The African Union (AU), which unites countries across the African continent, declared its theme for 2025 to be the “Year of Reparations” at its conference this weekend in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
AU Theme of the Year 2025: “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations”
— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) February 15, 2025
The path to justice and repair is long, but the African Union, its Member States, the African citizens and the African Diaspora are determined to walk it together.
Reparations… pic.twitter.com/RYuzHJzvEe
Voice of America reported that the theme of “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations” was the central organizing principle of the annual AU summit.
The AU Youth Envoy on Reparations, for example, said: “Reparations are not merely an act of financial restitution, but a broader call for justice, acknowledgment, and healing. It is not about dwelling in the past but about creating a future where African nations can thrive without the weight of colonial exploitation holding us back.”
Last year, the U.S. state of California came close to offering reparations — though it entered the Union as a free state in 1850 — but did not offer any form of cash payments, instead settling on an apology for enforcing fugitive slave laws and allowing racial discrimination.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
