T.I. Demands Reparations In Open Letter To Lloyd’s Of London
The 334-year-old firm played a major role in the transatlantic slave trade.
T.I. wants accountability for an insurance marketplace giant that was heavily involved in the transatlantic slave trade.
On Friday (July 17), the Atlanta rapper penned an open letter to Lloyd’s of London demanding the company pay reparations for the devastating role it played over a century ago. Lloyd’s of London serves as a major hub where insurance buyers and sellers can congregate to provide and receive services. The company dates back to the 17th century.
T.I, starts the letter using a serious tone and his full name states, “I, Clifford Harris, as a representative of the descendents of the enslaved Africans, am placing Lloyds of London on notice.”
"Our people have been financially impaired & economically disabled due to the systemic oppression and institutional racism it leaves behind," T.I. wrote in the caption of an Instagram post featuring the letter. "TIME TO TAKE WHAT WE KNOW OUR ANCESTORS DESERVED & DIED FOR."
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According to the New York Times, in June, Lloyd’s acknowledged its ties to the slave trade and said it would pledge to recruit more Black employees and provide financial support to philanthropic efforts that promote diversity and inclusion as a means of contrition. T.I. though, says the company owes Black people more than that.
"Your commitment to reparations is an honorable one, but commitment without tangible actions is merely lip service,” he continues in the letter. "We demand a specific call to action that includes, but is not limited to direct reparations be made to the families who were ripped from their native lands and sold as property while your company profited from the whole shameful endeavor."
Later in the letter, T.I. suggests that 10 percent ownership of Lloyd’s should be given to the descendants of African slaves and annual tracking of those reparations start immediately. He also would like a $1 million cash loan, with only 1 percent interest, be given to every African-American adult once in their lifetime for the next 200 years and have at least one African-American member on its board.
"We have waited long enough and our community deserves real action and much more than empty apologies or platitudes," he writes, adding that a comprehensive reparation plan be ready by fall of this year.
Read the full letter below.
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