Past Event

Reignited: The National Debate on Reparations

Join us as we explore the case for reparations with guest speaker Kamm Howard, Legislative Commission Chair and local Co-Chair of The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA).

“Scholars have long discussed methods by which America might make reparations to those on whose labor and exclusion the country was built. Perhaps no statistic better illustrates the enduring legacy of our country’s shameful history of treating black people as sub-citizens, sub-Americans, and sub-humans than the wealth gap. Reparations would seek to close this chasm. But as surely as the creation of the wealth gap required the cooperation of every aspect of the society, bridging it will require the same.  The wealth gap merely puts a number on something we feel but cannot say—that American prosperity was ill-gotten and selective in its distribution.”

Read the full article here: “The Case For Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Questions for consideration:
Does Coates’ article revive or reframe a major policy debate about race in the United States?  Is this the appropriate role of journalists in a democracy? Is racial restitution a viable option at this point in history, and how would it actually work?  Would the remedies Coates proposes satisfy your criteria for justice? Why or why not?
 
Want to learn more?
 

About Kamm Howard
Howard is an international reparation activist, business owner and community organizer. In 2009, he was appointed the Legislative Commission Chair of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America.

 

If you need a sign interpreter or require other arrangements to fully participate, please call 312.422.5580 at least 72 hours prior to the event. 

For parking locations near the facility, please visit ChicagoParkingMap.com.