SUMMER NEWSLETTER 2024

IN THIS ISSUE:

A Message from Kiko and David, RepGen Co-chairs
RepGen Updates
Reparations in the News
Resources
Evaluation & Iteration
Homeownership Reparative Transfer Program (HORT)
Community Engagement & Activation Program
Spotlight: National Landscape for Reparations
RepGen Mission, Vision and Strategy

THE STAKES ARE HEATING UP

As the summer temperatures rise, so, too, are the stakes for the reparations movement. These next few months will be pivotal in protecting the hard-fought gains made in recent years to confront systemic inequality. With the 2024 elections just around the corner, we are seeing historic opposition to diversity initiatives, affirmative action, and reproductive rights. Opponents are targeting all race-based equity programs in order to turn back the clock.

The good news is that research is showing that support for reparations among U.S. adults has grown to 30% (PEW 12/22). Regardless of political affiliation, the lies, myths, and misconceptions are giving way to the truth: reparations is essential to create a more perfect union for all Americans.

Thank you for learning about our nation’s history. Thank you for starting and navigating difficult conversations with friends and family. Thank you for raising your voices to demand change. And thank you for supporting RepGen. Together we are moving reparations from theory to reality. With every house meeting, genealogical breakthrough, and reparative transfer, RepGen continues to demonstrate reparations in action.

Of course, more work lies ahead, and each step forward is likely to receive more scrutiny from those who prefer the status-quo, but rest assured: you are making a difference, and you are not alone. Legal challenges to reparative efforts at the city, state, and federal level will make grassroots efforts more important than ever, so please keep in touch with RepGen and other organizations active in reparations. We are stronger together, and together we shall become the generation that achieves reparations.

Upcoming Virtual House Meetings are June 18, July 30, and August 22. You asked and we listened. We’re adding special topics and resources to deepen our impacts. So in addition to learning about reparations and RepGen’s approach, on June 18 we’ll share tips and stories about having good conversations about reparations with others and July 30 we’ll focus on why and how to explore restorative genealogy. You can find more info and register here.
Restorative Genealogy Program Event: Join us on July 30 from 5:00-6:30 PT for a special Virtual House Meeting event featuring Lotte Lieb Dula, Founder of Reparations4Slavery, in conversation with Kellie Farrish, RepGen Board Member and Professional Genealogist. Learn more and register to attend here.
SAVE THE DATE: RepGen Annual Friendraiser is August 22, 2024 in Detroit. We look forward to you joining us for this special in-person gathering. More details to come soon!
RepGen received a $75,000 unrestricted grant from the Community Foundation of South East Michigan to support our racial justice mission and strategy in Detroit. We greatly appreciate CFSEM’s support and philanthropic leadership which is widely recognized and closely aligns with our co-creative values and approach.
We’re making significant progress toward hiring our first Executive Director. We hope to make a formal announcement soon.

Bridge Detroit: Reparations: A Movement Made in Detroit
UIU News Bureau: Illinois Professor Sundiato Cha-Jua discusses the growing momentum for reparations.
Anti-Racism Daily: Oklahoma Supreme Court rejects lawsuit filed by Tulsa Race Massacre survivors seeking reparations from the city, affirming a lower court's dismissal.
New Hampshire Public Radio (nhpr.org): Two women learn their families are connected by slavery in 1700s Portsmouth.
NBC News: Evanston faces lawsuit over reparations payments to Black residents. (See Spotlight for RepGen perspective)
California Reparations Bills for Freedman Affairs Agency, Reparations and Reparative Justice Fund and Restitution for Racially Motivated Eminent Domain passed the CA State Senate. On June 11 they were heard in the CA State Assembly Judiciary Committee. Watch a recording of the hearing [1:10:36-2:05:09].

Take a look at this report on attitudes toward reparations from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Like Podcasts? Be sure to listen Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations from MSNBC correspondent Trymaine Lee.
Thinking about what it means to be white in the reparations movement? 3 Fundamental Questions for White People may help you reflect.

EVALUATION & ITERATION

A RepGen core value is that we co-learn and co-create together. In that spirit, we expanded our Evaluation Team in March. We also invited all who receive this Newsletter to complete our survey about their 2023 reparations-related engagement. Learn more about our survey results.

HOMEOWNERSHIP REPARATIVE TRANSFER PROGRAM (HORT)

RepGen is preparing to embark on the second phase of our Home Ownership Reparative Transfers (HORT) program pilot this summer. Thanks to your ongoing support, we are prepared to make up to eight additional reparative transfers of $25,000 and assist recipients in the process of finding a home.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & ACTIVATION PROGRAM

All of us need to navigate our next individual and community level steps for learning, healing, and effectively advancing reparations. A great way to do this is to join the RepGen House Meeting Coach Squad.

SPOTLIGHT: NATIONAL LANDSCAPE FOR REPARATIONS

Even in cases where reparations are popular and demonstratively effective, ideological forces are at play to sabotage progress.

REPGEN MISSION, VISION, AND STRATEGY

WHO ARE WE?

Reparation Generation is a multi-racial, national non-profit focused on demonstrating reparations in action and advocating for federal reparations for Black American descendants of chattel slavery.

WHAT'S OUR MISSION AND VISION?

Our mission is to be the generation of Americans who achieve federal reparations for slavery and for the unjust, systematic denial of constitutional rights of Black Americans well into the 21st century. Our vision is to become the more perfect union our constitution promises every American.

WHAT'S THE STRATEGY?

While our goal is a Federal Reparations Act, we aren’t just waiting for our government officials to act. Our Black Founders set a goal to demonstrate reparative models that cultivate intergenerational wealth for Black Americans descended from slavery in the 48 contiguous United States. We raise funds from individuals, corporations, and foundations as personal acts of repair for slavery and its resulting legacy of economic and social oppression. The strategies we are currently modeling and evaluating focus on Direct Reparative Transfer Payments to Black Americans for Homeownership, Restorative Genealogy, Community Engagement & Activation, and Co-Creative Evaluation & Iteration.

San Francisco, CA 94104