First of its kind session scheduled in Denmark
ELEY ANDERSON
ST. CROIX — Next week, seven representatives from the territory’s community will travel to Copenhagen in a delegation to continue talks about reparations between Denmark and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The African-Caribbean Reparations and Resettlement Alliance (ACRRA) announced at a press conference held Wednesday morning who will be part of the delegation. Members, who will arrive in Denmark on April 6, include ACRRA President Shelley Moorhead; Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen; Sen. Usie Richards; Sen. Terrence Nelson; Dr. Etherero Akinshegun, youth leader and psychologist; Jamal Baker, an 11th grader at the Educational Complex; and Dr. Carlyle Corbin, minister of state for external affairs, office of the governor.
“If there is to be the promise of a future for the people of the Virgin Islands, it will rest in our ability to redress our history,” Moorhead said. “Until we are able to repair the damage of almost 250 years of slavery and colonization, there will be no future to speak of for Virgin Islanders.”
From 1671 to 1917, Denmark owned and occupied the islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John — and for more than 175 years was actively involved in the trade of enslaved Africans.
On March 31, 1917, the United States officially purchased the U.S. Virgin Islands — then known as the Danish West Indies — from Denmark, making it a U.S. territory.
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Moorhead said that without doing such an examination, attempts at economic stability, political sovereignty and social harmony can never truly be realized.