—PROGRAMS & LOCAL REPARATIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH—

In 1989, the late Rep. John Conyers introduced the H.R. 40 bill. The bill proposed to create a committee to study a comprehensive reparations package for Black Americans on a federal level. Congress has never passed the bill, despite Rep. Conyers’ continuous endorsement over three decades.

With the historic passing of local bills for reparations in Illinois and North Carolina, red flags arose about the problematic language used to describe reparations for Black Americans; like “help, investments, programs, and job opportunities.” These bills deny cash payments completely, and solely focus on slavery, while neglecting over 150 years of terrorism, brutality, oppression and dehumanization of Black Americans. These issues require radical change rather than band-aids.

Real restitution for Black Americans demands untaxed cash payments and pragmatic solutions with anti-racist rhetoric. Federal commitments are necessary to atone for the multi- trillion dollar debt owed, as well as to create an anti-racist economy and society.

 

—WE DEMAND THE FOLLOWING—

In partnership with ‘the August 20th Coalition,’ Black Interest Caucus demands:

— No. 1 — Congress to pass the H.R. 40 bill immediately

— No. 2 — All Black Americans benefit from reparations & No Anti-Black rhetoric 

— No. 3 — The ‘Reparations Package’ must include:

• CASH
• POLICY CHANGE
• COMMUNITY FUNDING
• LAND GRANTS
• FORMAL & SYMBOLIC APOLOGIES

— No. 4 — Black American community health & wealth must mirror that of the median socio-economic status of white American communities

— No. 5 — Restitution for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade as well as over 150 years of white supremacy against Black Americans

 

—DETAILS of the ‘REPARATIONS PACKAGE’ must include—

• CASH — An untaxed ‘Black Economic Boom’ stimulus 

From 1619 to 1865, enslaved Africans were forced to work over 222,505,049 hours of unpaid labor. Additionally, enslaved African women labored to produce enslaved children that sustained the U.S. workforce for 246 years. The U.S. government, and major financial and religious institutions made trillions of dollars of profit, incurring an ever-growing debt to Black Americans.

We demand Cash:

• For all Black Americans

• Untaxed 
• ‘Black Economic Boom’ stimulus
  • Equal to median wealth of white-American households
• Grants
  • Small businesses
  • Black unions
• Federal, Corporate & Religious Institutions
  • Owe 15% equity

 

• POLICY CHANGE — Anti-racist political and economic reform 

The institutional pillars of slavery uphold our racist economy and society, therefore continuing its legacy. The 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution abolished slavery, “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” In order for a ‘Black economic boom’ to close the Black wealth gap, these enduring racist systems and policies must be wholly dismantled. 

We demand Policy Change:

• Create an Anti-Racist Economy
  • Federal ‘Slavery Era Disclosure’ law
  • Federal, Corporate & Religious Institutions
  • Held accountable for debts and apologies
  • Owe 15% equity

• Criminal justice reform
  • Abolish prison slave labor
  • Pass C.A.R.E.N. act
  • Pass The Breathe Act
  • Ban Qualified Immunity
  • Require mal-practice insurance for officers
  • Ban cash bail
  • Expunge and release non-violent drug offenders
• Universal healthcare
  • Anti-racist medical textbooks & studies
  • Wellness over “sick care”
  • Include doula care for mothers
• Federal Living Wage
• Voting rights
  • Made permanent
  • Restored for the incarcerated
• Immigration reform
  • Clear path to citizenship
  • Repeal 1996 Immigration Laws
  • Expand legal channels to immigration
• Tax reform
  • Raising taxes on upper class wealth
  • Corporate tax accountability
• Pollution & Climate Crisis
  • Pass The Green New Deal
  • Radically reduce waste & emissions

 

• COMMUNITY FUNDING — Transformative financing and resources 

From the schools Black Americans attend to the very water they drink, the effects of slavery and the 150+ years of oppression and terrorism that followed, bankrupted Black communities via redlining, devastating massacres, emotional trauma, defunded schools and environmental racism. If the descendants of enslaved people had reaped any benefit from their ancestors' free labor, Black community health and wealth would mirror that of the median socio-economic status of white American communities.

We demand Community Funding:

• Infrastructure
  • Wifi
  • Roads
  • Parks
  • Public transportation
• Schools & HBCUs
  
  • Ban racist school policies
  • Student loan forgiveness
  • Debt-free universities
  • Curriculums of Inclusion
  • Grants & Scholarships

• Access to fresh food and clean water
• Mental health centers & trauma healing services
• Homelessness
• Affordable Housing

 

• LAND GRANTS — ‘The Black Frontier’ of ownership

Generational wealth for white Americans began with slavery and was then compounded by the Homestead Act of 1862 when they were given 160 acres of land from the U.S. government. Newly freed Black Americans were denied any foundation of wealth, including land ownership. Following Emancipation in 1865, Black bodies piled up on the sides of roads due to lack of shelter, food, and other basic necessities. Black farmers were systematically robbed of their land by racist financial institutions, and were never made whole from the damages endured over generations. As a result of predatory lenders, Black Americans have continued to be denied access to home and land ownership. The Federal Housing Administration and the 1934 Housing Act furthered segregation and overwhelmingly provided affordable housing for white Americans while redlining Black Americans into impoverished areas.

We demand Land Grants:

• Black farmers
  • Made whole for generational losses
• Home ownership
  • Grants
  • Special interest rate loans via Black owned banks

 

• FORMAL & SYMBOLIC APOLOGIES — A Public International Atonement

Stolen African ancestors were stripped of their languages, cultures and identities. Their descendants have been withheld the Right of Return, which is an international legal principle that allows stateless individuals to return to, or visit, their countries of origin. Sacred sites in the U.S.; like Seneca Village of New York City, New York, and the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, have yet to be acknowledged by the National Register of Historic Places. Confederate monuments, erected during the Jim Crow Era, inhabit hundreds of city squares across the U.S., and were used to intimidate the descendants of enslaved people. 

We demand Formal & Symbolic Apologies:

• From Federal, Corporate & Religious Institutions
  • & Other nations that benefited 
• Museums
  • African Holocaust Institution
• Memorials 
• Right of Return & Repatriation
• Govt sponsored DNA ancestry tests
  • From Black-owned companies
• Historic registry of sacred sites
• Removal of all Confederate monuments

 

—NOTEWORTHY STUDIES OF REPARATIONS— 

Independent cases for reparations have been made by N’COBRA​, NAARC​, Professor William Darity of Duke University, the NLPC, and more recently, by Nikole Hannah-Jones of the New York Times and author, Ta-nehisi Coates. These studies explore the complexities of the U.S. economy slavery built, Black generational trauma, as well as the Black disparities made possible by the lingering legacy of slavery.

 

—WHEN H.R. 40 PASSES—

When Rep. John Conyers’ H.R. 40 bill is passed by Congress, we must look to academics, like the aforementioned, as leaders of the committee for federal reparations. Once Congress passes the H.R. 40 bill, the appointed Black individuals, organizations and allies will provide the anti-racist language and policies needed to fully repair the Black American community for all that is owed for the racial injustices that have continued since August 20, 1619.

 

THIS PETITION IS SUPPORTED BY:

—THE AUGUST 20TH COALITION—

Black Interest Caucus— @blackinterestcaucus

The Fund for Reparations Now!— @reparationsfund

Black Organizers United— @blackorganizers

Bank Black USA— @bankblackusa

Jessica Spencer— @msjrfoxx

Reparations Now— @reparations.now.cle

Angelique Gates— @ellolique

The July Third Foundation— @julythirdfoundation

The Sellars Foundation— @thesellarsfoundation

AfroRoots DNA— @afroroots.dna

The Reluctant Activist— @reluctant_activist

The Great Black Narrative— @thegreatblacknarrative

Mehcad Brooks— @mehcadbrooks

Katie Capano— @katiecapano

Michael Twitty— @thecookinggene

Crash Barbosa— @crashbarbosa

Mr Tempo— @mr._tempo

Glou Glou Magazine— @glougloumagazine

Humans for Reparations— @support_h.r.40

Eva Blake— @desireevablake

Jeni Jones— @jeniannejones

The Ghetto Activist— @theghettoactivist

 

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