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Dame Pearlette Louisy to deliver historic first National Reparations Lecture in Kweyol on October 22

THE Saint Lucia National Reparations Committee (NRC) 2020-2021 National and Schools Online Reparations Lecture Series continues this month, with two lectures that will coincide with international and regional observances of Kweyol (Creole) culture, as well as the region and the world’s indigenous people.

The first October lecture will be delivered on October 22 and also coming during Kweyol Heritage Month, it will be delivered in the indigenous Kweyol language by Dame Pearlette Louisy, Chair of the Nobel Laureates Festival Committee.

Image of Dame-Pearlette-Louisy
Dame-Pearlette-Louisy

Dame Pearlette, as Saint Lucia’s Governor General for 20 years (1997 to 2018) established a popular approach to delivery of substantial portions of her annual Throne Speech in Kweyol, which was broadcast Live to Saint Lucia and the world from the Parliament.

This time around, Dame Pearlette’s 2020 Kweyol lecture will be delivered online and broadcast to the region and the world through Social Media platforms including Facebook and YouTube, while local and regional broadcasters will also be invited to join and share.

Given that the Kweyol is also the majority language in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and that the Dame’s Kweyol lecture will also be transmitted online to the world, plans are to also have the October Kweyol Lecture transmitted to other Caribbean nations and territories where Kweyol is also spoken, including Dominica, Guadeloupe, French Guiana (Cayenne), Haiti, Martinique and St. Martin.

English subtitles will also be utilized for non-Kweyol-speaking online audiences.

Schools Series Continues October 29
The second October Reparations Lecture will be the next in the National Online Schools Lecture Series, which will take place on October 29, 2020 and it will focus on ‘The Myth of Extinction: Indigenous Peoples & Their Survival Strategies’.

National, Regional and International
The schools’ series is regional and international in content and delivery and is being coordinated by the UWI’s Center for Reparations Research (CRR), which is executing the regional project while the NRC’s National Preparatory Committee (NPC) for the Online National and Schools Reparations Lectures Series takes care of national preparations.

The regional series, several of which have been coordinated by the CRR for Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago in the past two years, will focus on two Saint Lucian schools per month, with participation by schools, students and teachers from across the CARICOM region.

These online lectures will be aired near the end of every month and the first was already delivered on 24 September 2020 by the Centre’s director, Professor Verene Shepherd, and continuing through to August 2021.

The remaining online seminars will be led by engaging regional and international speakers and will conclude with a panel discussion where students may voice their opinions, ask questions, and connect with the ideas presented.

The Online National and Schools Reparations Lecture Series is being coordinated by the NPC with the UWI Open Campus (Saint Lucia), Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC), Nobel Laureates Festivals Committee, National Youth Council (NYC), Monsignor Patrick Anthony Folk Research Center, Archaeological and Historical Society, Iyanola Council for Advancement of Rastafari (ICAR), Archaeological and Historical Society and representatives of member-entities of the NRC, plus willing stakeholders.

The two lectures series are being executed under the aegis of the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) and the CARICOM Secretariat, with the backing of the University of the West Indies (The UWI).

The two year-long online lecture series will be presented twice monthly until September 2021 with participation too by the UWI Open Campus and UWItv Global.

Local and national media entities are also invited to join the online proceedings and help share the first national Kweyol Heritage Month lecture delivered in the national tongue to those across the island without online access.

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