National Day of Panhandling for Reparations

by Carmen Van Kerckhove

Artist Damali Ayo is planning on making October 10th National Day of Panhandling for Reparations. Here’s more info from an email she sent me:

People of all races across the United States will take an hour or two to sit in a range of locations in our communities: outside of businesses, libraries, museums, art galleries, or on busy street corners. We will wear signs reminding passersby of the history of slavery in the United States. We will collect reparations in the form of money from white Americans for the enslavement and free-labor of Africans and African Americans during the establishment and economic rise of this country. This money will be immediately paid out to black passersby. Both parties will be offered a receipt. We will do this to offer a convenient opportunity for American citizens to acknowledge, apologize and compensate the unpaid labor of African Americans, the travesty of slavery, and the rightful due of reparations.

Why panhandling?
African Americans have tried several means to recoup reparations for the enslavement of our relatives, with little progress. Panhandling illustrates a last resort of African Americans and all citizens after our government has ignored or denied all previous requests for reparations, is to take matters into our own hands and take to the streets. Panhandling is an immediate means of exacting reparations. We offer ordinary citizens the opportunity to pay the reparations our government has denied us, or to walk past our presence on the street and continue to ignore our collective history. What choice will you make?

What do you think of this concept? Will it reinforce the notion that blacks are just looking for a handout? Or will it be an effective way to raise awareness of the legacy of slavery?