USVI reparations leader invited for talks with African Union

Shelley Moorhead

by Susan Mann
Caribbean Net News Correspondent

Monday, August 15, 2005

DIMONA, Israel: Shelley Moorhead, president of the African-Caribbean Reparations and Resettlement Alliance (ACRRA), has been asked to travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairman of the African Union (AU), formerly the Organization of African Unity. 

Konare stated in an August 10 letter to Moorhead, that the purpose of the August 16 meeting is, "to dialogue and explore concrete modalities for advancing the African Union initiative and the cause of Africans in a global context; to explore ways to achieve the goal of African emancipation and development; and to establish a long period of successful collaboration and partnership in the interest of the African people." 

Moorhead is scheduled to meet in Addis Ababa with AU Cabinet Director , Dr Mamadau Iamine Diallo, and Dr Jinmi Adisa, the Coordinator of the body's Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Cooperation in Africa (CSSDCA).

After the meeting with Moorhead, the two officials are expected to provide a compressive briefing on the outcome of the talks and recommendations for its incorporation in the policy process.

The AU is Africa's premier governing institution and the principal organization for the promotion of accelerated socioeconomic integration of the continent towards the achievement of greater unity and solidarity between African countries and peoples. 

The primary objectives are to rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonization, to promote unity and solidarity among African States; to coordinate and intensify cooperation for development, to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and to promote international cooperation within the framework of the United nations.

In addition to talks pertinent to the Afro-Caribbean Diaspora, ACRRA president Moorhead will also serve in an official capacity as envoy of the African Hebrew Israelite of Jerusalem. The Hebrew Israelites represent the largest organized body of African descendants from the global African Diaspora to have resettled back on the African continent. 

Moorhead departed the US Virgin Islands last Wednesday en route to Simona, Israel for briefings at the Martin Luther King Jr./SCLC - Ben Ammi Institute for a New Humanity prior to his meetings with the AU.

Moorhead will extend spiritual leadership, advise the body on matters relevant to the growth and development of the continent, and discuss the advancement of the AU's relations with African descendants in the Diaspora. 

He also plans to encourage the development of policy geared toward reversing the negative effects of years of US foreign policy intended to "impede durable ties" between African-Caribbean organizations and black America, as set out in a US National Security Council Memorandum-46, issued during the Nixon administration on March 17, 1978. 

The memo was obtained from US Supreme Court Case No. 00-9587. The eye-opening document maintains that "...the nationalist liberation movement in black Africa can act as a catalyst with far reaching effects on the American black community by stimulating its organizational consolidation and inducing radical actions." 

The memo further recommends that "...In order to prevent such a trend and protect U.S. national security interests, it would appear essential to elaborate and carry out effective countermeasures."

After a brief return to Israel, Moorhead will travel to Denmark where he will meet with the Joint International Virgin Islands/Danish Reparations Task Force to implement the next stage of negotiations. 

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