The New York Observer is reporting that Brooklyn activist Clive Campbell is suing Jay-Z, developer Bruce Ratner and Barclays bank for $5 billion in a “claim of lien” action that seeks the money for slavery reparations.
The lawsuit’s three targets are all involved in the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, which will soon be the home arena for the New Jersey Nets and more than 6,000 apartments. Campbell claims Barclays profited from the African slave trade, and continues to make money through its new partnership with Jay-Z and Ratner.
Campbell’s lawsuit claims that Ratner and Jay-Z worked “in concert” with Barclays, and “profited from the African Slave Trade and continue to profit from these gains, through a conspiracy dating back hundreds of years and continue to date to oppress Black people, enslave them, unlawfully deport them to all corners of the Earth.”