Emancipation Watchnight Gathering to Feature Professor Sir Hilary Beckles

The Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission (ABRSC) is pleased to announce that Professor Sir Hilary Beckles will serve as the feature speaker at its annual Watchnight Gathering, scheduled for Friday, July 31, 2026, at the Botanical Gardens.

The Watchnight Gathering forms part of the Commission’s 2026 Emancipation Observances, a series of events designed to honour the resilience, sacrifices and triumphs of our ancestors while celebrating the enduring spirit of freedom. This year’s observances commence with Africa Dress Day on July 24, followed by the UHURU Television Programme – Spiritual Awakening on July 29. The observances continue with the Watchnight Gathering – A Night of Reflection, Remembrance and Renewal on July 31, culminating on August 1 with Emancipation Day, which will feature the Emancipation Breakfast Service at the Greenbay Moravian Church beginning at 6:00 a.m., followed by the Emancipation Village at the V.C. Bird Bust from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This year’s Watchnight Gathering promises to be one of the highlights of the Emancipation programme, bringing together members of the public for an evening of reflection, remembrance, education and renewed commitment to the pursuit of reparatory justice.

Professor Sir Hilary is the Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies and Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, of which the ABRSC is a member. His scholarship has transformed the global understanding of Caribbean history, and he is widely regarded as one of the Caribbean’s most influential voices on education, reparatory justice, regional integration, decolonization and sustainable development.

As Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, Sir Hilary has become the Caribbean’s leading international advocate for reparatory justice. He has represented the region before the United Nations, the African Union, the UK Parliament, the United States Congress, universities, churches and civil society organizations around the world. His advocacy has helped place reparations firmly on the international policy agenda as a matter of human rights, historical accountability and sustainable development.

His extensive body of research explores the economics of plantation slavery, resistance and emancipation, gender in slave societies, Indigenous genocide, reparatory justice, and the enduring developmental consequences of colonialism. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Britain’s Black Debt: Reparations for Caribbean Slavery and Native Genocide (2013), The First Black Slave Society (2016), How Britain Underdeveloped the Caribbean (2021), and Cricket’s First Revolutionary: Frank Worrell’s Political War Against Colonialism in the West Indies (2025).

Renowned as an engaging and compelling speaker, Professor Sir Hilary is expected to provide an update on recent milestones in the global reparatory justice movement. His address will include discussion of the recently published 2026 CARICOM Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice: A Manifesto for the Coming Enlightenment, the United Nations Declaration on the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity, and the outcomes and next steps arising from the NEXT STEPS High-Level Consultative Conference on the Implementation of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution.

The ABRSC invites members of the public to attend this significant observance as the nation reflects on the legacy of emancipation, honours the struggles and sacrifices of those who came before us, and reaffirms its collective commitment to justice, dignity and the continued pursuit of reparatory justice.