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[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

- We need to get
in a single file line,

or no one's getting in.

- The House Committee
on the Judiciary

is holding a hearing today
on a bill which proposes

to establish a commission

to study and develop
reparations proposals

for African Americans.

- Black power.
all: Black power!

- H.R. 40,
the bill introduced by

the late
Congressman John Conyers,

has languished in committee
for more than 30 years.

Since his passing,
Texas congresswoman

Sheila Jackson Lee
has taken up the fight

to try to move it
through the House

and eventually to the Senate,

where she'll need a miracle
to get it passed.

- H.R. 40 is, in fact,
the response

of the United States of America
long overdue.

My people in America
are the descendants

of Africans kidnapped
and transported

to the United States.

It is only this group
that can singularly,

singularly claim

to have been slaves
under the auspices,

the institution and leadership

of the United States
government.

Slavery is the original sin.

Slavery has never received
an apology.

- By the time the enslaved
were emancipated,

they comprised the largest
single asset in America.

3 billion in 1860 dollars,

more than all the other assets
in the country combined.

- I picked the cotton.

I built the railroad
under someone else's whip

for nothing.

For nothing.

- Reconstruction failed
after 12 years.

And after reconstruction,
a reign of terror

that had never been seen.

The hanging fruit,
the lynching.

- State-sponsored terrorism.

- We kick the living hell
out of the niggers.

back to their own hometowns
where they ought to have been.

- Yesterday when asked
about reparations,

Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell

offered a familiar reply.

- Yeah,
I don't think reparations

for something that happened
150 years ago

for whom none of us currently
living are responsible

is a good idea.

- This rebuttal proffers
a strange theory of governance,

that American accounts
are somehow bound

by the lifetime
of its generations.

[dramatic music]

- What the bill says
is that this is a proposal

for reparations for
the institution of slavery.

- Yes.

- The institution of slavery
has never gone away.

♪ ♪

- Convict leasing.

- The oppression of voting.

- Poll taxes
and racist G.I. bills.

- Many of the bedrock policies,
in fact, that ushered

generations of Americans
into the middle class

were designed to exclude
African Americans.

- We fought in every one
of your damn lousy wars, baby.

And you give us nothing.

- Thousands and thousands
of Black veterans

were denied
their G.I. Bill benefits.

- Federal Housing programs
also discriminated

against African Americans
by redlining.

- There's no question
that redlining is happening.

It's happening in almost
every major city in America.

- The typical Black family
in this country

has 1/10 the wealth
of the typical white family.

- 31% of Black children live
in poverty,

compared to 11%
of white children.

And we know
the criminal justice system.

- Somebody kicked in the door
and shot my girlfriend.

- Oh, my God.

[protestors shouting]

all: No peace!

- The question facing

every person
who lives in this nation

is not so much
who killed those young men,

but what killed them.

- I'm gonna tell them
there's an African American man

threatening my life.

- The matter of reparations

is one of making amends,

indirect redress,

but it is also a question
of citizenship.

- If you won't listen to me

when I make an appeal
for the Negroes,

because you have no concern
for the Negro...

- Let's go.

Move it on back.

♪ ♪

- Listen to me when I make
an appeal for America!

♪ ♪

- Let us work together,

and let's get this done.

It is long overdue.

It is deserving,

and it is
the right thing to do.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

♪ ♪

- We have yet to hear
when the bill

will have a full House vote.

Keep in mind
that's still another hurdle

that this legislation
has to move past.

[upbeat music]

- ♪ Ha ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Hey ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Ha ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Huh ♪

♪ ♪

- Good afternoon.

This is the professor,
Dr. Ron Daniels,

president of the Institute of
the Black World 21st Century

and distinguished lecturer.

Good afternoon.
You're on Vantage Point.

- Hey, how you doing, brother?
- Good.

- I just wanted to get
your opinion on H.R. 40.

There hasn't been much talk
or thought

about, you know, reparations.

So I was just wondering
if you could speak on that.

- Oh, I certainly can.

I mean, H.R. 40 is--

we're pushing very hard.

There's been a lot of debate
and discussion

about the--the bill.

And it's unfortunately--
unfortunately,

it's playing out between
the political parties,

to some degree.

I must say that we have

great disappointment
at this level.

But Sheila Jackson Lee

has been absolutely visionary,

courageous, and tenacious

in helping to spearhead this.

- African Americans are still
feeling the brunt of slavery.

But we're trying
to get our friends

who are making statements,
"You were not a slave,"

to understand
that you are a descendant,

a descendant, a descendant,

but you are faced
by that status of slavery

and racism that puts you
in this position today.

[indistinct radio chatter]

- We did not initially start
talking about

building local
reparations initiatives

until I get this call
from a dear friend,

longtime activist.

- How are you?
- I'm fantastic.

How are you?
- I'm doing great.

I'm doing great. Yeah.
- Yeah. I'm doing just fine.

- Good.
- You know I'm, like,

in warrior mode, right?
- That's fine. That's fine.

- He said, "Man, you know,
we got a bad system

"in Evanston,
and she's pushing

the reparations question
strong."

- We're gonna market it
and tell everybody about it.

You're doing wonderful.
We love it.

- Thank you.
- Oh, yeah.

- Congratulations.
- Thank you.

[indistinct chatter]

- Good evening, everyone.

all: Good evening.

- We're going to prepare
our hearts and minds

to begin this
most historic town meeting

to celebrate
the Evanston reparations.

Would you clap your hands
for...

[cheers and applause]

- There's something in the air.

The whole nation
is watching this city

and, indeed,
perhaps over the world.

And so it was Alderman Simmons
who brings us here,

in many respects.

You have become
the visible face

and the driving force

of the Evanston
reparation initiative.

Why did you do this?

- Evanston...

We are leaders.

And as I work through
my responsibilities

as Fifth Ward Alderman,
I saw how hard we were working.

My colleagues on city council,
community organizations,

residents, parents,
were working really hard

to bring equity and inclusion,

and we were not moving
the needle.

We still maintain
a wealth disparity of $46,000

between Blacks and whites
in Evanston.

We continued
a life expectancy gap

of 13 years.

Our Black homeownership rate
is at its lowest point

since the 1960s,

and we needed to move
our efforts

beyond apology and ceremony,

and we needed to bring action.

It was time to do
something as radical

as the oppression
and discrimination,

as the impact
from the Jim Crow law

and the redlining.

Something as radical
as reparations.

[cheers and applause]

There was nothing more to do.

[cheers and applause]

[upbeat music]

- All right, folks,

we'll be talking
about H.R. 40,

the commission
to study reparations.

H.R. 40 has been stalled
in Congress

for more than 30 years,

but there's new light
in the debate

coming out of Evanston,
Illinois.

Robin Rue Simmons
was an alderwoman there.

She got passed

the first reparations bill
in American history.

- The city of Evanston
now has pledged

to pay out $10 million
over the next 10 years.

- This is the first attempt
at a publicly funded

reparations program
in U.S. history.

- So now it's up to Evanston
to decide

how and to whom the money
will be distributed.

♪ ♪

- It's been nonstop.

More calls and emails
in the last few days

than I probably had in
the last couple years, really.

[laughs]

- You'll be hearing
from me shortly

on the few emails and texts,

and then I'll see you at 5:30.

- Okay, thank you.

- Awesome.
No problem.

- Learning
that local government

is most responsive

and we're more nimble

and we can make impact

quicker than
the federal government,

and thinking
this is a local matter.

And I pushed it relentlessly.

I was very, very stern

in wanting it to happen
in this calendar year,

being the 400th year
of Black resilience.

That was important to me.

So I was not willing
to compromise

on any other format
to get to this victory.

Time is of the essence.

So with that said,

let's just do the work
at this point.

Solutions only. Hashtags.

How are we gonna--

I hear we have 16 seats
instead of 24.

[laughs]

Hi. How are you?

[indistinct chatter]

- Sheila, go ahead, sit here.

- Thank you for accepting
the invitation.

- Sheila, sit here.

- All right,
does everybody have a seat?

I will not hold anybody liable

for any injuries
that might occur in this.

- All right. So noted.

[laughter]
Right.

- Welcome, everyone.

Can I have your attention?

I'm trying to paint a picture
of how Evanston

has changed over the course
of 100, 150 years.

Evanston was established
in 1855.

Right here
was the Evanston Sanitarium.

Evanston segregated hospital.

Up and down here,
a lot of mom-and-pop shops,

eateries, barbers,
beauticians.

This location here
was the original location

of Ebenezer AME Church,
Evanston's oldest Black church,

established in 1882.

And the Emerson Street branch
YMCA that was located

at this section right here,

it was opened in 1914
to service the Black community

in Evanston, Illinois.

- Everything that happened
in Evanston

was happening
in this building.

Churches started there.
Clubs started there.

Decades of history and memory
in one building.

And that kind of epitomized
the strength of a community

at that time.

Shorefront is an organization
that documents

the African American
experience

in Chicago's
suburban North Shore.

And usually the storyline is,

we're domestics and servants,
and we have no history.

And I'm kind of,
like, saying this--

this is BS.

This is American history,

and you cannot edit out
a dialogue

to create a new narrative.

You're not telling
a complete story,

and you're telling
an inaccurate story.

[indistinct chatter]

- Evanston had a significant
part to do with it.

- Yeah.
Yeah, we did.

- Good afternoon, everyone.

Thank you all for being here.

We are here today because
we have a lot of work to do.

We've done something
really historic,

and we have an opportunity
to actually make

tremendous impact
in our community,

and be looked to
as a model of what's possible

in localities
across the nation.

Via Evanston's budget,

there is a reparation fund
line item.

That's really exciting.

[applause]

Yeah.

- The question is,
what makes reparations

reparations?

Certainly,
the whole issue of enslavement

is what people tend
to think about,

but it is also
for Jim Crow policies

and racially exclusionary
policies,

policies that provided benefits
for white people

that we didn't get.

That in fact, helped
to develop white communities

to the underdevelopment
of Black communities.

- I want us to forever remember

that there is
no amount of money

that they can pay us

for what our people
have endured.

The notion that comes
out of our committee,

ancestral wisdom about justice.

Not charity.

And that's the distinction
we're looking for

in terms of public policy

and what we're talking about

when we talk about
reparatory justice.

- When you use the term
reparations in this context,

a whole slew of categories--

redlining, apartheid,

which was Jim Crow segregation,
slavery--

these were what were considered
crimes against humanity.

And how do you return
the dignity back

to a people
whose dignity was eroded

as a result of the crimes
that were committed?

- Mm-hmm.

- When we come to 1865,

General Sherman's
Field Order 15,

that was the moment
when the nation attempted

to redress the crimes
of enslavement

and all of the things
that went on

through that cruel period.

- [garbled speech]

As the Union swept
towards victory

over the slaveholding
Southern states,

General William T. Sherman
issued a military order

redistributing 400,000 acres
of Confederate lands

to the recently emancipated
slaves.

The order specified that
the land be divided equally

into 40-acre parcels
and governed by

an autonomous,
all-Black government.

This order,
Special Order Field 15,

became known as
"40 acres and a mule."

[tense music]

- General Sherman's
Field Order 15,

that was the first
of many times

where this country had
an opportunity

to do the right thing,
and it never did.

♪ ♪

If they had,
then we wouldn't be

in the situation we're in now.

Less than three months
after General Sherman's order,

Lincoln was assassinated,

and the new president
rescinded it.

That kind of ended reparations
for 50, 60 years.

That's when
Sister Callie House

comes into that.

A lot of ex-slaves
were too old to work.

♪ ♪

She had set up
a massive movement

trying to get government
pensions for ex-slaves.

She was stopped by being
arrested and imprisoned

because the government said

she was actually defrauding
her members,

that she should have known

America was never gonna pay.

Callie House was a threat
to white America

and to the government

because she inspired
a movement

to see this issue

as a collective struggle
of a people,

but the question is,
do you see yourself

as part of the people
of African descent,

or do you see yourself
as American individuals

who happen to be Black?

♪ ♪

- This is the redline map
that shows the area

that was redlined, all
encompassing the Fifth Ward.

Redlining
was a Federal Housing program

designating areas in cities

that had a potential
real estate growth,

and assigning value to areas.

So if you're in
the higher letters, A, B,

the green areas
are the most desirable areas.

Those are areas
where banks specifically

would lend money for housing
and for development.

This whole blue area here
is all lakefront property.

So highly desired.

Then when you get in yellow,
it's kind of iffy, you know,

but a lot of times,
this represents middle class,

working class, ethnic white.

If you're labeled D,
that's the lowest.

Banks recommend no investment
whatsoever.

Not in housing,
not in business development.

100% of the time,
it is the Black population.

So Robin lives
about right here,

right in the middle,
where the D2 is.

- Okay, well, my Uber is here.

- Oh, daughter!
- [laughs]

- Baby.
- I'll see you Monday.

Or Tuesday.
- Okay, bye, baby.

Have fun.
- Bye-bye.

- Mm-hmm.
- You got the door?

- Yeah.

Hey, Demetrius, how are you?

It's Robin.

I'm just touching base

after that call we had
yesterday.

Did I have any action items?

My feelings are all over
the place right now.

Some mornings I wake up
and I feel like, wow,

I'm a part of history.

This is special.

And then it's intimidating
at the same time,

because what if
you don't get it right

and everyone's
not comfortable with it?

You know, people have been
extremely nasty to me,

and I'm careful to maintain
my professionalism always

and, you know,
use all my big words

and not yell.

And I just really want
to get to the action.

Like, that's kind of
how I lead.

I like to identify the problem,
you know,

and get right
to identifying a solution

and put some action
behind that.

But we can't work
so swiftly with this

because there are, you know,

generations and decades
and layers of problems

and damages
and responsible institutions

and practices and culture.

And the more I learn

and the more
I get accomplished,

it seems like
the more work there is to do.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

- I'm trying to find
my husband,

who doesn't often
get to come here.

And one of my swearing in.

Me and President Clinton.

We had an Oval Office picture.

That's a big deal,

when you have
a one-on-one meeting

with the President
of the United States.

I appreciate that.

We were talking
about some serious issues.

There's Mandela.

Barbara.

That's my good friend
Congressman John Conyers.

Fighting the good fight
of H.R. 40 reparations.

This was deeply personal

because I have lived
the laws of the land

dividing us
by sanctioning discrimination

and racism.

John Lewis is--
I have to get way up here.

John Lewis,
just a wonderful man,

and he was a strong supporter
of H.R. 40.

I just miss him so much.

My grandparents
were in Florida.

When I would go visit them,

I rode in the back
of the train,

as a little girl,
with my bag of food,

because I could not eat
any place in that train.

I had to be relegated

to the train
for colored people,

and you had to bring
your own food.

And my mom and dad.

My father was a young,
brilliant cartoonist.

This is the "Invisible Men:

The Trailblazing Black Artists
of Comic Books."

♪ ♪

Ezra Clyde Jackson.

There he is.

He did it under a pseudonym
'cause there was a broker

who took the work
that these Black men had

and then took it
to Madison Avenue.

Because the color thing,

it had to be
sort of camouflaged.

Oh, there. I'll turn the page.

This the kind of work
that he did.

♪ ♪

And this is what they did.

They took their work

and then they put
a pseudonym on it

and sold it
to the comic books...

♪ ♪

So they wouldn't know
that Black people,

Black men did it.

♪ ♪

And then
when the white soldiers

came back from World War II,

it was just,
"We don't need you anymore."

That stained us
for his whole life

into my beginning of my life.

I'm still not prepared
to join an insurrection.

I just want to understand,
and I want you to understand

who I am and who we are.

- I didn't know
if what you wanted

was relative
to the agenda items.

So I was trying
to make an effort

to touch base with you before.

Six generations of my family

have been
Fifth Ward residents.

The work is personal for me.

I have a daughter,

and I have, you know,
a son and a grandson.

They're Black children
that are in a cruel world

with discrimination
and unfair practices

that they have to navigate
life with.

And if I can do anything
to give them hope

that they can be
whatever they want to be,

that's my responsibility.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

So I grew up right here
in the Fifth Ward.

I was born and raised.

And from birth to 17,
when I left

after graduating
Evanston Township High School,

I lived in--
I should count them.

it may be somewhere between
10 and 12 different homes

in the Fifth Ward.

So this is my neighborhood.

Much of my childhood I actually
lived with my grandparents,

so my mother was pursuing
her highest and best life,

and I lived
with my grandparents.

So this was
my grandparents' home.

And so we lived
on the first floor.

This was my home base.

I probably lived here
some stretch of grade school,

most of junior high,
all of high school.

I lived with my grandparents
here in this house.

This is me
in front of that house.

[laughs]

We didn't have a lot,
but we had a ton of love,

and I didn't know
that I didn't have a lot.

I mean, it wasn't until
I moved out

and entered into adulting

that I realized that we were,
you know,

working class poor.

I thought I was well-off.

[soft music]

It's my village.

Like these streets raised me,

and that community
I'm just forever grateful for.

I could have very easily
been something else.

I could have very easily had
an addiction or, you know,

been in the criminal justice
system.

And my community
really helped me believe

that I could choose

to be however great
I wanted to be.

And I believed them,
and here I am today,

trying really, really hard
to give back

in the way that I was receiving
as a child.

♪ ♪

- We are here in Hecky Way.

Hi. How you doing?

- Sauce on the regular tips?

- Yes.

- We specialize in barbecue.

It's a homemade recipe
received from my mother.

She got it
from her grandmother.

♪ ♪

This is our smokers here.

Those are rib tips.

And Kendra's over here
working pulled pork--

or she pretending like
she's working the pulled pork.

[laughs]

We sell so much,
I had to get a machine.

People don't have
the work ethic.

That's what we're trying
to teach like they used to.

I'm not liberal, okay?

I'm, like, in the middle.

I helped Robin on her campaign
to be an alderperson.

You know, our council,
in this community,

has got a little too liberal
for me.

I mean, reparation,
we don't need it.

When we talk about redlining,
that wasn't good.

But then there was part of it
that was good.

All the Black people
live together.

We all was in
the same neighborhood.

The poor, the middle class,
and the rich.

My family's been here
since 1902.

My great-grandfather,
now, he was born into slavery.

His mother
and three of the siblings

escaped from New Madrid,
Missouri,

where they were picking
cotton.

And my dad,
who raised nine kids

doing domestic work
on the North Shore.

You know,
the man worked extremely hard,

and he saved his money.

And he built a house.

This is back during the time

when they were not giving

or considering giving
Black men money for homes.

You know, we never
was on any type of public aid

or assistance
or any of those things.

He didn't believe in it.

And he wouldn't take it anyway.

He believed and taught us
the work ethic.

And that all of us, you
should work for what you want.

This one here
is some key people

that played a great role
in the community.

This guy here,
he owned this company.

Golden Crown Juices.

He couldn't get
into the big stores,

but he was smart.

He hired these two white guys
to be his salesmen,

and they thought
they were the owners.

So that's how he got--

that's how he got
into those stores.

He knew how to think.

This guy is named Jack Moss.

He owned the grocery store
that was down the street.

That's where every--
Black people shopped at,

was at his place.

No hand-me-outs.

No government funds.

And you know something?

If you didn't have
enough money,

he had a little chart for you.

You'd pay him off weekly.

And that's my dad up there.

I put him close to heaven.

[chuckles]

[soft music]

♪ ♪

- I've lived in Evanston
for 19 years.

I thought I lived
in a diverse community,

my kids went
to a diverse school.

But all my friends were white.

I lived in
a totally white neighborhood,

and I knew absolutely nothing
about the Black community

or the history of
the Black community.

And I think once you know that

and once you hear the stories,

you can't help but care.

You can't help but recognize
the injustice,

the enormous length of time

that this injustice
has been going on.

And so that's why
I give a [...],

because there are people
in my community--

it's my community.

Dear Evanston.

And so I started
Dear Evanston.

It's an organization
based on a Facebook page,

talking to white people
about what's going on

in Evanston's Black community.

Because there's such a divide
in our city.

And there's so many
white people

who are probably
pretty well-meaning

but just don't know
what's going on.

Just don't know
the history of Evanston.

And not because
they don't want to know,

but no one's ever taught them.

And I was one of those people.

I grew up in South Africa,

and I left South Africa
when I was almost 15.

And I think that growing up
in South Africa

and being young

and growing up
during apartheid,

there was nothing I could do.

There was nothing
that I felt any power to do.

And I remember as a kid
feeling very guilty

and uncomfortable and helpless.

I live in
this beautiful house,

and the question is,
how much do we owe?

And how much should we give?

I think every white person
in Evanston

is gonna need to answer
that question for themselves.

I can't even say for myself
what it is that I'm "prepared"

or that my family
is prepared to give,

because it's, like,
an insurmountable amount

that is owed.

I don't know
how we'll ever pay it.

I don't know how, as a family,
we'd be able to pay it,

and how much we'll be willing
to, to be very honest.

You know?

How much of--how much of
our privilege and our money

are we gonna be willing
to ultimately give to this?

Something we think--
I have to think about a lot.

♪ ♪

- This is the rough part
of Evanston.

This is the part of town
where you don't want to be out

on a nice summer night
at 11:00 at night.

Kind of a classic story.

We always drove
our kids to school.

I would just drive them
and then go to work.

So we're driving
by the high school,

with police line
all over the place.

Someone got shot
at the high school.

I don't know who did it.

It's just the nature of this
neighborhood, or you know,

it's--it's a rough--

it's a rough part of town.

Just it's just--
just the way it is.

If you were to look at
some of these mailboxes,

you'll see that
there are lots of people,

probably seven or eight names
just listed on the mailbox.

It's not right or wrong.

It's just this is, you know--

this is how they get through
life's journey, as well.

Just...

That's their world.

Come on, Wolf. Come on.

Robin, as to why reparations
are needed,

she's mentioned that,
you know,

people are being priced out
of Evanston.

And you know,
thank God for the U.S. Census.

I mean, in 1990,
Evanston was 78% white.

It's now 59% white.

It's okay.

In 1990, it was 22% Black.

It's now 16% Black.

Again, I don't have a problem
with that.

That's just people come and go,
and people move.

In the meantime,
Evanston has gone

from 15% Asian to 27% Asian.

I--so I just don't see
this issue that, you know,

the part
of the reparations fund

is gonna be used
to keep Black families

in the community.

I don't know why
they would be given

more status
than any other group of people.

There's a lot of people
who are afraid to speak up.

You're afraid that you--

and speak
to a contrary position,

you're actually afraid
to actually speak your mind,

because someone's
gonna sit there

and say, "You are a--"
whatever.

And--or your car is going
to get keyed, or you're--

you know, again, I don't know
that there's any incidences

of someone who said something
that didn't agree

with the masses
getting their car keyed,

but that's the inner feeling.

That saying
something controversial

is gonna end up, you know,
causing harm

to myself and my family.

I mean, if you think
about reparations,

reparations conceptually,

it's for those that
were victimized by slavery.

So if there was gonna be
a time to make the reparations

for the harm of slavery,
I would argue

that that should have
been done, you know,

in the late 19th century.

We're now in the 21st century.

I think what it'll end up doing

is making us look
like a bunch of bloody fools.

- All that makes somebody
Black or somebody white--

what we're talking about
is just skin color.

[indistinct chatter]

In my family, it's all mixed.

You want a bag? You sure?

- Not gonna last that long.

- All right. Thanks, man.

I did a DNA on myself.

I'm all mixed up.

This is just a human body.

My spirit, I love.

That has no color.

We all in this country are
nothing but a bunch of mutts.

[laughs]

We all are mutts.

So I came out with a package
called The Mutt.

These, hot links.

Open up. [laughs]

This here, chicken wings.

See, this here
is the Black people.

This is--
the red is the Indians.

Okay?

And then you take--and you put
your white bread on top.

Okay?

And there it is.

That's The Mutt.

Very special.

I mean, that council's
really liberal.

Nice people.

But they're liberal,

and they're scared
to be called racist.

And they're gonna let it
go through.

But will anything get done?

That's what we've got to see.

We're gonna see
where this goes.

I don't think it's gonna go
too far for anyone.

[cheers and applause]

- We, the leaders

of the effort
for reparations now,

reparations
not in the next century,

not in 2185,

not 10 years from now,

but reparations when?

Reparations when?
Reparations when?

- The reparations movement
during the 20th century

took many forms
and faced many obstacles.

♪ ♪

Early in the century,
there was Marcus Garvey

and his reparations
and repatriation movement.

He was followed
by Queen Mother Moore,

who in 1957 gathered

over a million signatures
on a petition for reparations

which she presented
to the United Nations.

And in the 1960s and '70s,
the Black Panthers

had a 10-point program
for liberation,

which included a demand
for payment of the reparations

promised in
Special Field Order No. 15.

But when we think about

the modern
reparations movement,

it was really
Congressman John Conyers

who got the ball rolling

on the government
reparations policy.

Spurred on by reparation's
Ray Jenkins,

Conyers crafted the first
version of H.R. 40 in 1989

and unsuccessfully
petitioned

the House Judiciary Committee

to take the bill up
for the next 30 years.

♪ ♪

The work is now
being carried forward

by representative Sheila
Jackson Lee in Washington.

- You're here to--

- I'm here to meet
with the Congresswoman, yes.

- Okay. Sign in.
Just go ahead.

And she should be here
momentarily.

So...
- Okay.

[reporter on TV
speaking indistinctly]

- Secretary Alex Azar
from earlier today.

- We don't know exactly
how many...

- Councilwoman?

- We're so excited to see you.

- Very happy to be here.
- Thank you so very much.

Thank you.
Come on over here.

- Okay. All right.
- Thank you.

I'm delighted to welcome you
and to congratulate you.

We were so excited
when we saw the legislation.

In fact, we have used it in
presentations that we've made.

- Wow.

- I use your
outstanding construct.

You've been, councilmember,
a real hero--shero--to me.

- Thank you. Thank you.

Being a member
of National League of Cities,

you know, we learn that
all government starts locally,

and the thought was,
why not do what we can do here

at a local level while H.R. 40
is working through its process,

through your leadership?

We could have layers of repair
and layers of remedy,

because, as we know,
those damages,

yes, were rooted in slavery.

But you know,
it looked like discrimination

even still today because
the color of our dark skin.

So excited to share anything
that we've done in Evanston

and then learn more
about your goals for H.R. 40

and how
we can even support that

and make sure
that it gets passed.

- Well, I think the good news
is that you are proactive.

So I am very grateful
for that laboratory

that you've given us.

And I think
it will be very effective,

being utilized and shared
with members of Congress.

And what you have done
just adds

to the really important story
of what reparations can be.

So thank you.

Glad you're here for
the National League of Cities.

And glad we were able
to have this moment.

- Thank you. I know.

I wish this wasn't happening,

'cause my first thing
was to get a big hug.

- Same here.
- But next time.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- I need a moment.

[laughs]
- Yeah.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

- China has identified
the cause

of the mysterious pneumonia
outbreak in Wuhan City.

- In the past two weeks,
the number of cases

of COVID-19 outside China
has increased 13-fold.

- The great shutdown of 2020
is underway.

We know the hospital surge
is coming.

- I am officially declaring
a national emergency.

Two very big words.

- It is lights out
for tens of thousands

of bars and restaurants
across the city,

and even more
across the state.

- To avoid loss of potentially
tens of thousands of lives,

we must enact an immediate
stay-at-home order

for the state of Illinois.

So that is the action
that I'm announcing today.

- We were in DC,

and as we were in DC,
the coronavirus pandemic

was becoming a concern.

We returned home

to pretty much
full-blown pandemic.

Due to COVID, we have
a legit budget concern.

The recommendation
was that we consider

postponing reparation work
until 2021.

Why in the world
would we postpone reparation

for a community that was also

disproportionately impacted
by the COVID virus?

So we're moving forward with
our deadlines as of right now.

Good evening, and thank you all
for joining us

for our second Town Hall
for reparations in Evanston.

I'm very excited
to introduce our next guest.

We have Congresswoman
Sheila Jackson Lee

here with us tonight,
and we are behind her--

I am, I'll speak for myself--

as you lead our nation
towards having H.R. 40 pass.

- Alderman Simmons,
I am delighted to be here,

and I was very privileged
to work with the honorable

John Conyers,
late John Conyers,

on many issues, including
criminal justice reform

and, of course, H.R. 40.

The time is now
for our nation to study

and acknowledge
the effects and impact

of slavery in America.

The time is now to shed light
on our shared truth

to enable healing
to a national reckoning,

and to embrace and uplift
our shared humanity.

And what you have done
in Evanston

is a step forward
for people to see

the value that will come
out of recognizing

the idea of reparations.

So in H.R. 40,
we have 126 cosponsors.

We've never had
that many cosponsors

in the decades
that it's been found.

14 members away from 150.

And I have no doubt
that we're gonna work

to pass this legislation

out of the United States House
and the Senate.

Thank you for having me.

- Thank you very much.

We appreciate you being here.

And we have to close
out this meeting.

So thank you--
- Can I say something?

Can I say something?
- Please. Please.

- I think most people know
by now,

but Hecky Powell is very ill,

and we should all pray for him
tonight.

- Yes.

- He is in intensive care
with COVID.

Thank you.

- Thank you
for making that point.

[somber music]

♪ ♪

- Data collected
by state and local agencies

suggests Blacks are being

disproportionately impacted
by COVID-19.

- Black people in the U.S.
are nearly three times

as likely to become
infected with the virus

as their white neighbors,

and nearly twice as likely
to die from it.

- So you are talking
about 400 years of racism

as a national model
in this country,

and we are surprised
at why Black people

are the most vulnerable
to any public health issue?

♪ ♪

- Hecky is somebody
who was the first

that I talked to
about running for Alderman.

His passing was a great loss

for everybody
in the community.

I think everybody felt like

they had a special
relationship with Hecky.

♪ ♪

I know that I did.

♪ ♪

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- The greatest hurdle

is the political will
to make it happen.

And Alderman Simmons
made it happen.

♪ ♪

Before I took the job,
I knew that Evanston

was working on
a reparations program,

and I wanted the opportunity
to work with the committee.

My background as an attorney
is primarily litigation.

The number one question
that I get asked

as the legal counsel is,

how do you deal with it being
a race-based program?

How do you get over
that hurdle?

With respect to reparations
or any sort of equity work

in this country, ironically,
you battle the 14th Amendment.

The 14th Amendment guarantees
equal protection

under the laws of all citizens
in the United States.

Although the Amendment
was passed

to try and benefit freed slaves

and African Americans
in the country,

it's actually been used
to deny opportunities

to those same groups.

If someone sues,
they say, "This isn't right.

This is
reverse discrimination."

This is one
of my favorite terms.

This is reverse discrimination.

And ironically,

discrimination is one of
the hardest things to prove.

You can always say
in the area of housing,

"This person was denied

"because of their income.

"They were denied
because of their credit.

"They were denied
because of a laundry list

of things that had nothing
to do with their race."

But we didn't have
the resources internally

to find that evidence.

And Dino Robinson
was instrumental in gathering

a lot of evidence,
specifically implicating

actions of the city

with respect
to discrimination.

- You know, what we're trying
to anticipate is,

what if somebody comes
and says,

"Well, this wasn't a law

"in the law books
in the city of Evanston.

So how can you say
it happened?"

Well, since we did not have
any written laws,

we had to look
for the underlying evidence

in, you know, procedures
and thought processes,

and maybe just the way
the city of Evanston

conducted themselves
with the Black community.

So we found this recently.

"Negroes unable
to secure homes here."

This came out January 2, 1918.

Nearly 50 colored families
living in cramped homes

of friends and relatives
are unable to rent

any other hundreds
of empty houses.

And it goes on to say,
like, landlords will not rent

to Negroes,
and how can land owners

and realtors selling homes
to Negroes,

how can we prevent that
from happening?

And can we move
the Black community

to unincorporated Niles?

So that is played out
over and over again.

We know it happens,

but to find documentation
of some sort,

you know, it's an eye-opener.

Yes, beautiful Evanston
has its roots in Jim Crow.

[birds chirping]

- There's a reason why
a lot of the Blacks

are not here anymore.

I think my mom is the last
original owner on this block.

- That's what I've been told.

I don't know for sure.

- This is a first-step
initiative

to try to re-compensate
for the losses

that we've taken
over the years.

- It would help for now.

- Well, I think that it's more
like repairing the dignity.

You know, people looking at you

based on the color of your skin

and being discriminated against

just solely because of
how you look, you know,

it really can have a traumatic
effect on you overall.

In looking back at what
my dad had to go through

back in the South
during Jim Crow,

and you could literally
be beaten and killed

for standing up for yourself.

So it took me a long time
to understand

that my dad was protecting me
by shuffling his feet

and skinning and grinning
in front of the white man.

And it took me
at least 30 years

to understand why he did that.

So yeah, I think
that these type of programs

restore dignity and faith
that, you know,

the system is changing
and working in a way

towards bringing
better equality

and bringing different racestogether

in more understanding.

- Good afternoon.
You're on the air.

- I got friends and family
talking about,

they're gonna give us
reparations now.

Come on. [laughs]

I bet you a million dollars

they give us Juneteenth

before they give us
reparations.

- Surprise!

- ♪ Happy birthday to me
- ♪ Happy birthday to you

- ♪ Happy birthday to me
- ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

all: ♪ Happy birthday,
dear Carlis ♪

- ♪ Happy birthday to me
- ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

- ♪ And many more

- Yay! Whoo!

- You didn't tell me about

these fine young ladies
down here.

[laughter]

- Bless the hands up in spirit

and bless the people
who will receive it.

Please let all of the blessings
continue

for our health and our wealth,

and thank you for fellowship
and friendship.

Amen. Amen. Amen.
- Amen.

- Good bread, good meat,
good Lord, let's eat.

[laughter]

- Carlis...
- Hmm?

- Tell us the story
about your parents' house,

that they were--

they actually what--
they moved the street or...

- Yeah.

They tore the street
off the map.

It's no longer on the map.

They were building
those very expensive homes

up and down Central Park.

For some reason or another,
they didn't want--

they couldn't get
the value of their homes

if Black people
were living near them.

So the developers moved
all the Blacks out.

- Same as what's happening
right now.

- Right, and I think

that's one reason
why my grandfather

turned to alcohol,

because he could not
hold his head up

in front of his own family.

You cannot pay
my grandfather back.

He's dead.

But we descendants,

we survived
without any assistance

from the city of Evanston.

No banks, nothing.

Now give us what we're due.

- We need a cash payment.

Alderman Ruth Simmons said
that that's what

she was gonna give us
from the beginning.

- She knows.

She knows from firsthand
what happened.

And yet and still she does
nothing about it.

- So we have
a reparations bill,

and I thank her for that, okay?

But we are ready now
to go to the next step.

We're all in this
same boat together.

But every time we grab an oar,
you want to row against us.

Let's row together
in this community.

Let's build this country
as it was intended to be,

the city on the hill

that is a light
for the entire world.

- For the purpose of moving
this meeting forward,

do we have consensus on $25,000

for purchase of a new home
as the number up to?

- Yeah.
- I vote yes.

- Okay, so with that said,
I'm making a motion

that we extend the program
budget for housing to $400,000

for a total program budget.

- Mother?
- Alderman Braithwaite?

- [speaking indistinctly]
- Okay.

So with that said, staff,
we want to move forward

with a program budget of 400K

for purchase benefit
up to 25,000.

- I vote yes.
- Okay.

And with that,
do we have anyone

signed up for public comment?

- John, are you ready
to go next?

- I'm always ready.

$400,000
is not a lot of money.

$400,000 is not gonna go
too far.

But all the conversations
that I've been hearing,

it's not indicative
of reparation.

It's indicative of programs
that were already

previously in place
in other places.

If you're gonna do
reparations,

do reparations.

If you're gonna give people
money for reparations,

then you get them money

to repair the damage
that's done.

You don't give them money
and then demand

and tell them
what they can do with it.

Call a spade a spade.

And don't let them twist it
into something

that is other than
what it's represented to be,

because then the backlash

is gonna be on you later on.

- Thank you all for coming.

And with that said,
Alderman Rainey,

if you don't have
any final comment,

you could move adjournment.

- I move adjournment.

- I second. Thank you all.

- Bye.

- I'm good.

Are you dressed and ready
to go to graduation?

Do you have
a graduation outfit on now?

It's a special day, baby.

It's always tough
to end with a, you know,

"This isn't reparation."

Because it is.

Any direct benefit
to address the damages

to a targeted community
is repair.

And that's what it is
on a local level.

But I also feel
the frustrations

of a resident that says
this isn't reparations.

It's not enough.

You know,
I appreciate your effort.

I--I respect and understand
their frustrations,

and for me that's frustrating,
because I want to do more.

Are you ready?
- Look.

- Perfect.

[laughs]

Yay, Bailee!

- [laughs]

- All right, get it on.

Turn it on.

- Okay.

- I'll tell you right now,
I'm just excited.

My daughter is graduating
from Northwestern.

She's going to Yale.

And I'm just going to leave
my work for a little while

and go celebrate Bailee.

- So you know
this is just gonna be

the president and the mayor.

- That's fine.

I don't care.

It is Bailee Rue graduation.

Okay, go out there
and walk in here.

- Oh, my God, seriously?
- Go on. Yeah, seriously.

[chuckling]

- Oh, my God.

- Go around the corner.

["Pomp and Circumstance"
playing]

Okay, Bailee.

- Mother.

- Yay, Bailee!
- Yay!

Yay! [laughs]

- Yay!
- Yay!

Have a seat.

- Now I sit.

- Now you sit.

♪ ♪

And this just plays
until it starts,

'cause that's what you
would be doing.

- Yeah, we'd be walking in.

- See?

- I'm a bit underwhelmed
right now.

- [laughs]

♪ ♪

[mellow music]

[laughter]

♪ ♪

- Where you trying to go
on this little bike?

♪ ♪

- Tonight, video has surfaced
of an African American man

being chased down and killed
in a Georgia community.

His family says
he was just out jogging.

- Breonna Taylor,
the 26-year-old

Louisville first responder,

shot eight times
and killed by police.

- This is 46-year-old
George Floyd.

He is the man who died
in police custody on Monday.

- Over the last several hours,
the situation here

has really deteriorated.

Police started pushing
and clearing out the street.

[tense music]

- Black Lives Matter!

all: Black Lives Matter!

- I am not okay.

We're experiencing the trauma
of racial terror

and Black public execution.

And people hurting and dying

and grief.

all: Hey, hey, ho, ho,

these racist cops
have got to go!

Hey, hey, ho, ho,

these racist cops
have got to go!

Hey, hey, ho, ho,

these racist cops
have got to go!

Hey, hey, ho, ho,

these racist cops
have got to go!

Hey, hey, ho, ho!

- Let me tell you,
justice is just the minimum.

We have had
chattel enslavement,

Jim Crow redlining,

police terror now
we're dealing with today.

It is genocide
is what is happening

to our Black people
in this nation.

The ally community,
thank you for being here,

being bold, but it's not enough

that you come to these places
and you stand here.

You must go to your own places,
and you must raise your voice

in the same manner,
with the same energy

in your private spaces!

Do the right thing!

[cheers and applause]

- The ground shifted.

There was COVID,
just shutting everything down,

and suddenly,
there was Ahmaud Arbery.

And then
there was Breonna Taylor.

Then there was George Floyd.

There was so much going on

to do with race in this country

that it has left me spinning.

Being white, being a woman,
and being middle aged,

I don't trust my voice
to be a legitimate advocate.

I mean, I hope I am.

Now people want to know more,

and I don't know
that I am qualified.

Being white, it is so easy
to put up a yard sign

and not really even
understand the issues

or understand
what that really means.

That can really lead
to complacency

and that you think
you've done your job.

You can't abdicate
responsibility.

We white people are the people
who have to write the check.

You know,
my heart supports it.

- Now in Evanston, a battle

over the city's
reparations plan.

- Lots in the community
are questioning why the money

goes directly to the banks,

why people can't have
a cash payment.

- Claiming
that is was nothing more

than a housing program.

- The Evanston city council
is set to vote Monday

on a bill to give reparations
to Black residents,

but some residents are saying,
"Not so fast."

- Good morning, everyone.

My name is Sebastian Nalls,

and I'm one of the organizers

with Evanston Rejects
Racist Reparations.

This program, as it is,
is incomplete,

and it makes no sense
to go forward with it.

- How divisive this Evanston
reparations bill is becoming.

We ask that everyone just wait.

Go back to the drawing board.

We implore the Evanston public
to join us

in resisting this initiative.

- Reparations are meant
to close the racial wealth gap.

The program that the city
of Evanston is offering

does not do that at all.

We want a real program.

We don't want a program
that's a fraud.

This is important.

They say in America

that only one in six
white people

support reparations.

The fact that so many
white people in Evanston

support this...
- [laughs]

- That should tell you
it's not reparations.

- That's the warning.

- Just based--I'm just talking
about the data.

You know, what is happening now

is we're gonna recycle
programming

that we've already done
for decades

and decades
that hasn't helped

to close the racial wealth gap.

- Now, when you're
incepting something

that you're trying
to bring out,

it has to be near perfect.

And this is just
a bunch of sloppy crap

that they have put together.

They're literally throwing it
against the wall

to see what will stick
and what will not stick.

- There are possible
legal ramifications

where the whole program
in and of itself

could get thrown out.

And that itself could shut down

the reparations movement
as a whole.

- Whatever the vote tomorrow,
it's not over.

It's just beginning.

And we are going to follow them

and this process in Evanston.

- My hope is, is that
some of these aldermen

will finally recognize, okay,

maybe this isn't
the right thing to do.

- I think what they're
offering us is an insult,

and we decided
elderly homeowners

should get the first
reparations.

That's gonna be spread
over a 10-year period.

And now the city of Evanston
is balking on that.

- The proposal,
as from what I understand it,

is they're trying to vote
for the first $400,000

to go for a housing program.

Not happening.

It should not be.

- Now's the time
for you to stand up

and show what you're about.

We hear what they say, okay,
we read what they put in paper.

But then I'll wait
to the vote, okay,

before I make any kind of
decision about the consistency

of Evanston
with saying one thing,

and then doing
totally the opposite

when it comes to application.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- I had been really obsessed
with defending the case

for reparations
on a local level.

And it was just nonstop.

- Calling the meeting
to order.

Alderman Simmons?
- Aye.

It was sleepless nights.

It was always doing
more research.

And I did that while managing
the rest of my life

being the alderman
of the Fifth Ward.

Technically, it's part time.

I can't work
40, 60 hours a week

for $15,000 a year.

I can't do it.

My first responsibility
is to my children,

and I have sacrificed a lot
being the alderman.

And it's been uncomfortable
for my family.

My daughter has not been able

to even walk the dog
in peace sometimes.

People have intimidated her.

It's been a lot of stress
on my mother

to see her only child
treated so cruelly.

And then just the time.

Because of the way
that I serve,

I don't know how to say,

"I can't help you right now,
homeless family."

You know?

"Find another way."

I only know how to find
a solution for them.

I only know how
to do everything

that I can to help them.

- And while the whole nation
is watching,

there are people that are
waiting for this to fail.

- Because I'm not able
to balance it,

I'm not able to turn
the service off,

so I have just committed
to the balance of this term.

And then after that,
I'll have to heal

and repair damages
that have been done to my life

and to my family.

- But for our Black residents,
I just ask for your patience.

♪ ♪

- Good evening, everyone.

I am Mayor Hagerty,

mayor of the city of Evanston.

It is Monday, March 22, 2021,

and I call this public hearing
to order.

I'm now gonna open it,

and we'll start
with Alderperson Simmons.

- Thank you all for
establishing this path forward

to reparations in Evanston.

The reparations subcommittee
recommends city council

adopt Resolution 37-R-21
to authorize the implementation

of the local reparation
restorative housing program,

and the initial program budget
of $400,000.

I move approval.
- Second.

- We are now gonna move
to public comment.

Illinois--

- Did you see
who's in the meeting?

- Dr. Sandy Darity first.

- Oh, he's--he's anti.

- The Evanston plan does
very little

about the equity gap produced
by segregation and redlining.

- It perpetuated
the systemic racism

and added age discrimination.

- We want cash payments.

Robin promised us that.

- And the push forward appears
to be more oriented

towards photo ops
and marketing

something that simply
isn't true.

- First, I want to support
the passage.

I also think we should have
on the agenda cash payments.

- [laughs]

I can't tell
if he was for or against it.

- Don't slam the door
on something

that can be positive
for our community.

- That's right, Miss Adams.

- Yes, it's small,
but it's a start,

and we must start somewhere.

It is a sign that Evanston
cares about families

that look like mine.

- If you vote no tonight,

you will be on the wrong side
of history.

- If we do not
step forward now,

all of these other reparations
programs in the United States

will probably suffer as well.

- But most of all,
we in Evanston

are leading the way
to heal a nation.

- I love her.

- Thank you
to Alderman Rue Simmons.

Not only did you
push us forward,

but you made us believe
we could do it.

I think this step is gonna
pull all of America forward.

- City clerk,
could you please take the roll

on this historic vote tonight?

- Alderman Fisk.
- Aye.

- Alderman Braithwaite.
- Aye.

- Alderman Wynne.
- Aye.

- Alderman Wilson.
- Aye.

- Alderman Simmons.
- Aye.

- Alderman Suffredin.
- Aye.

- Alderman Revelle.
- Aye.

- Alderman Rainey.
- Aye.

- And Alderman Fleming.

- No.

- All right,
so on a 8-to-1 vote,

the Evanston city council
approved adoption

of resolution
37-R-27 authorizing

the implementation
of the Evanston

local reparations program.

- Good job.

- [applauding]

- Thank you. Good night.

- Good night.
- Good night.

- Good night.

- Nice job.

- Congratulations to you.

- We did it.

It's happening.

- [crying] That's my baby.

- You okay, mother?

- That made me so happy.

- Yeah.

I wish we didn't have those
negative comments, though.

- You did a great job.

Congratulations to you.
- Mm-hmm.

- Congratulations to you.

- I'm so very proud.

She's been amazing
all her life.

This is just one more amazing
something from my daughter.

Yeah.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

- This week, Evanston,
Illinois, made history.

- The nation's first
government-backed reparations

initiative for Black Americans
was approved

this week
in Evanston, Illinois.

- In a near unanimous vote,
Evanston city council

voted to approve the first
installment of $400,000

to be distributed among
eligible Black households.

- The money can be used
for down payments,

mortgage payments, repairs,
or home improvements.

- Many hope
the historic program

will pave the way for more
reparations in other cities.

♪ ♪

- This is the international
headquarters.

But really it is
the headquarters.

It's just--it's just myself,
and most recently,

we have an employee, Shawn.

I have launched a nonprofit
called First Repair.

"First" because we are
the first in the nation

to have a funded
reparation plan

with tangible steps
and measurable outcomes.

So this is the reception area.

It's Shawn's office,
and it's our conference room.

And here's our break room.

[laughs]

And then here's my office.

There's really nothing to it.

This is where I do my work
every day.

It's what I do full time now.

I retired this year
as alderman,

and now I'm able
to singularly focus

on reparations in Evanston
and beyond.

There has been great interest
in advancing reparations

beyond Evanston.

That passing vote
has set a precedent,

and it's shown a possibility
that others

are now looking to
as a reference, as,

"Okay, they did this
in Evanston.

We can do this here."

♪ ♪

- Good morning.

Good morning.
Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning.

Thank you all for your
sponsorship on H.R. 40.

We're so excited.
- I'm so excited.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

This idea of H.R. 40

was to finally have us
in dignity,

and have
the American people say,

"That's the right thing to do."

Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
- How are you?

- I can't thank you enough
for this markup.

- Today is going to be
a long, contentious one.

- Well, I'm ready for this.

I feel a moment in history.

I'm excited.

Let's do this, Mr. Chairman.

All right. [laughs]

[gavel clacks]

- I now call up H.R. 40,

the Commission
to Study and Develop

Reparation Proposals
for African Americans Act.

This legislation
is long overdue.

- Mr. Chairman, I'm very
pleased to be able to speak

in support of my legislation
H.R. 40, which I introduced,

that establishes
a commission to study

and develop
reparation proposals

for African Americans.

It was historic.

The first time the bill ever
got to the moment

of something
that is so integral

to the process of governance,

which is called a markup,

which means the bill
is on its way

to a possible vote on the floor
and to become law.

And here we are today,
marking up for the first time

in the history
of the United States of America

any legislation
that deals directly

with the years
and centuries of slavery.

- Look, everyone knows
how evil slavery was.

Wrong as wrong could be.

But this is not--this--

this is not--
not what we want to be passing.

- Reparation is divisive.

It speaks to the fact that we
are a hapless, hopeless race

that never did anything
but wait for white people

to show up and help us.

And it's a falsehood.

- I would offer that I think

this is the wrong path
for the future of our nation.

And I think
that is the problem here.

And I think this is not
the direction we want

to carry our country forward.

- The opposition was,

"That happened then.
This is now."

A very weak argument.

Shallow argument.

A total refusal to really see
slavery for what it was.

It was a crime.

But no one paid the price.

H.R. 40
is a concentrated effort

to right a wrong,
and to do it with dignity

and study and respect.

I can't imagine why
any one of us

would not vote for H.R. 40,

the Commission to Study

and Develop
Reparation Proposals,

and I ask my colleagues
to vote yes on this bill.

- Reporting quorum
being present,

the question is on the motion
to report the bill

H.R. 40 as amended favorably
to the House.

Those in favor,
respond by saying aye.

- Aye.
- Aye.

- Those no.
- No.

- The ayes have it,
and the bill

is ordered
and reported favorably.

- Good job, Senate majority.
- Thank you.

- Thank you.

I had a great weight
on my shoulders

that was lifted a little bit.

It was so emotional to see

that the journey
had made a leap.

♪ ♪

What I want to see happen
is that we move the bill

to the floor, and it's urgent
that it gets passed.

And my commitment is,
it must be passed.

There must be a commission.

I'm pinching myself to see

if this is really happening.

H.R. 40 is the significant,
singular affirmation

of us in our journey.

This place called America
is as much a part of us

and we are a part of it.

♪ ♪

- The purpose of this meeting
is to get you prepared

for when the release
of the application

occurs on September 21.

The idea is that hopefully
we can get funding

out the door disbursed
by the end of November,

beginning of December.

- The kitchen.
I need the kitchen--

those are the original
cabinets,

and they're dry rotted.

They're just falling apart.

This is falling down
in the bottom there.

The drawers is falling apart.

See the dry rot up there.

The cupboards is falling.

Disconnected up there.

The floor.

That's what--see the floor?

- Well, we're going to go
down to Fleetwood-Jourdain,

and we're going to fill out
an application

for the housing
restoration program

for the first phase
of reparations

for Blacks in Evanston

and hopefully get some
compensation for my mom.

♪ ♪

- Miss Carmen will help you
right over here.

- Oh. Hi.
- Hi.

Do you have any
documentation with you?

- Yeah, she got the closing
and got the trust deed.

♪ ♪

- Do you have your
driver's license with you?

- I do.
- Or state ID?

Okay, I'll take anything.

- I have a obituary that has
my mother's name listed in it.

So that was here 1947,
his Evanston senior year

in high school.

- Okay.
- Yearbook, and there he is.

- Oh, nice.

- So it shows
that he was a graduate

of Foster School and Evanston
Township High School.

- Okay.

- And you are all set.

Good luck.

- Well, thank you much.
You're a scholar and a saint.

- You're welcome.
No problem.

- Submitting, submitting.

[cheers and applause]

- Good job. Awesome.
- Excellent.

Wonderful.
- Good job.

[laughter]
- Thank you.

- That's great.

♪ ♪

- My understanding
is that reparations

is an attempt
to repair the harm

that it's cost us economically.

When I started looking,

no, this is not the answer
to reparations

that we're approaching
in Evanston.

But the longest journey begins
with the first step.

Good morning.

Either you're part
of the solution,

or you're part of the problem.

I don't want to be
a part of the problem.

Northern Illinois.

If this is the way we have
to start with it, let's start.

We have 10 years.

But I want this
to be the boilerplate.

I want this to be
the initiative for cities

all over the United States

to accept that we're here
to stay.

- Good morning. How are you?

I'm good.

Hi, Mr. Sutton.
I'm good. How are you?

Is this one me?

- First, we're gonna have
an introduction

of our new committee members,
Carl Sutton.

- Being a third-generation
Evanstonian and an active

member in the community,
I've had a chance

to realize
that Evanston now stands

at the brink of history.

We're in a very good position
now to set the tone

which I hope the nation will
pick up the ball and follow.

We are under the eyes now
of the whole world.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

- So you know what we need,
actually, is the labels.

The name tags.
- Oh, okay.

- Okay, I got to prepare
something to say.

We are ready to receive
about 50 leaders

that have been working on
local reparation initiatives

in their communities.

Hey, Tina.

Has anyone showed up?

Oh, wow. Great.

- The value of Evanston

and the work
of Robin Rue Simmons is,

it's one of those
turning points.

Because there is
this pent-up yearning

for a concrete example
that it can be done.

- The extra folders
are over there.

- Symbolically,
Evanston woke up the world.

♪ ♪

So everyone, municipalities,
university,

I mean,
is looking to Evanston.

And the hope is that
what we all end up doing

is creating
a national network of groups.

- This conference will
and should go down in history

as the Evanston Conference.

It is a distinct honor
to be representing

the CARICOM
Reparations Commission

at this historical event.

- I bring you greetings
from New Orleans, Louisiana.

- I am with World One
Development

in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
home of Black Wall Street.

- I'm from Los Angeles.

- Amherst, Massachusetts.

- I'm from Philadelphia.

- Omaha, Nebraska.

- When I started this work,
I simply was trying

to repair some of the injury

that had been done
in my own community.

- City of Tulsa.

- I had no idea how big

this whole local reparations
movement would get.

- I'm Mayor Michael B.
Hancock of Denver, Colorado.

- From Atlanta, Georgia.

- I'm a founding member
of The Kansas City

chapter of the National
Black United Front.

- In 2020,
we talked about reparations,

but we didn't know
how to go about doing it.

But one day,
I was looking at TV,

and I saw this bad sister
out of Evanston, Illinois.

[laughter]

She inspired me.

I said, "If they can do it
in Evanston, Illinois,

why can't we do it in Detroit?"

We're 85% Black.

- For me, this
is the most important thing

that we as a people
should be focusing on

in this moment.

This is our shot to address

all the disparities,
and in one--

you know, one container.

- This country says
that it values

liberty and justice for all

and equity and inclusion
and freedom.

- So San Francisco has
a population of over...

- That's not been the reality
of Black America.

- Less than 6%
of the population

is African American.

- Recognizing
the legal challenges

that we know are coming up,

we still need to be about
the task of beginning

to create a new narrative
and a new legal framework.

- I realize that now
I'm a part of a movement,

a national movement,

one that has great momentum
to finally grapple with

the injury
inflicted by slavery

and the deep-seated racism
that we endure today.

We're here to represent
and advocate

for H.R. 40, ladies.

We're here for H.R. 40.

We're all here for the things
that empower our community.

Just want to make sure
you had this flier.

- Thank you so much.
- Thank you.

Thanks for being here.
- Good luck to you today.

- Thank you.

Trauma in the Black community
runs so deep.

The injury is so deep.

It's been passed down
through generations.

And for us to move forward,

everyone in our community,
all Americans,

need to commit to reconciling
with that past.

[cheers and applause]

My name is Robin Rue Simmons,

and I am here in solidarity
with each of you

as we fight for the issues
we value.

Reparations for people
of African descent in America

is long overdue.

We don't want
a piece of freedom.

We want the whole package,
and that's reparations.

H.R. 40 now, reparations now.

[cheers and applause]

[hopeful music]

♪ ♪

There are thousands
of communities

all across this nation
that need repair.

♪ ♪

It is my life's work.

I feel truly assigned
to do this work.

I wake up every morning
with an assignment

on, what is my next action?

Who should I try
to connect with?

Who am I gonna meet?
What partnership?

What new idea?

[thunder rumbling]

♪ ♪

I will not be satisfied
until I see

that quality of life
for Black Americans

is truly on par
with that of white Americans.

♪ ♪

We have made a start
in Evanston,

but there is so much more work
that needs to be done.

♪ ♪

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- Let's give it up, please,

for Representative
Sheila Jackson Lee.

Please.

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

- I declare and proclaim

that America has just gotten
a gift.

They have the ability now

to call themselves
the supporters

of the Juneteenth
national holiday.

[cheers and applause]
This is America.

The numbers kept coming.

They kept coming.
They kept coming.

We haven't seen these numbers.

415 men and women

of the United States Congress

voted for
the Juneteenth holiday.

415!

[cheers and applause]

Something about that word,
Juneteenth.

[cheers and applause]