Join The Fight For Reparations in NY

BIG NEWS ON REPARATIONS:

The New York State Legislature has passed a bill that — if signed into law by the Governor — would create a community commission to examine the impact of slavery and its legacy on living Black New Yorkers, and make recommendations for reparations.

I’m very proud to have helped carry the torch in the fight for reparations and this is an exciting step. However, the fight is not over and there are three caveats we should all be aware of:

  • At time of writing, this bill has not been signed into law by the Governor. 

  • Any recommended plan for reparations the commission develops will need to be voted on by the legislature and signed by the Governor, and we will need to make sure that happens. 

  • The final version of the reparations commission that passed does not guarantee input from the community about the appointments to the commission.  Instead, it gives full control of the commission appointments to the Assembly Speaker, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Governor. 

 

We will need to speak up as a community to ensure the groups who have worked on the issue of reparations for decades, who fought for this legislation, and who hold generations of expertise on reparations and the harms of the slave trade, are appointed to the commission. 
 

JOIN THE FIGHT FOR REPARATIONS: