virgin Islands, with James Finies explaining that Bonaire seeks recognition as a territory with rights equal to other nations, currently lacking such recognition due to being annexed against their will. Siphiwe discussed the concept of self-determination, emphasizing the importance of respecting individual and collective rights to choose their own pathways forward. Brother Lukman clarified the different stages of the self-determination process for Bonaire and the Virgin Islands, noting that Bonaire is in a more vulnerable position and requires UN assistance, while the Virgin Islands is further along in the process. The discussion also touched on the distinction between government-led movements and those working against government opposition, with Siphiwe mentioning that the Virgin Islands' self-determination effort is government-led.

Colonial Independence and Self-Determination

The meeting focused on the concepts of independence and sovereignty, particularly in the context of colonial territories. Siphiwe emphasized the importance of using indigenous terms to define these concepts, rather than relying on international legal language that may not align with local meanings. James Finies shared Bonaire's experience in seeking self-determination, highlighting the challenges faced when the local government did not respect the people's right to a referendum. The discussion also touched on the status of the Virgin Islands and the difficulties in getting the United Nations involved without the colonizer's consent. The participants agreed that genuine self-determination is often hindered by the colonial system, and that the people's movements should not rely on government officials to plead their case at the international level.

Bonaire Decolonization Support Strategy

James and Russ discussed their efforts to gain support for Bonaire's decolonization and the challenges they face due to colonial control. They expressed a desire to connect with African nations and the African Union to build a stronger movement against colonialism. Siphiwe mentioned an upcoming delegation to Burkina Faso and asked what they would bring to President Traore's attention, to which James and Russ shared their goals of getting Bonaire back on the UN's list of non-self-governing territories. The conversation touched on the importance of unity and support from African nations in this fight for decolonization.

Self-Determination Through Referendums and Plebiscites

The meeting focused on the discussion of referendums and plebiscites as tools for self-determination, particularly in the context of Bonaire and the Virgin Islands. James Finies explained that recent referendums in the islands were not respected, leading to efforts to seek international support and recognition. Siphiwe provided a historical perspective on plebiscites, drawing parallels to the struggle for self-determination among Afro descendants in the United States. The group discussed the logistics and challenges of organizing a plebiscite, emphasizing the need for international support and the importance of mobilizing and organizing the electorate. The conversation ended with expressions of gratitude and a call for continued efforts in the struggle for self-determination.

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The day after the workshop began the 3rd Plenary Special Meeting of the Committee on Decolonization - C24.

Eliezer Benito Wheatley of the British Virgin Islands made the follwoing brilliant presentation:

Following Mr. Wheatlley, Russ Christopher of the U.S. Virgin Islands made his brilliant presentation:

What Role for the Afro Descendants in the African Union's Commission for International Law (AUCIL) and the Proposed Legal Reference Group? The Case of the Republic of New Afrika

The 11th Annual Forum of African Union Commission on International Law Kicks-Off, May 23, 2025

According to the African Union website,

The African Union Commission on International Law (AUCIL) was established on the basis of Article 5(2) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union as an advisory organ of the Union. At its Twelfth Session in February 2009, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Assembly of the Heads of States and Government (Assembly) adopted the Statute of the African Union Commission on International Law, by its Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.209 (XII).

As an independent advisory organ to the AU, the AUCIL’s main tasks are to: Advise the Union on matters of international law, undertake activities relating to codification and progressive development of international law in Africa with particular attention to the laws of the AU; Propose draft framework agreements and model regulations; Assist in the revision of existing treaties and identify areas in which new treaties are required; Conduct studies on legal matters of interest to the AU and its Member States; Encourage the teaching, study, publication and dissemination of literature on international law, in particular, AU law, with a view to promoting respect for the principles of international law, the peaceful resolution of conflicts, and respect for the AU and recourse to its organs.

At the Conference of the African Union Thirty-eight Ordinary Session, held 15-16 February 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia the Togolese Republic proposed the CONCEPT NOTE: QUALIFICATION OF SLAVERY, OF THE DEPORTATION AND COLONIZATION OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND GENOCIDE AGAINST THE PEOPLES OF AFRICA that states,

“12. REQUESTS the AU Commission For International Law (AUCIL), in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, to undertake a study on the qualification of colonization as a crime against humanity as well as on the qualification of certain acts committed during slavery, deportation and colonization as acts of genocide against the peoples of Africa, and to submit a report to the Assembly in February 2026.”

This follows the Accra Proclamation on Reparations call for the formation of a Legal Reference Group to provide “legal advice on the question of reparations, including best practice on the law, practice and litigation of the reparation’s agenda.” It also calls for the amplification of marginalized voices in the reparatory justice movement and Increased role for the United Nations in the Exploration of legal and judicial options for reparations.

On the suggestion of US Congressman Ron Dellums (who had received 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: 𝐀 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟕 by the President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika Imari Obadele) and Jamaican lawyer and diplomat Dudley S. Thompson, the wealthy Nigerian businessman, Chief Bashorun M. K. O. Abiola suggested establishing a Group of Eminent Persons (GEP) to pursue reparations for slavery and (perhaps) other wrongs perpetrated on Africa. On 28 June 1992, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) swore in a twelve-member GEP, with Chief Abiola as its Chairman, whose mandate was to pursue the goal of reparations to Africa. This is what led to the First Pan-African Conference on Reparations that was held in Abuja, Nigeria, April 27-29, 1993 The 1983 Abuja Proclamation

“Urges the Organization of African Unity to grant observer status to select organizations from the African Diaspora in order to facilitate consultations between Africa and its Diaspora on reparations and related issues.”

The New Afrikan Independent Movement was, indeed, recognized by the Organization of African Unity both in 1964 when observer status was granted to Omowale Malcolm X and the Organization of Afro American Unity (OAARU) and again in 1975 when Queen Mother Audley Moore addressed the OAU 12 Summit in Kampala. However, as explained in the video at the end of this article, the United States escalated its warfare against its domestic black colony and the New Afrikan nation. On August 25, 1967, the United States government launched a new CounterIntelligence Program against “Black Nationalists” calling them “Hate Groups” instead of freedom fighters seeking justice. According to the The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) memo revising the United States’ war strategy:

5. A final goal should be to prevent the long-range GROWTH of militant black organizations, especially among youth. Specific tactics to prevent these groups from converting young people must be developed.

The COINTELPRO succeeded in assassinating New Afrikan Independence Movement (NAIM) leaders, imprisoning others and millions of New Afrikans in a fabricated “War on Drugs”

A “psy-op” called “Gangsta Rap” was implemented which shifted the message of “black nationalism” to “gagsta glorification” that effectively reduced the NAIM from 27% of the U.S. young black population, according to a 1969 Newsweek poll, to a small number of committed revolutionaries on the margins of the U.S. black population. [See The History of Conscious Rap Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3]

I, Siphiwe Baleka, attended the 2023 Accra Reparations Conference as a sponsored-delegate in my capacity as the President of the Balanta B’urassa History & Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA) and Coordinator of the New Afrikan Diplomatic and Civil Service Corps (NADCSC). On February 26, 2024, as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Interim Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika, I sent to the office of the AU Commission For International Law (AUCIL) a 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐅 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐔 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 regarding the New Afrikan Independence Movement's struggle for liberation and the Request for an ICJ Advisory Opinion and included the brilliant work, It’s a Matter of Law by the New Afrikan Military Science Institute MSI 2-2 Report of 21 November 2010 detailing the EXACT legal issues concerning the status of black people in the United States.. It was hand delivered and stamped. After receiving no response after 151 days, I sent a follow-up letter to the AUCIL that was hand-delivered and stamped at the AU on July 12, 2024. Follow-up messages designed to sensatize the AU Commission and the AUCIL of THE POLITICAL-LEGAL HISTORY OF THE REPUBLIC OF NEW AFRIKA AND THE WAR WAGED AGAINST IT BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA were also sent via WhatsApp to Dr. Namira Negm, Legal Council at the African Union, on September 12, 2024, September 18, 2024, April 9, 2025, April 16, 2025, April 22, 2025, and May 18, 2025.

After 466 days, no response has yet been received.

THIS BEGS THE QUESTION:

What Role for the Afro Descendants in the African Union's Commission for International Law (AUCIL) and the Proposed Legal Reference Group?

IF A MARGINALIZED VOICE LIKE THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF NEW AFRIKA (PGRNA), WITH ALL OF ITS HISTORY OUTLINED ABOVE, CAN’T EVEN GET A COURTESY RESPONSE FROM THE AFRICAN UNION AND IT’S COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL LAW . . . . IF THE PGRNA LEGAL SCHOLARS WHICH HAVE THOROUGHLY ANALYZED “THE QUALIFICATION OF CERTAIN ACTS COMMITTED DURING SLAVERY” AGAINST AFRO DESCENDANTS IN THE UNITED STATES ARE NOT GIVEN A ROLE IN THE PROPOSED AU LEGAL REFERENCE GROUP, THEN WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THE SINCERITY OF ALL THE AU PROCLAMATIONS ABOUT GREATER COLLABORATION WITH THE AFRICAN DIASPORA AND ITS MARGINALIZED VOICES??? THE PGRNA DID A LION’S SHARE OF THE WORK BUILDING THE REPARATIONS MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES WHICH THEN SPREAD TO AFRICA. DOES THE AU EXIST TO SERVE THE PEOPLE AND ITS REPARATIONS MOVEMENTS, OR DOES THE AU BELIEVE THAT THE PEOPLE EXIST TO SERVE IT?

The AU ECOSOCC DIASPORA CONSULTATIONS CONTINUE TO DISAPPOINT AFRODESCENDANTS IN THE AU 6TH REGION. As I have stated in many forums,

IF THE AFRICAN UNION WANTS TO CONTINUE RECEIVING SUPPORT FROM THE AFRO DESCENDANTS IN THE AU 6TH REGION, THEN IT MUST, RESPOND TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS BELOW. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL ONLY HASTEN THE COMPLETE SUPPORT OF THE AFRO DESCENDANTS TO THE ALLIANCE OF SAHEL STATES AND ANY MOVEMENT TO ESTABLISH A UNITED AFRICAN STATES BEFORE THE END OF THE DECADE

Summary outline of 6th Region Recommendations

to

ACHPR PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE AFRICAN UNION THEME OF THE YEAR 2025: “JUSTICE FOR AFRICANS AND PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT THROUGH REPARATIONS”

and to

The AU ECOSOCC Diaspora Consultation

May 27, 2025

presented by

Siphiwe Baleka

1. DNA Testing

a) convene discussions with the Vatican along with the former holders of the Catholic Church's Asiento monopoly war contracts about their obligation to provide a remedy for the war damage of ethnocide

b) following State of Illinois House of Representatives 103rd General Assembly House Resolutions No. 292 and 0453

c) detaining powers under the Geneva Convention, provide free of charge to all Afro Descendants, both non-recombinant and autosomal DNA testing

2. Citizenship:

a) the Commission pass a resolution on the Afro Descendants Right to Return

b) the African Union develop a comprehensive 6th Region citizenship policy see: Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania reports and Recommendations submitted to the Panel; also: MOTION TO THE AFRICAN UNION EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 39th EXTRAORDINARY SESSIO

3. Plebiscites:

a) AU grant Observer Status like the OAU did to the self determination movements in the remaining 18 black colonies

b) AU to support plebiscite for self determination in the remaining 18 black colonies

4. International Court of Justice:

a) assist with the Request for an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Status of Afro Descendants under the Geneva Convention and their Right to Conduct Plebiscites

b) ACHPR/AcHPR/ AUCIL-LEGAL REFERENCE GROUP own Opinion on the following questions:

(i) Is the Dum Diversas apostolic decree issued by Pope Nicholas V on June 18, 1452 a declaration of “total war” - warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combatant needs - and therefore a war crime and a crime against humanity? Is there a statute of limitation regarding reparations for the Dum Diversas war crimes and crimes against humanity?

(ii) Were the people captured as a result of the Dum Diversas apostolic decree “prisoners of war” and do their descendants retain that status until their final “release and repatriation” under the Geneva Convention?

(iii) Have the Afro Descendants - black folks - now within the United States ever been converted, in accordance with settled principles of universally established law, into United States citizens, and divested altogether of their original foreign African nationality?

(iv) What rights do the Afro Descendants throughout the Americas and Caribbean have to exercise self-determination and conduct plebiscites to discern who wants to repatriate to their ancestral homeland, who wants to establish independent nation states of their own, and who wants to integrate into the states they currently reside?

(v) What are the legal consequences that arise for all States and the United Nations from the above?

AS A SIGNATORY TO THE PAN AFRICAN TREATY OF THE SIXTH REGION AFRICAN DIASPORA AND ON BEHALF OF ALL CURRENT AND FUTURE SIGNATORIES TO THE TREATY, I HEREBY REQUEST THAT THE AFRICAN UNION ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL COUNCIL

1. PROVIDE A REPORT DETAILING HOW IT WILL ADVOCATE OUR RECOMMENDATIONS WITHIN THE AU SYSTEM AND

2. PROVIDE AN ANALYSIS ON HOW THE AFRICAN UNION CAN ACHIEVE THE RECOMMENDED OUTCOMES.

3. ACCEPT THE COALITION’S NOMINATION OF A 6TH REGION REPRESENTATIVE TO THE AU COMMITTEE OF REPARATIONS EXPERTS AND THE LEGAL REFERENCE GROUP

“The African Committee of Experts on Reparations can not be comprised solely of technocrats. It must consist of people who have advanced the most in internal reparations - the self repair and recovery from ethnocide. If someone in CARICOM for example gets development aid and yet can not identify who are their maternal and/or their paternal ancestors in Africa and have no desire to identify with being African and have not re-organized their life around Pan Africanism and Ubuntu, can they really be said to have been repaired? The African Committee of Experts on Reparations should be composed of people who can properly guide the technocrats. Mere educational and professional credentials does not make one an expert on reparations. proposed candidates should be asked, what is the evidence of your self repair and how have you used external resources for the benefit of africa and her peoples’ self repair?”

- Siphiwe Baleka, Coordinator of the Lineage Restoration Movement

Likewise, the Legal Reference Group must include qualified Afro Descendants from the 18 remaining black colonies still under foreign domination, including the Republic of New Afrika.

Pan African Treaty of the Sixth Region African Diaspora: Burkina Faso Collective Note Naming Siphiwe Baleka Special Envoy

Collective Note 


Celebrating the establishment of the Alliance of Sahel States confederation that was established on 6 July 2024

Recognizing the tremendous efforts by Siphiwe Baleka to organize and centralize the Afro Descendants in the African Diaspora since 2003 and culminating in the New Afrikan Diplomatic and Civil Service Corps, the Pan African Treaty of the Sixth Region African Diaspora and his representation on behalf of the 6th Region at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE AFRICAN UNION THEME OF THE YEAR 2025: “JUSTICE FOR AFRICANS AND PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT THROUGH REPARATIONS” on May 10, 2025 in Banjul, Gambia; 

Cognizant of the Concept Note that was presented by Siphiwe Baleka, as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika on 9 May 2024 to Mr. Hermann Toé, Special Advisor to H.E.KARAMOKO JEAN MARIE TRAORE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, REGIONAL COOPERATION AND BURKINA FASO CITIZENS ABROAD outlining the positioning of Burkina Faso to be champions of the Global Afrikan Reparatory Justice Movement and Pan Afrikan Movement through support of the upcoming national reparations events, Right to Return citizenship legislation and the request for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on “The status of Afro Descendant People as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention and their right to conduct plebiscites for self-determination”; 

Recalling the draft resolutions submitted by Siphiwe Baleka to  THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL PAN AFRICAN SUMMIT (CUMBRE DEL MOVIMIENTO  PAN AFRICANISTA CUARTA INTERNACIONAL) IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE CONFEDERATION OF SAHEL STATES (CSS) that was held in Madrid, Spain, 1-2 November, 2024; 

Further recalling the Ubuntu Pan African Congress (UPAC) Proposal that was submitted by Siphiwe Baleka to the Latin American/Caribbean Regional Preparatory Conference for 8th PAC which convened on the 30th of March 2025 and precipitated the April 5 letter of Felipe Noguera, Member of the Global Pan African Movement Governing Council, requesting that “the Confederation of Sahel States co-host the 8th Pan African Congress over a period of five days towards the end of November in Ouagadougou”; and

Commending Siphiwe Baleka for his defense of President Ibrahim Traore in his  letter addressed to General Michael Langley, US Commander of AFRICOM, delivered at the United States Liaison Office in Bissau, Guinea Bissau and for his efforts to secure citizenship for Afro Descendants of Guinean origin;

Now, therefore, we the undersigned, signatories to the Pan African Treaty of the Sixth Region African Diaspora, members of the African Diaspora Ubuntu Coalition and/or defenders of the right to self determination of African people, present to you our special envoy, Mr. Siphiwe Baleka.

Signed:

Signed:

  1. Iman Uqdah Hameen, Diaspora 126+, Right to Return, Reparations/Repatriation, Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus, U.S.

  2. Otis Thomas, T.A.P. Project C.I.C, England

  3. Angela Hale, Sontesa Technologies United States

  4. Clarence Davidson, Center for Community Advocacy, United States

  5. Charlene Hannah, Balanta Society (BBHAGSIA), United States

  6. Delvin Hawkins, (BBHAGSA), Canada

  7. Jami Luqman, Republic of New Afrika Grassroots Mobilization, United States

  8. Paul Agbo, Starconnectdots Ltd, Nigeria

  9. Imad Muhammad, IUM Enterprises, LLC, United States of America

  10. Talitha Davis, Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus, United States

  11. Desiree Carpenter, Balanta B'urassa Organization USA, United States

  12. Carl Jacques, Wakanda Enterprises Inc., United States

  13. Dr. Danly Clive Ebanks Ebanks, KINGDOM OF JUDAH IN AMERICA, Honduras

  14. Prof. Richard Eshun, Adjaye Education Centre, Ghana Education Service Elmina, Ghana

  15. Anita Diop, African Roots and Heritage Foundationan, USA

  16. Jason Legg, Balanta B'urassa History & Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA), United Stares

  17. Mario Ward, Balanta B'urassa Organization (BBHAGSIA) USA

  18. Nicole Holmes, Balanta B'urassa History & Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA), United States

  19. Jeneva Batten, Balanta Society, (BBHAGSIA), USA

  20. William Jones, Cidadão Naturalizado do Brasil, Brasil

  21. Kerrio Bartlette, Balanta B'urassa Society (BBHAGSIA), St. Kitts & Nevis

  22. JoAnn Knight, Balanta B'urassa History & Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA), United Stares

  23. Fabien Anthony, Pan-African Council, South Africa

  24. Kamm Howard, Reparations United, United States

  25. Cristian Baez, Ong Afrochilena Lumbanga, Chile

  26. Idris Adu, DACO, Netherlands

  27. Breeanca Douglas, Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA)

  28. Nelson Grant, Balanta Society (BBHAGSIA), Guinea Bissau

  29. MARIE-LYNE CHAMPIGNEULONG, Kartyé Lib Mémoire & Patrimoine Océan, La Réunion

  30. Nyla Sakakura, Balanta Society (BBHAGSIA), United States

  31. Egbert Shaka Higinio,The Garifuna Nation,USA

  32. Raul Garcia, Balanta B'urassa History & Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA) United States

  33. Daiana Gomes, RepatBissau, Guiné-Bissau

  34. Morgan Moss JR, UBUNTU NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL TRADE / TRAVEL & EDUCATION (UNITE), United States

  35. Onaje Muid, Whm Msw Healing Well Inc., United States of America

  36. Mansong Kulubally, Some Positive People and U.N.I.A./A.C.L. Div. 429,

    United States of America

  37. Tia Robinson, Sankofa Revolutionary Radio, United States

  38. Prophet N. Anyanwu Cox, United States

  39. Erica Webster, Balanta Society, USA

  40. Stewart Fields, Annointed, United States

  41. Sharon Kinder, BBHGSAS, United States

  42. Keith Otuomagie, Balanta Society, (BBHAGSIA), United States

  43. Corey Mbonge, University of Cape Town, South Africa

  44. Victoria Abba, African Diaspora Union - AFRIDU, Nigeria

  45. Sarfo Kusi, SafKuTech Solutions, Ghana

  46. Linda Fannin-Watts, ADDI, United States of America

  47. Wilbert Passley, USA

  48. Russell Christopher, OW, United States

  49. Cllr Martin Seaton, De Motivator Show, Britain

  50. GAIL MCGEE, African Diaspora 6th Region, USA

  51. Clayton Matlock, African Diaspora Provisional 6th Region, United States

  52. Shaheed Hannah Balanta Society (BBHAGSIA), USA

  53. Dr. Gale Frazier, National Black Agenda Consortium, United States

  54. Lee Whitaker, Tusoto Lifestyle Foundation, Inc, USA

  55. Martin Chiro, The Afrikan Shujaa Magazine, Kenya

  56. Reginald Muhammad National Reparations Institute, USA

  57. Tânia de Carvalho, National Movement for Historic Reparations in Angola, Angola

  58. C. SADE TURNIPSEED, KHAFRE, INC, USA

  59. Christian Agbodza, The Kwame Nkrumah Trust, England

  60. Alberto De Castro, Pan African, UK

  61. Yolande Grant, African Online Publishing, Barbados

  62. Monica Micou, Balanta Society (BBHAGSIA), United States

  63. Carol Ammons, Illinois General Aseembly, United States

  64. Izmira Aitch, UNIA-ACL, USA & Ghana

  65. Donnie Ibn Malik Ali McClendon, Balanta Society (BBHAGSIA), United States

  66. HRM Queen Mother Dòwòti Désir, The Royal Palace of the African Diaspora, Bénin Republic

  67. DANILO SILVA, Individual, Brasil

  68. Maynard Henry, Law Office of Maynard M Henry, Sr., Attorney At Law, USA

  69. Remi Alapo, Institute For Peace and Leadership, USA, United States

  70. Jacqueline Canton, OWA, U.S Virgin Islands

  71. Natalia de Santana Revi, IOE, UK

  72. SILVANY EUCLÊNIOPensar Africanamente - Educação e Comunicação, Brasil

  73. Diva Moreira, Coletivo Minas pró Reparações, Brasil

  74. Eric Moore, BBHAGSA, United States

  75. Mfanelo Ndlovu, Communities Unite for Love and Freedom (CULF), South Africa

  76. Vanessa Hall-Harper, Tulsa City Council, United States

  77. Elisabete Vera Cruz, Universidade Agostinho Neto, Angola

  78. Luzia MONIZPADEMA, Platform for the Development of African, Portugal

  79. Andrew Seraus, ARAAC &Komunidat Rastafari Di Korsou, Curacao ( Caribbean )

  80. Mara Catarina Evaristo, Nzo Jindanji Kuna Nkosi, Brasil

  81. JOAO PAULO DA SILVA MONTEIRO DE CASTRO, Independent, Brasil

  82. Mwalimu Kabaila, National Black Council of Elders, USA

  83. Edison Márquez Cortez, SOAD Ecuadore

  84. Yaw Davis, Pan African Technical Association, USA

  85. Abel Gamba, Afrocracia, Angola