In 1989, the December I2th Movement International Secretariat (IS) first goes to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, as part of a group called Freedom Now, a campaign seeking amnesty for political prisoners and prisoners of war in the US. Many of the IS members are veterans of the African Liberation Support Committee of the 1970s.

The December 12th Movement takes its name from a statewide demonstration held in Newburgh, New York on December 12, 1987. The rally was called to protest killings, beatings, and harassment that had been directed against Blacks and Latinos in New York State. Those coming together that day called themselves the December 12th Coalition. Those continuing became the December 12th Movement. The December 12th Movement International Secretariat (IS) is a constituent organization of the December 12th Movement.

Reference: Roger Wareham, The Popularization of the International Demand for Reparations for African People,in Should America Pay?: Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations(ed. Raymond A. Winbush, PhD 2003) at pp. 226-27

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In 1997, Bacre Wali Ndiaye, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, investigates and issues reports critical of the US situation (E/CN.4//1998/68/Add.3).

In 2008, the Episcopal Diocese of New York produces the DVD entitled “The Diocese of New York Examines Slavery: Talking About Reparations, Repair and Reconciliation.”