Representatives from 26 states
More than 200 reparations activists from 26 states, working on local and national reparations initiatives, gathered in Evanston, Ill. recently for the 3rd Annual National Symposium for State and Local Reparations, held Nov. 30-Dec. 2 The event was convened by First Repair, founded by Robin Rue Simmons. Simmons is the former 5th Ward Alderman for the City of Evanston, IL, where she led, in collaboration with others, the passage of the nation’s first municipally-funded reparations legislation for Black residents.
During the symposium, Jessica Ann Mitchell Aiwuyor, founder and executive director of the National Black Cultural Information Trust, Inc., led the session titled “Communicating Reparations” that issued warnings and guidance for communications messaging and strategies needed to protect and move the reparations movement forward. The session included an overview and toolkit for creating detailed strategic communications plans to assist local reparations initiatives nationwide. The session also featured an analysis of the current reparations media landscape, reparative justice narratives, information on correcting misinformation about local reparations initiatives, and countering anti-reparations narratives.
“It’s an exciting and historical time for the reparations movement in America. Our ancestors worked for centuries to get us to this moment. I’m happy that our communications work has helped assist with moving reparatory justice forward,” Aiwuyor said.
Aiwuyor was also a featured panelist at the “Local and State Reparations: Repairing Black Communities” National Town Hall Meeting presented by FirstRepair and The National African-American Reparations Commission (NAARC) held at historic Second Baptist Church in Evanston, Ill. During the panel discussion, she emphasized the necessity of connecting all three eras of harm when discussing reparatory justice in America, including the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and U.S. Chattel Slavery, Jim Crow/U.S. Apartheid and modern-day systemic racism.
The National Black Cultural Information Trust, Inc. shares cultural resources, tools, and information that uplift the collective freedom of Black communities. Contact info@nbcit.org for additional information.
