Reparations

"Revolution is based on land. Land is the basis of all independence. Land is the basis of freedom, justice, and equality." - Malcolm X

LION works to redistribute and reconnect Black and People of Colour to land under the framework of reparations. From our London context and connected global histories, we understand reparations as a way of addressing colonial-rooted traumas which include but are not limited to enslavement, occupation, forced labour, forced migration and resource extraction. These violences constitute the physical removal and destruction of ancestral ways of living with the land, with transgenerational effects on a material, structural and spiritual level.

We resonate with Nigerian writer Chinweizu’s definition of reparations as repair. As well as material redistribution, this definition considers the cultural, psychological and spiritual repairs that are necessary to heal the ongoing impacts of colonial violence. Despite our separation from ancestral lands in the diaspora, we believe that BPOC land stewardship is vital to the process of repair. LION works to reconnect us to our ancestral farming practices that honour the earth, recognising its vital role in building community autonomy and resilience.

Reparations call for the remaking of the world (Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò) – a demand to disrupt the structural violence of racism and colonialism. More than industry representation and access, our work focuses on shifting power and resources towards BPOC healing on and with the land.

3% Cover the Fee

In the summer of 2024, LION hosted our summer gathering at Glengall Wharf Gardens. Josina Calliste chaired a conversation between Dee Woods and Esther Xosei, with abundant wisdom and insight into reparations frameworks and movements and the importance of land within them. This is an edited version of this conversation.

Healing with the Land: Understanding Reparations with Dee Wods and Esther Xosei

How do we fit into the wider reparations movement?

The reparations movement originated in the Americas after the abolition of enslavement. As Black and People of Colour in London, our histories are intertwined with that of the Transatlantic slave trade, as well as wider colonial legacies and continuations of British imperialism. While there are many ways to address reparations from this position, LION does so through the critical lens of land. This acknowledges the central role that the removal, destruction and extraction of land has played in our oppression. In the belly of the beast, land ownership continues to be shaped by inherited colonial wealth from the exploitation of our land and our people. 

In linking reparations to land justice, we build connections and solidarity between the struggles of Global Majority people. We acknowledge and honour the creation of the reparations framework by Black people who were forcibly removed from their land and brought to the Americas. We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors, such as Bernie Grant and the African Reparations Movement, which was set in motion in 1993. ARM’s aims are a direct influence on our demand for reparations – the redistribution of land and resources, the repair of our ancestral knowledges, histories and right relationship with the earth.