ANCA Capitol Hill Lemkin Lecture to Explore Armenian Genocide Reparations

Dr. Jermaine McCalpin will Speak this Thursday on “Reparations, Recognition and the Armenian Genocide”

WASHINGTON, DC – The next Capitol Hill lecture in the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Raphael Lemkin Policy Series will be delivered by Dr. Jermaine McCalpin – a global thought-leader on issues of genocide and justice – on Thursday, September 26, 2019, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm in room 2043 of the Rayburn House Office Building. A reception will follow, organized in collaboration with the Congressional Armenian Staff Association.

“The ANCA is honored to bring Dr. McCalpin to Capitol Hill for what will surely be a compelling conversation about the justice owed by Turkey to the Armenian nation for the continuing consequences of the Armenian Genocide,” said ANCA Government Affairs Director Tereza Yerimyan. “We look forward to hearing his views on the scale and scope of reparations, and also to exploring with him avenues for greater solidarity among groups that have survived genocide.”

“We are, of course, deeply grateful to Congressman Sherman for hosting the second lecture in our Raphael Lemkin Policy Series, and for all his leadership on issues of concern to the Armenian American community,” added Yerimyan.

Dr. McCalpin’s lecture will cover “Reparations, Recognition and the Armenian Genocide,” presenting the Armenian case in the context of the broader movement toward transitional justice. In previous presentations, he has underscored the need for solidarity between groups that are seeking justice for genocidal crimes.

Dr. McCalpin is the co-author of the landmark Armenian Genocide Reparations Study Group Report “Resolution with Justice“, and currently serves as Chair of the African and African-American Studies Program at New Jersey City University. He received his B.Sc. in Political Science and International Relations and M.Sc. from the University of the West Indies, Mona. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Brown University. Dr. McCalpin is an internationally recognized expert and consultant on transitional justice, genocides and reparations. He has traveled to South Africa, Cambodia, Armenia and across the United States and Canada researching and presenting on the Armenian Genocide, the transatlantic trade in Africans and reparations, truth commissions and issues of justice. Dr. McCalpin specializes in Africana political philosophy, Caribbean political thought, and transitional justice. His research interests include truth commissions, commissions of inquiry and political accountability, reparations for historic injustice such as slavery, Native American and Armenian genocides. McCalpin has written on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its development of a restorative justice approach to South Africa’s transitional justice issues as well as the moral justification for reparations for slavery and the Armenian Genocide.

The Lemkin series is made possible by the ANCA Endowment Fund and the generosity of the Aramian Family – led by sisters Sue, the late Margo, and the late Martha – long-time benefactors of educational and charitable projects in the Armenian homeland and the diaspora. The series is named after Raphael Lemkin, the lawyer who first coined the term “genocide” after learning about the Armenian Genocide. He led the global movement to adopt the “UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”, which was adopted by the United Nations in December 1948. A landmark of international law, the Convention defines genocide as an international crime.

The lecture will be hosted by Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), a longtime community champion who recently secured the adoption of a watershed amendment to the House version of the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act barring the transfer of U.S. surface to air missile technology to Azerbaijan unless and until the President of the United States can confirm that such a transfer would not endanger civilian aircraft. Azerbaijan has repeatedly threatened to shoot down civilian aircraft flying into the Republic of Artsakh’s main airport in Stepanakert.

Additional information about the lecture is posted on the ANCA Facebook page.

RSVP is requested but not required by emailing rsvp@anca.org

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