The Atlanta City Council approved a resolution on Oct. 6 appointing members to the City of Atlanta Reparations Study Commission.
The commission, established to research and document the city’s historical role in the legal discrimination of African American residents impacted by slavery, includes 14 members: Dr. Skip Mason, representing the Mayor; Ann Hill Bond, representing Atlanta City Council At-Large Post 1; Adria Kitchens, representing the Atlanta City Council At-Large Post 2; Erik Wilder, representing City Council Post 3; Larry Riley, representing City Council President; Dr. Shelia Flemming, representing Delta Sigma Theta; Dr. Kurt Young, representing Clark Atlanta; Professor Akinyele Umoja, representing Georgia State; Dr. Adria Welcher, representing Morehouse; Brandon Tonge, representing Morris Brown; Sterling Johnson, representing the Greater Atlanta Reparations Collaborative; Mr. Jumoke Ifelaja, representing the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America; Sean Jones, representing ASALH; and Richard Rose, representing the National African American Reparations Committee.
The commission will recommend potential remedies to address the resulting economic, educational, health, and social disparities. According to the NAACP, today’s advocacy for reparations were born out of the unfulfilled promise of the U.S. government to grant formerly enslaved African Americans with “40 acres and a mule” when slavery was formally outlawed in 1865 after more than 200 years of enslaved African Americans being “murdered, brutalized, made victims of genocide, sexually assaulted, and economically depressed based on race.”
Other items approved by the city council on Monday include an ordinance adding approximately $4.7 million for continued construction of Cascade Road, a resolution donating $250,000 to support home repairs for legacy residents to help prevent displacement, and a resolution urging the Women’s National Basketball Association to negotiate equitable contracts that provide fair compensation, benefits, and working conditions for its players, including those on the Atlanta Dream.
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