The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations

       in America (N’COBRA) Announces

   Election of National C0-chairs             

 

The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA), held its 22nd national conference in Chicago, IL, June 23-26, 2011. For the first time in its 24 year history there was a tie vote for the national office of male Co-chair.  In the absence of a tie-breaking procedure for the election of a national co-chair and in the spirit of unity, the two candidates, Joseph Epps of Indianapolis, Indiana, and Ari Merretazon, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, agreed to split their duties while serving the two year term. Epps will lead the internal work of the organization during the first year and Merretazon will lead the external work. The roles will be reversed in the second year of their term.

 

I will work to strengthen the existing national structure of the coalition and its commission, Epps emphasized. Merretazon said, “I will work to mainstream the reparations movement in America.”  With strategic passion, Merretazon said, “we will enlarge our tent and invite a broad cross-section of the African Diaspora that exists in America to include people from all of our religions, isms and schisms because reparations is the cross-road solution to our human capital development, as a matter of public policy.”

 

Joseph Epps is a member of the founding group of the Hoosier (Indiana) Minority Chamber of Commerce. He has served as President and Chairman of the Indianapolis Black Chamber of Commerce for seven years and is the founder of the Indianapolis Community Empowerment Group (CEG).

 Epps, a lifetime member of N'COBRA, is presently the male Co-chair of the Indianapolis, Indiana Chapter of N'COBRA, an at-large Board member of national N'COBRA and a Board member of the N’COBRA- Legal Defense Research Education Funds (N-LDREF).

Epps also serves as a Board member of Purdue University, Marion-County Extension. 

Ari Merretazon is an ordained minister, with a graduate degree from the School of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, New Hampshire. He is a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of N’COBRA, is the N’COBRA Northeast Regional Representative, a Board member of national N'COBRA and the Board Secretary of N’COBRA-Legal Defense Research Education Fund (N-LDREF).

 

Merretazon, is also the Executive Director of Pointman Soldiers Heart Ministry and is a decorated, honorably discharged, Vietnam War Veteran, Headquarters Recon, 3rd Brigade, 4th and 25th Infantry Divisions, U.S. Army.  His war narrative is Chapter 7, in the book, Bloods, an Oral History of the Vietnam War told by Black Veterans, by Wallace Terry.  His story was used to make the movie Dead Presidents. Larentz Tate played his character, “Anthony.”

 

Merretazon is a Blogger for Reparations (SeeingBlack.com/Reparations Now! and TheBlacklist.net

 


WWW.NCOBRA.ORG

WWW.NCOBRAPHILADELPHIA.ORG

Mzee Ari S. Merretazon,M.S.CED
N'COBRA National Male Co-Chair
http://www.ncobraphiladelphia.org
"Never forget,Reparations is the cross-road solution to our human capital infrastructure in the context of a Reparations Accord for Blacks in America as a matter of public policy." Merretazon, 8/23/2008
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