April 7, 2026 | Access Press Release PDF Here ->>
ADOS NEW YORK RESPONDS TO UN RESOLUTION: “NO NATION SPEAKS FOR THE DESCENDANT; NO SYMBOL SETTLES THE DEBT.”
NEW YORK, NY — In the wake of the United Nations General Assembly resolution (A/80/L.48) declaring the transatlantic slave trade the “gravest crime against humanity,” and the subsequent diplomatic wreath-laying at the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan, the ADOS Advocacy Foundation (NY Chapter) issues a formal call for accountability from the African Union and the United States, State, and City of New York governments.
I. TO THE ADOS COMMUNITY: VIGILANCE AGAINST ERASURE
While foreign dignitaries utilize the African Burial Ground – a site containing the remains of our ancestors whose labor built the literal foundations of New York – as a backdrop for global diplomacy, the ADOS Advocacy Foundation stands on a singular principle: Lineage is the Limit.
We recognize the historic naming of this crime, but we reject the ongoing Pan-African project that attempts to use flat Blackness as a tool to whitewash the machinery of the trade – a strategic erasure that obscures the specific partners who facilitated the extraction of our lineage.
Our message is clear: We will not allow the suffering of our ancestors to be used as a moral bargaining chip for global aid at the expense of the specific, domestic debt owed to the American Descendants of Slavery. We move with the professional posture of rightful creditors. We are not a symbolic backdrop; we are the descendants of a specific American estate – the multi-generational wealth, labor, and human capital extracted from our ancestors through centuries of state-sanctioned dispossession.
II. THE CREDITOR’S CRITIQUE: EVANSTON AS A WARNING SHOT
The ADOS Advocacy Foundation (NY Chapter) asserts that any honest reckoning with the history of the transatlantic slave trade must account for the entire machinery of the Atlantic system. We reject any “Global Narrative” that seeks to obscure the documented roles of specific coastal brokers who functioned as active partners in the trade.
We point to the recent federal challenge to the Evanston, Illinois reparations program as a definitive warning to the State of New York. By choosing race-based policy over lineage-based law, Evanston created a legally vulnerable framework that invited challenge and stalled progress for descendants. New York must choose: a “Blum-proof” lineage settlement – one designed to survive the strict scrutiny challenges popularized by litigators like Edward Blum – or a race-based legal disaster that leaves the creditors with nothing.
We move with the unyielding zeal of judgment-creditors against those who owe this debt, seeking the full execution of a settlement that is long past due. Furthermore, we issue a clear warning to any foreign entity or non-profit interloper attempting to co-opt our history or dilute our claim. This is our lineage’s private estate, and we are its sole and aggressive guardians.
III. A LEGACY OF STRUGGLE: THE PARADOX OF GENEVA
The ADOS lineage has navigated these symbolic waters before. In 1951, Paul Robeson and the Civil Rights Congress presented the We Charge Genocide petition to the UN, only to see the Global Community retreat into procedural silence. We recognize that the UN holds no enforcement power over the American treasury; the authority to settle this debt resides in the Ledgers of New York.
We note with significant concern that while NYC CORE is heading to Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss “global” solutions, they have yet to address the verified descendants waiting for a response right here in New York. It is a striking paradox to seek global validation before settling the domestic account.
We call for full transparency on how city officials are funding international travel while the essential work of identifying the lineage and disaggregating data goes underfunded at home. Our position is clear: there can be no healing or reconciliation without reparations. Material repair is the priority, not an afterthought to be discussed in European forums. We find it inconsistent to talk about “truth” in Switzerland while avoiding the debt owed to the creditors in Brooklyn, Queens, and Harlem.
CONCLUSION: THE ARCHITECTURE OF REPAIR
The vision for a restored ADOS New York is one of governance, not grievance. We recognize that the administrative invisibility of our lineage has long served as a shield for the State’s unwillingness to provide proper compensation for a documented historical and ongoing injury. We seek precise data collection not as an end in itself, but as the mandatory first step in identifying the rightful creditors of a debt that has been deferred for centuries.
When the State’s records finally reflect the reality of our lineage, and when our unique history is protected under the law as a distinct status, we move from being victims of history to full and free individuals.
We stand firm against symbolic measures that offer wreaths instead of wealth; against co-optation by global actors who did not share our injury but seek to share our settlement; and against being invisibilized by a bureaucracy that refuses to name the heirs of the American chattel system. We are here, leading our own fight, protecting and stewarding our own history, and securing our own justice claim.
“The UN has named the crime; now the State must settle the account. Restitution is not a charitable gift – it is a legal obligation. This is our fight, our history, and our exclusive claim to justice.” — Claudio Simpkins, ADOS AF NY
CALL TO ACTION: To support the ADOS NY Chapter and to get involved in our legislative and advocacy efforts, visit www.adosfoundation.org/ny and sign up for our chapter alerts.
For further information or technical briefings, please contact: ADOS Advocacy Foundation, Inc. New York State Chapter / National Headquarters
ny@adosfoundation.org
