BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — In statement released on Sunday, the grassroots group Boston People’s Reparations Commission called on the city of Boston to distribute $15 billion in cash payouts to Black Bostonians.
The money would serve as part of local reparations for the “harm caused by slavery and centuries of anti-Black institutional oppression,” said the organization.
The Boston People’s Reparations Commission is community-based group comprised of 70 commissioners across Boston.
The $15 billion would be used in three primary ways, the group said: paying reparations to individuals, creating new financial institutions that support Black home ownership and business growth, and developing programming that will help close the “Black-white achievement gap and violence reduction and community justice.”
Read More: Boston City Council Approves Reparations Commission For Black Community
“It is imperative that we adjust the issue of Black reparations in Boston if we seek a true democracy and Beloved community,” said the Reverend Kevin Peterson, founder of The Boston People’s Reparations Commission.
Peterson also expressed wanting to change the name of Boston’s iconic Faneuil Hall, whose namesake made a fortune in the slave trade, as a step toward reparations.
“Our ultimate goal is repair and reconciliation in Boston, a city plagued by racial strife,” added Peterson.
In the past, The Boston People's Reparations Commission has worked with the city of Boston’s Task Force on Reparations, created in 2022.
The Task Force’s goals include researching the legacy of slavery in Boston and its impact on descendants today, engaging the community to receive input on their lived experiences, and giving recommendations to Mayor Michelle Wu “for reparative justice solutions for Black residents.”
The Boston People's Reparations Commission's press release also said that they will host community reparations hearings in May and October.
Last Saturday, they hosted a gathering in Nubian Square to protest their reparations requests, saying that the city has “never made efforts to repair the harm caused by slavery and centuries of anti-Black institutional racism."
WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.
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