1 00:00:01,380 --> 00:00:03,520 Viewers like you make this program possible. 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:03,658 --> 00:00:05,453 Support your local PBS station. 4 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 5 00:00:08,146 --> 00:00:11,149 [soft dramatic music] 6 00:00:11,804 --> 00:00:18,604 ♪ ♪ 7 00:00:33,516 --> 00:00:36,553 [indistinct chatter] 8 00:00:37,347 --> 00:00:39,660 - We need to get in a single file line, 9 00:00:39,798 --> 00:00:41,213 or no one's getting in. 10 00:00:42,352 --> 00:00:44,354 - The House Committee on the Judiciary 11 00:00:44,492 --> 00:00:46,736 is holding a hearing today on a bill which proposes 12 00:00:46,874 --> 00:00:48,358 to establish a commission 13 00:00:48,393 --> 00:00:50,740 to study and develop reparations proposals 14 00:00:50,878 --> 00:00:51,913 for African Americans. 15 00:00:52,052 --> 00:00:54,261 - Black power. all: Black power! 16 00:00:54,295 --> 00:00:55,779 - H.R. 40, the bill introduced by 17 00:00:55,814 --> 00:00:57,678 the late Congressman John Conyers, 18 00:00:57,816 --> 00:01:00,957 has languished in committee for more than 30 years. 19 00:01:00,991 --> 00:01:03,270 Since his passing, Texas congresswoman 20 00:01:03,304 --> 00:01:05,479 Sheila Jackson Lee has taken up the fight 21 00:01:05,617 --> 00:01:06,825 to try to move it through the House 22 00:01:06,963 --> 00:01:08,275 and eventually to the Senate, 23 00:01:08,309 --> 00:01:10,208 where she'll need a miracle to get it passed. 24 00:01:10,346 --> 00:01:14,004 - H.R. 40 is, in fact, the response 25 00:01:14,039 --> 00:01:17,283 of the United States of America long overdue. 26 00:01:17,318 --> 00:01:18,526 My people in America are the descendants 27 00:01:18,561 --> 00:01:21,598 of Africans kidnapped and transported 28 00:01:21,633 --> 00:01:22,806 to the United States. 29 00:01:22,944 --> 00:01:26,914 It is only this group that can singularly, 30 00:01:26,948 --> 00:01:29,882 singularly claim 31 00:01:29,917 --> 00:01:33,783 to have been slaves under the auspices, 32 00:01:33,817 --> 00:01:35,473 the institution and leadership 33 00:01:35,612 --> 00:01:37,580 of the United States government. 34 00:01:37,614 --> 00:01:41,031 Slavery is the original sin. 35 00:01:41,066 --> 00:01:44,033 Slavery has never received an apology. 36 00:01:44,069 --> 00:01:46,106 - By the time the enslaved were emancipated, 37 00:01:46,244 --> 00:01:49,661 they comprised the largest single asset in America. 38 00:01:49,764 --> 00:01:51,628 3 billion in 1860 dollars, 39 00:01:51,663 --> 00:01:55,115 more than all the other assets in the country combined. 40 00:01:55,149 --> 00:01:57,600 - I picked the cotton. 41 00:01:57,634 --> 00:02:01,155 I built the railroad under someone else's whip 42 00:02:01,190 --> 00:02:02,915 for nothing. 43 00:02:03,571 --> 00:02:05,504 For nothing. 44 00:02:05,642 --> 00:02:08,197 - Reconstruction failed after 12 years. 45 00:02:08,231 --> 00:02:10,889 And after reconstruction, a reign of terror 46 00:02:10,991 --> 00:02:12,270 that had never been seen. 47 00:02:12,304 --> 00:02:15,514 The hanging fruit, the lynching. 48 00:02:15,549 --> 00:02:17,344 - State-sponsored terrorism. 49 00:02:17,378 --> 00:02:20,140 - We kick the living hell out of the niggers. 50 00:02:20,174 --> 00:02:22,418 back to their own hometowns where they ought to have been. 51 00:02:22,452 --> 00:02:25,075 - Yesterday when asked about reparations, 52 00:02:25,110 --> 00:02:27,285 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell 53 00:02:27,319 --> 00:02:29,252 offered a familiar reply. 54 00:02:29,390 --> 00:02:31,047 - Yeah, I don't think reparations 55 00:02:31,081 --> 00:02:33,291 for something that happened 150 years ago 56 00:02:33,429 --> 00:02:35,500 for whom none of us currently living are responsible 57 00:02:35,638 --> 00:02:36,673 is a good idea. 58 00:02:39,435 --> 00:02:42,679 - This rebuttal proffers a strange theory of governance, 59 00:02:42,817 --> 00:02:44,853 that American accounts are somehow bound 60 00:02:44,888 --> 00:02:46,752 by the lifetime of its generations. 61 00:02:46,787 --> 00:02:48,858 [dramatic music] 62 00:02:48,996 --> 00:02:51,136 - What the bill says is that this is a proposal 63 00:02:51,274 --> 00:02:53,311 for reparations for the institution of slavery. 64 00:02:53,449 --> 00:02:54,898 - Yes. 65 00:02:54,933 --> 00:02:56,866 - The institution of slavery has never gone away. 66 00:02:57,004 --> 00:02:59,281 ♪ ♪ 67 00:02:59,317 --> 00:03:00,490 - Convict leasing. 68 00:03:00,525 --> 00:03:01,595 - The oppression of voting. 69 00:03:01,733 --> 00:03:03,700 - Poll taxes and racist G.I. bills. 70 00:03:04,322 --> 00:03:07,014 - Many of the bedrock policies, in fact, that ushered 71 00:03:07,048 --> 00:03:09,741 generations of Americans into the middle class 72 00:03:09,775 --> 00:03:13,020 were designed to exclude African Americans. 73 00:03:13,054 --> 00:03:15,747 - We fought in every one of your damn lousy wars, baby. 74 00:03:15,781 --> 00:03:17,542 And you give us nothing. 75 00:03:17,576 --> 00:03:19,371 - Thousands and thousands of Black veterans 76 00:03:19,509 --> 00:03:21,615 were denied their G.I. Bill benefits. 77 00:03:21,649 --> 00:03:24,134 - Federal Housing programs also discriminated 78 00:03:24,273 --> 00:03:26,378 against African Americans by redlining. 79 00:03:26,413 --> 00:03:28,000 - There's no question that redlining is happening. 80 00:03:28,035 --> 00:03:31,003 It's happening in almost every major city in America. 81 00:03:31,038 --> 00:03:32,728 - The typical Black family in this country 82 00:03:32,764 --> 00:03:35,215 has 1/10 the wealth of the typical white family. 83 00:03:35,249 --> 00:03:37,596 - 31% of Black children live in poverty, 84 00:03:37,631 --> 00:03:39,253 compared to 11% of white children. 85 00:03:39,288 --> 00:03:41,428 And we know the criminal justice system. 86 00:03:41,462 --> 00:03:44,776 - Somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend. 87 00:03:44,879 --> 00:03:46,295 - Oh, my God. 88 00:03:46,329 --> 00:03:47,537 [protestors shouting] 89 00:03:47,572 --> 00:03:48,676 all: No peace! 90 00:03:48,711 --> 00:03:50,160 - The question facing 91 00:03:50,299 --> 00:03:52,715 every person who lives in this nation 92 00:03:52,749 --> 00:03:54,579 is not so much who killed those young men, 93 00:03:54,716 --> 00:03:56,097 but what killed them. 94 00:03:56,132 --> 00:03:57,444 - I'm gonna tell them there's an African American man 95 00:03:57,478 --> 00:03:58,548 threatening my life. 96 00:03:58,583 --> 00:03:59,791 - The matter of reparations 97 00:03:59,825 --> 00:04:01,517 is one of making amends, 98 00:04:01,551 --> 00:04:03,035 indirect redress, 99 00:04:03,070 --> 00:04:05,037 but it is also a question of citizenship. 100 00:04:05,175 --> 00:04:06,936 - If you won't listen to me 101 00:04:06,970 --> 00:04:09,766 when I make an appeal for the Negroes, 102 00:04:09,801 --> 00:04:12,459 because you have no concern for the Negro... 103 00:04:12,493 --> 00:04:13,460 - Let's go. 104 00:04:13,494 --> 00:04:14,495 Move it on back. 105 00:04:14,530 --> 00:04:16,082 ♪ ♪ 106 00:04:16,117 --> 00:04:19,293 - Listen to me when I make an appeal for America! 107 00:04:19,430 --> 00:04:19,983 ♪ ♪ 108 00:04:20,018 --> 00:04:21,468 - Let us work together, 109 00:04:21,571 --> 00:04:22,814 and let's get this done. 110 00:04:22,952 --> 00:04:23,987 It is long overdue. 111 00:04:24,125 --> 00:04:25,195 It is deserving, 112 00:04:25,230 --> 00:04:26,196 and it is the right thing to do. 113 00:04:26,231 --> 00:04:27,439 Mr. Chairman, I yield back. 114 00:04:27,474 --> 00:04:28,751 ♪ ♪ 115 00:04:28,785 --> 00:04:30,580 - We have yet to hear when the bill 116 00:04:30,615 --> 00:04:32,479 will have a full House vote. 117 00:04:32,617 --> 00:04:34,274 Keep in mind that's still another hurdle 118 00:04:34,412 --> 00:04:36,621 that this legislation has to move past. 119 00:04:36,655 --> 00:04:39,417 [upbeat music] 120 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:40,487 - ♪ Ha ♪ 121 00:04:40,625 --> 00:04:41,626 ♪ ♪ 122 00:04:41,659 --> 00:04:42,523 ♪ Ooh ♪ 123 00:04:42,558 --> 00:04:43,628 ♪ ♪ 124 00:04:43,662 --> 00:04:44,629 ♪ Hey ♪ 125 00:04:44,732 --> 00:04:45,561 ♪ ♪ 126 00:04:45,699 --> 00:04:46,631 ♪ Ha ♪ 127 00:04:46,734 --> 00:04:47,563 ♪ ♪ 128 00:04:47,701 --> 00:04:48,633 ♪ Huh ♪ 129 00:04:48,736 --> 00:04:50,186 ♪ ♪ 130 00:04:50,359 --> 00:04:51,256 - Good afternoon. 131 00:04:51,291 --> 00:04:53,603 This is the professor, Dr. Ron Daniels, 132 00:04:53,638 --> 00:04:55,847 president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century 133 00:04:55,881 --> 00:04:57,745 and distinguished lecturer. 134 00:04:57,780 --> 00:04:59,471 Good afternoon. You're on Vantage Point. 135 00:04:59,609 --> 00:05:01,818 - Hey, how you doing, brother? - Good. 136 00:05:01,853 --> 00:05:06,202 - I just wanted to get your opinion on H.R. 40. 137 00:05:06,236 --> 00:05:07,652 There hasn't been much talk or thought 138 00:05:07,686 --> 00:05:09,447 about, you know, reparations. 139 00:05:09,481 --> 00:05:10,655 So I was just wondering if you could speak on that. 140 00:05:10,793 --> 00:05:11,656 - Oh, I certainly can. 141 00:05:11,794 --> 00:05:13,899 I mean, H.R. 40 is-- 142 00:05:13,934 --> 00:05:15,625 we're pushing very hard. 143 00:05:15,660 --> 00:05:17,662 There's been a lot of debate and discussion 144 00:05:17,696 --> 00:05:20,078 about the--the bill. 145 00:05:20,112 --> 00:05:22,011 And it's unfortunately-- unfortunately, 146 00:05:22,149 --> 00:05:23,599 it's playing out between the political parties, 147 00:05:23,633 --> 00:05:24,669 to some degree. 148 00:05:24,703 --> 00:05:26,084 I must say that we have 149 00:05:26,187 --> 00:05:27,810 great disappointment at this level. 150 00:05:27,844 --> 00:05:30,019 But Sheila Jackson Lee 151 00:05:30,053 --> 00:05:33,436 has been absolutely visionary, 152 00:05:33,471 --> 00:05:35,611 courageous, and tenacious 153 00:05:35,749 --> 00:05:37,026 in helping to spearhead this. 154 00:05:37,164 --> 00:05:39,960 - African Americans are still feeling the brunt of slavery. 155 00:05:40,098 --> 00:05:42,203 But we're trying to get our friends 156 00:05:42,342 --> 00:05:44,999 who are making statements, "You were not a slave," 157 00:05:45,137 --> 00:05:47,657 to understand that you are a descendant, 158 00:05:47,795 --> 00:05:49,279 a descendant, a descendant, 159 00:05:49,314 --> 00:05:51,765 but you are faced by that status of slavery 160 00:05:51,799 --> 00:05:54,975 and racism that puts you in this position today. 161 00:05:55,009 --> 00:05:57,046 [indistinct radio chatter] 162 00:06:01,257 --> 00:06:04,536 - We did not initially start talking about 163 00:06:04,571 --> 00:06:07,159 building local reparations initiatives 164 00:06:07,297 --> 00:06:11,474 until I get this call from a dear friend, 165 00:06:11,612 --> 00:06:12,648 longtime activist. 166 00:06:12,751 --> 00:06:13,787 - How are you? - I'm fantastic. 167 00:06:13,821 --> 00:06:15,305 How are you? - I'm doing great. 168 00:06:15,340 --> 00:06:16,479 I'm doing great. Yeah. - Yeah. I'm doing just fine. 169 00:06:16,617 --> 00:06:17,929 - Good. - You know I'm, like, 170 00:06:17,963 --> 00:06:20,000 in warrior mode, right? - That's fine. That's fine. 171 00:06:20,034 --> 00:06:21,898 - He said, "Man, you know, we got a bad system 172 00:06:22,036 --> 00:06:23,900 "in Evanston, and she's pushing 173 00:06:23,935 --> 00:06:26,178 the reparations question strong." 174 00:06:26,213 --> 00:06:27,525 - We're gonna market it and tell everybody about it. 175 00:06:27,663 --> 00:06:28,353 You're doing wonderful. We love it. 176 00:06:28,491 --> 00:06:29,803 - Thank you. - Oh, yeah. 177 00:06:29,837 --> 00:06:31,598 - Congratulations. - Thank you. 178 00:06:31,632 --> 00:06:34,082 [indistinct chatter] 179 00:06:36,982 --> 00:06:38,363 - Good evening, everyone. 180 00:06:38,398 --> 00:06:39,537 all: Good evening. 181 00:06:39,675 --> 00:06:43,368 - We're going to prepare our hearts and minds 182 00:06:43,506 --> 00:06:46,889 to begin this most historic town meeting 183 00:06:46,923 --> 00:06:49,650 to celebrate the Evanston reparations. 184 00:06:49,685 --> 00:06:51,134 Would you clap your hands for... 185 00:06:51,169 --> 00:06:54,275 [cheers and applause] 186 00:07:00,937 --> 00:07:03,595 - There's something in the air. 187 00:07:03,733 --> 00:07:07,150 The whole nation is watching this city 188 00:07:07,185 --> 00:07:10,084 and, indeed, perhaps over the world. 189 00:07:10,222 --> 00:07:13,191 And so it was Alderman Simmons who brings us here, 190 00:07:13,294 --> 00:07:14,779 in many respects. 191 00:07:14,813 --> 00:07:15,918 You have become the visible face 192 00:07:16,056 --> 00:07:17,229 and the driving force 193 00:07:17,264 --> 00:07:19,473 of the Evanston reparation initiative. 194 00:07:19,508 --> 00:07:21,061 Why did you do this? 195 00:07:26,998 --> 00:07:28,448 - Evanston... 196 00:07:29,759 --> 00:07:31,761 We are leaders. 197 00:07:31,899 --> 00:07:36,179 And as I work through my responsibilities 198 00:07:36,214 --> 00:07:40,252 as Fifth Ward Alderman, I saw how hard we were working. 199 00:07:40,356 --> 00:07:43,670 My colleagues on city council, community organizations, 200 00:07:43,808 --> 00:07:47,743 residents, parents, were working really hard 201 00:07:47,846 --> 00:07:49,779 to bring equity and inclusion, 202 00:07:49,917 --> 00:07:53,369 and we were not moving the needle. 203 00:07:53,542 --> 00:07:58,132 We still maintain a wealth disparity of $46,000 204 00:07:58,270 --> 00:08:00,134 between Blacks and whites in Evanston. 205 00:08:00,272 --> 00:08:03,621 We continued a life expectancy gap 206 00:08:03,759 --> 00:08:05,485 of 13 years. 207 00:08:05,519 --> 00:08:08,246 Our Black homeownership rate is at its lowest point 208 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:10,282 since the 1960s, 209 00:08:10,317 --> 00:08:13,044 and we needed to move our efforts 210 00:08:13,078 --> 00:08:15,564 beyond apology and ceremony, 211 00:08:15,598 --> 00:08:18,049 and we needed to bring action. 212 00:08:18,187 --> 00:08:21,639 It was time to do something as radical 213 00:08:21,673 --> 00:08:23,986 as the oppression and discrimination, 214 00:08:24,020 --> 00:08:26,609 as the impact from the Jim Crow law 215 00:08:26,747 --> 00:08:27,886 and the redlining. 216 00:08:28,024 --> 00:08:32,477 Something as radical as reparations. 217 00:08:32,511 --> 00:08:35,100 [cheers and applause] 218 00:08:35,135 --> 00:08:37,586 There was nothing more to do. 219 00:08:37,620 --> 00:08:40,520 [cheers and applause] 220 00:08:53,705 --> 00:08:56,674 [upbeat music] 221 00:08:56,708 --> 00:08:57,951 - All right, folks, 222 00:08:58,089 --> 00:08:59,642 we'll be talking about H.R. 40, 223 00:08:59,780 --> 00:09:00,954 the commission to study reparations. 224 00:09:00,988 --> 00:09:03,335 H.R. 40 has been stalled in Congress 225 00:09:03,370 --> 00:09:05,337 for more than 30 years, 226 00:09:05,475 --> 00:09:07,132 but there's new light in the debate 227 00:09:07,270 --> 00:09:10,550 coming out of Evanston, Illinois. 228 00:09:10,584 --> 00:09:12,690 Robin Rue Simmons was an alderwoman there. 229 00:09:12,828 --> 00:09:14,105 She got passed 230 00:09:14,243 --> 00:09:17,315 the first reparations bill in American history. 231 00:09:17,453 --> 00:09:19,386 - The city of Evanston now has pledged 232 00:09:19,524 --> 00:09:23,010 to pay out $10 million over the next 10 years. 233 00:09:23,148 --> 00:09:26,496 - This is the first attempt at a publicly funded 234 00:09:26,635 --> 00:09:29,879 reparations program in U.S. history. 235 00:09:29,914 --> 00:09:31,674 - So now it's up to Evanston to decide 236 00:09:31,709 --> 00:09:35,920 how and to whom the money will be distributed. 237 00:09:36,023 --> 00:09:41,304 ♪ ♪ 238 00:09:41,339 --> 00:09:42,651 - It's been nonstop. 239 00:09:42,685 --> 00:09:46,033 More calls and emails in the last few days 240 00:09:46,068 --> 00:09:47,828 than I probably had in the last couple years, really. 241 00:09:47,863 --> 00:09:49,036 [laughs] 242 00:09:49,071 --> 00:09:50,451 - You'll be hearing from me shortly 243 00:09:50,590 --> 00:09:52,350 on the few emails and texts, 244 00:09:52,453 --> 00:09:53,696 and then I'll see you at 5:30. 245 00:09:53,834 --> 00:09:54,559 - Okay, thank you. 246 00:09:54,697 --> 00:09:56,837 - Awesome. No problem. 247 00:09:56,975 --> 00:09:59,184 - Learning that local government 248 00:09:59,219 --> 00:10:00,772 is most responsive 249 00:10:00,807 --> 00:10:01,980 and we're more nimble 250 00:10:02,118 --> 00:10:03,464 and we can make impact 251 00:10:03,499 --> 00:10:05,466 quicker than the federal government, 252 00:10:05,501 --> 00:10:08,677 and thinking this is a local matter. 253 00:10:08,711 --> 00:10:10,610 And I pushed it relentlessly. 254 00:10:10,748 --> 00:10:15,442 I was very, very stern 255 00:10:15,580 --> 00:10:18,721 in wanting it to happen in this calendar year, 256 00:10:18,756 --> 00:10:21,206 being the 400th year of Black resilience. 257 00:10:21,241 --> 00:10:23,036 That was important to me. 258 00:10:23,208 --> 00:10:25,072 So I was not willing to compromise 259 00:10:25,107 --> 00:10:29,249 on any other format to get to this victory. 260 00:10:29,283 --> 00:10:31,976 Time is of the essence. 261 00:10:32,010 --> 00:10:33,736 So with that said, 262 00:10:33,874 --> 00:10:35,082 let's just do the work at this point. 263 00:10:35,117 --> 00:10:36,912 Solutions only. Hashtags. 264 00:10:37,015 --> 00:10:38,154 How are we gonna-- 265 00:10:38,292 --> 00:10:40,363 I hear we have 16 seats instead of 24. 266 00:10:40,398 --> 00:10:41,468 [laughs] 267 00:10:43,228 --> 00:10:44,574 Hi. How are you? 268 00:10:44,609 --> 00:10:46,784 [indistinct chatter] 269 00:10:46,818 --> 00:10:47,854 - Sheila, go ahead, sit here. 270 00:10:47,888 --> 00:10:49,476 - Thank you for accepting the invitation. 271 00:10:49,510 --> 00:10:50,684 - Sheila, sit here. 272 00:10:50,822 --> 00:10:52,928 - All right, does everybody have a seat? 273 00:10:53,031 --> 00:10:54,964 I will not hold anybody liable 274 00:10:55,102 --> 00:10:56,310 for any injuries that might occur in this. 275 00:10:56,448 --> 00:10:57,726 - All right. So noted. 276 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,936 [laughter] Right. 277 00:11:00,970 --> 00:11:02,282 - Welcome, everyone. 278 00:11:02,316 --> 00:11:04,733 Can I have your attention? 279 00:11:04,767 --> 00:11:06,942 I'm trying to paint a picture of how Evanston 280 00:11:07,045 --> 00:11:10,946 has changed over the course of 100, 150 years. 281 00:11:11,049 --> 00:11:14,501 Evanston was established in 1855. 282 00:11:14,535 --> 00:11:17,815 Right here was the Evanston Sanitarium. 283 00:11:17,849 --> 00:11:21,094 Evanston segregated hospital. 284 00:11:21,128 --> 00:11:22,716 Up and down here, a lot of mom-and-pop shops, 285 00:11:22,854 --> 00:11:26,893 eateries, barbers, beauticians. 286 00:11:27,031 --> 00:11:29,585 This location here was the original location 287 00:11:29,723 --> 00:11:32,761 of Ebenezer AME Church, Evanston's oldest Black church, 288 00:11:32,899 --> 00:11:35,177 established in 1882. 289 00:11:35,315 --> 00:11:37,489 And the Emerson Street branch YMCA that was located 290 00:11:37,627 --> 00:11:38,870 at this section right here, 291 00:11:39,008 --> 00:11:43,461 it was opened in 1914 to service the Black community 292 00:11:43,495 --> 00:11:45,187 in Evanston, Illinois. 293 00:11:46,567 --> 00:11:49,225 - Everything that happened in Evanston 294 00:11:49,260 --> 00:11:50,330 was happening in this building. 295 00:11:50,364 --> 00:11:52,401 Churches started there. Clubs started there. 296 00:11:52,435 --> 00:11:56,370 Decades of history and memory in one building. 297 00:11:56,508 --> 00:11:58,821 And that kind of epitomized the strength of a community 298 00:11:58,959 --> 00:12:00,927 at that time. 299 00:12:01,065 --> 00:12:02,963 Shorefront is an organization that documents 300 00:12:03,101 --> 00:12:05,103 the African American experience 301 00:12:05,138 --> 00:12:07,209 in Chicago's suburban North Shore. 302 00:12:07,347 --> 00:12:09,418 And usually the storyline is, 303 00:12:09,556 --> 00:12:12,766 we're domestics and servants, and we have no history. 304 00:12:12,904 --> 00:12:14,941 And I'm kind of, like, saying this-- 305 00:12:14,975 --> 00:12:17,357 this is BS. 306 00:12:17,391 --> 00:12:19,462 This is American history, 307 00:12:19,497 --> 00:12:23,743 and you cannot edit out a dialogue 308 00:12:23,777 --> 00:12:26,124 to create a new narrative. 309 00:12:26,262 --> 00:12:27,298 You're not telling a complete story, 310 00:12:27,436 --> 00:12:28,748 and you're telling an inaccurate story. 311 00:12:32,061 --> 00:12:35,133 [indistinct chatter] 312 00:12:35,271 --> 00:12:37,757 - Evanston had a significant part to do with it. 313 00:12:37,895 --> 00:12:40,414 - Yeah. Yeah, we did. 314 00:12:40,449 --> 00:12:42,037 - Good afternoon, everyone. 315 00:12:42,175 --> 00:12:43,970 Thank you all for being here. 316 00:12:44,108 --> 00:12:47,628 We are here today because we have a lot of work to do. 317 00:12:47,767 --> 00:12:50,045 We've done something really historic, 318 00:12:50,148 --> 00:12:53,496 and we have an opportunity to actually make 319 00:12:53,531 --> 00:12:55,188 tremendous impact in our community, 320 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,605 and be looked to as a model of what's possible 321 00:12:58,743 --> 00:13:00,676 in localities across the nation. 322 00:13:00,710 --> 00:13:02,402 Via Evanston's budget, 323 00:13:02,436 --> 00:13:04,714 there is a reparation fund line item. 324 00:13:04,749 --> 00:13:06,509 That's really exciting. 325 00:13:06,544 --> 00:13:07,441 [applause] 326 00:13:07,579 --> 00:13:10,099 Yeah. 327 00:13:10,237 --> 00:13:12,412 - The question is, what makes reparations 328 00:13:12,550 --> 00:13:14,414 reparations? 329 00:13:14,448 --> 00:13:16,830 Certainly, the whole issue of enslavement 330 00:13:16,865 --> 00:13:19,419 is what people tend to think about, 331 00:13:19,453 --> 00:13:21,904 but it is also for Jim Crow policies 332 00:13:22,042 --> 00:13:25,011 and racially exclusionary policies, 333 00:13:25,149 --> 00:13:27,013 policies that provided benefits for white people 334 00:13:27,151 --> 00:13:28,531 that we didn't get. 335 00:13:28,669 --> 00:13:31,120 That in fact, helped to develop white communities 336 00:13:31,155 --> 00:13:33,502 to the underdevelopment of Black communities. 337 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,332 - I want us to forever remember 338 00:13:36,470 --> 00:13:39,025 that there is no amount of money 339 00:13:39,059 --> 00:13:41,096 that they can pay us 340 00:13:41,199 --> 00:13:43,374 for what our people have endured. 341 00:13:43,408 --> 00:13:46,204 The notion that comes out of our committee, 342 00:13:46,342 --> 00:13:50,139 ancestral wisdom about justice. 343 00:13:50,174 --> 00:13:51,623 Not charity. 344 00:13:51,658 --> 00:13:53,556 And that's the distinction we're looking for 345 00:13:53,591 --> 00:13:55,386 in terms of public policy 346 00:13:55,420 --> 00:13:56,697 and what we're talking about 347 00:13:56,836 --> 00:13:59,045 when we talk about reparatory justice. 348 00:13:59,079 --> 00:14:01,979 - When you use the term reparations in this context, 349 00:14:02,117 --> 00:14:04,567 a whole slew of categories-- 350 00:14:04,602 --> 00:14:06,604 redlining, apartheid, 351 00:14:06,638 --> 00:14:08,813 which was Jim Crow segregation, slavery-- 352 00:14:08,951 --> 00:14:11,333 these were what were considered crimes against humanity. 353 00:14:11,367 --> 00:14:12,610 And how do you return the dignity back 354 00:14:12,644 --> 00:14:14,612 to a people whose dignity was eroded 355 00:14:14,646 --> 00:14:15,993 as a result of the crimes that were committed? 356 00:14:16,027 --> 00:14:17,580 - Mm-hmm. 357 00:14:17,615 --> 00:14:19,410 - When we come to 1865, 358 00:14:19,444 --> 00:14:21,757 General Sherman's Field Order 15, 359 00:14:21,930 --> 00:14:26,244 that was the moment when the nation attempted 360 00:14:26,382 --> 00:14:29,489 to redress the crimes of enslavement 361 00:14:29,523 --> 00:14:30,628 and all of the things that went on 362 00:14:30,662 --> 00:14:32,630 through that cruel period. 363 00:14:32,664 --> 00:14:35,357 - [garbled speech] 364 00:14:35,391 --> 00:14:37,600 As the Union swept towards victory 365 00:14:37,635 --> 00:14:40,120 over the slaveholding Southern states, 366 00:14:40,258 --> 00:14:43,296 General William T. Sherman issued a military order 367 00:14:43,330 --> 00:14:46,506 redistributing 400,000 acres of Confederate lands 368 00:14:46,644 --> 00:14:48,888 to the recently emancipated slaves. 369 00:14:50,579 --> 00:14:53,823 The order specified that the land be divided equally 370 00:14:53,962 --> 00:14:56,378 into 40-acre parcels and governed by 371 00:14:56,412 --> 00:14:59,691 an autonomous, all-Black government. 372 00:14:59,726 --> 00:15:02,625 This order, Special Order Field 15, 373 00:15:02,660 --> 00:15:05,456 became known as "40 acres and a mule." 374 00:15:05,559 --> 00:15:08,321 [tense music] 375 00:15:08,355 --> 00:15:10,219 - General Sherman's Field Order 15, 376 00:15:10,254 --> 00:15:13,119 that was the first of many times 377 00:15:13,153 --> 00:15:14,741 where this country had an opportunity 378 00:15:14,879 --> 00:15:16,777 to do the right thing, and it never did. 379 00:15:16,881 --> 00:15:19,642 ♪ ♪ 380 00:15:19,677 --> 00:15:21,334 If they had, then we wouldn't be 381 00:15:21,368 --> 00:15:24,095 in the situation we're in now. 382 00:15:24,130 --> 00:15:26,442 Less than three months after General Sherman's order, 383 00:15:26,580 --> 00:15:28,065 Lincoln was assassinated, 384 00:15:28,099 --> 00:15:30,791 and the new president rescinded it. 385 00:15:30,826 --> 00:15:35,555 That kind of ended reparations for 50, 60 years. 386 00:15:35,589 --> 00:15:37,074 That's when Sister Callie House 387 00:15:37,108 --> 00:15:38,523 comes into that. 388 00:15:38,661 --> 00:15:42,596 A lot of ex-slaves were too old to work. 389 00:15:42,631 --> 00:15:44,115 ♪ ♪ 390 00:15:44,253 --> 00:15:46,462 She had set up a massive movement 391 00:15:46,497 --> 00:15:50,466 trying to get government pensions for ex-slaves. 392 00:15:50,501 --> 00:15:53,745 She was stopped by being arrested and imprisoned 393 00:15:53,780 --> 00:15:55,299 because the government said 394 00:15:55,333 --> 00:15:58,026 she was actually defrauding her members, 395 00:15:58,060 --> 00:15:59,924 that she should have known 396 00:16:00,062 --> 00:16:02,858 America was never gonna pay. 397 00:16:02,996 --> 00:16:06,310 Callie House was a threat to white America 398 00:16:06,344 --> 00:16:07,794 and to the government 399 00:16:07,828 --> 00:16:10,141 because she inspired a movement 400 00:16:10,176 --> 00:16:11,591 to see this issue 401 00:16:11,625 --> 00:16:14,974 as a collective struggle of a people, 402 00:16:15,008 --> 00:16:17,390 but the question is, do you see yourself 403 00:16:17,424 --> 00:16:20,669 as part of the people of African descent, 404 00:16:20,703 --> 00:16:23,603 or do you see yourself as American individuals 405 00:16:23,637 --> 00:16:25,225 who happen to be Black? 406 00:16:25,260 --> 00:16:29,643 ♪ ♪ 407 00:16:34,338 --> 00:16:37,410 - This is the redline map that shows the area 408 00:16:37,444 --> 00:16:40,033 that was redlined, all encompassing the Fifth Ward. 409 00:16:40,068 --> 00:16:42,518 Redlining was a Federal Housing program 410 00:16:42,656 --> 00:16:44,796 designating areas in cities 411 00:16:44,934 --> 00:16:48,145 that had a potential real estate growth, 412 00:16:48,283 --> 00:16:50,906 and assigning value to areas. 413 00:16:51,044 --> 00:16:53,322 So if you're in the higher letters, A, B, 414 00:16:53,460 --> 00:16:56,360 the green areas are the most desirable areas. 415 00:16:56,394 --> 00:16:58,879 Those are areas where banks specifically 416 00:16:58,914 --> 00:17:02,952 would lend money for housing and for development. 417 00:17:02,987 --> 00:17:05,127 This whole blue area here is all lakefront property. 418 00:17:05,162 --> 00:17:07,440 So highly desired. 419 00:17:07,473 --> 00:17:09,200 Then when you get in yellow, it's kind of iffy, you know, 420 00:17:09,338 --> 00:17:11,685 but a lot of times, this represents middle class, 421 00:17:11,823 --> 00:17:14,204 working class, ethnic white. 422 00:17:14,343 --> 00:17:17,726 If you're labeled D, that's the lowest. 423 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:20,590 Banks recommend no investment whatsoever. 424 00:17:20,729 --> 00:17:24,146 Not in housing, not in business development. 425 00:17:24,284 --> 00:17:27,148 100% of the time, it is the Black population. 426 00:17:27,184 --> 00:17:29,600 So Robin lives about right here, 427 00:17:29,738 --> 00:17:31,498 right in the middle, where the D2 is. 428 00:17:34,467 --> 00:17:36,124 - Okay, well, my Uber is here. 429 00:17:36,158 --> 00:17:37,815 - Oh, daughter! - [laughs] 430 00:17:37,918 --> 00:17:39,299 - Baby. - I'll see you Monday. 431 00:17:39,334 --> 00:17:40,266 Or Tuesday. - Okay, bye, baby. 432 00:17:40,300 --> 00:17:41,370 Have fun. - Bye-bye. 433 00:17:41,405 --> 00:17:42,682 - Mm-hmm. - You got the door? 434 00:17:42,820 --> 00:17:43,890 - Yeah. 435 00:17:50,690 --> 00:17:51,587 Hey, Demetrius, how are you? 436 00:17:51,622 --> 00:17:52,795 It's Robin. 437 00:17:52,830 --> 00:17:53,693 I'm just touching base 438 00:17:53,831 --> 00:17:56,040 after that call we had yesterday. 439 00:17:56,178 --> 00:17:58,007 Did I have any action items? 440 00:17:58,146 --> 00:18:00,769 My feelings are all over the place right now. 441 00:18:00,907 --> 00:18:03,254 Some mornings I wake up and I feel like, wow, 442 00:18:03,392 --> 00:18:04,600 I'm a part of history. 443 00:18:04,738 --> 00:18:06,257 This is special. 444 00:18:06,395 --> 00:18:08,673 And then it's intimidating at the same time, 445 00:18:08,811 --> 00:18:10,503 because what if you don't get it right 446 00:18:10,641 --> 00:18:12,712 and everyone's not comfortable with it? 447 00:18:14,162 --> 00:18:17,406 You know, people have been extremely nasty to me, 448 00:18:17,441 --> 00:18:22,135 and I'm careful to maintain my professionalism always 449 00:18:22,273 --> 00:18:24,724 and, you know, use all my big words 450 00:18:24,758 --> 00:18:27,589 and not yell. 451 00:18:27,623 --> 00:18:29,970 And I just really want to get to the action. 452 00:18:30,005 --> 00:18:31,696 Like, that's kind of how I lead. 453 00:18:31,731 --> 00:18:34,251 I like to identify the problem, you know, 454 00:18:34,285 --> 00:18:36,667 and get right to identifying a solution 455 00:18:36,805 --> 00:18:38,427 and put some action behind that. 456 00:18:38,462 --> 00:18:40,878 But we can't work so swiftly with this 457 00:18:40,912 --> 00:18:43,087 because there are, you know, 458 00:18:43,122 --> 00:18:47,160 generations and decades and layers of problems 459 00:18:47,195 --> 00:18:51,544 and damages and responsible institutions 460 00:18:51,716 --> 00:18:53,477 and practices and culture. 461 00:18:54,512 --> 00:18:56,756 And the more I learn 462 00:18:56,894 --> 00:19:00,242 and the more I get accomplished, 463 00:19:00,380 --> 00:19:03,003 it seems like the more work there is to do. 464 00:19:03,038 --> 00:19:05,868 [soft music] 465 00:19:05,903 --> 00:19:12,806 ♪ ♪ 466 00:19:26,751 --> 00:19:29,375 - I'm trying to find my husband, 467 00:19:29,513 --> 00:19:32,171 who doesn't often get to come here. 468 00:19:32,309 --> 00:19:34,552 And one of my swearing in. 469 00:19:36,347 --> 00:19:38,315 Me and President Clinton. 470 00:19:38,349 --> 00:19:40,075 We had an Oval Office picture. 471 00:19:40,248 --> 00:19:41,421 That's a big deal, 472 00:19:41,456 --> 00:19:43,665 when you have a one-on-one meeting 473 00:19:43,803 --> 00:19:44,976 with the President of the United States. 474 00:19:45,011 --> 00:19:46,495 I appreciate that. 475 00:19:46,530 --> 00:19:49,843 We were talking about some serious issues. 476 00:19:50,499 --> 00:19:51,983 There's Mandela. 477 00:19:53,951 --> 00:19:55,677 Barbara. 478 00:19:56,712 --> 00:19:59,991 That's my good friend Congressman John Conyers. 479 00:20:00,026 --> 00:20:03,650 Fighting the good fight of H.R. 40 reparations. 480 00:20:05,514 --> 00:20:08,207 This was deeply personal 481 00:20:08,241 --> 00:20:11,382 because I have lived the laws of the land 482 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:15,041 dividing us by sanctioning discrimination 483 00:20:15,179 --> 00:20:17,043 and racism. 484 00:20:17,077 --> 00:20:21,012 John Lewis is-- I have to get way up here. 485 00:20:21,047 --> 00:20:23,014 John Lewis, just a wonderful man, 486 00:20:23,118 --> 00:20:25,224 and he was a strong supporter of H.R. 40. 487 00:20:25,362 --> 00:20:27,087 I just miss him so much. 488 00:20:28,365 --> 00:20:30,367 My grandparents were in Florida. 489 00:20:30,505 --> 00:20:32,265 When I would go visit them, 490 00:20:32,300 --> 00:20:35,717 I rode in the back of the train, 491 00:20:35,751 --> 00:20:39,341 as a little girl, with my bag of food, 492 00:20:39,376 --> 00:20:45,036 because I could not eat any place in that train. 493 00:20:45,071 --> 00:20:47,556 I had to be relegated 494 00:20:47,694 --> 00:20:49,662 to the train for colored people, 495 00:20:49,696 --> 00:20:53,182 and you had to bring your own food. 496 00:20:53,217 --> 00:20:55,806 And my mom and dad. 497 00:20:55,840 --> 00:21:00,742 My father was a young, brilliant cartoonist. 498 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:03,089 This is the "Invisible Men: 499 00:21:03,123 --> 00:21:06,126 The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books." 500 00:21:06,230 --> 00:21:07,956 ♪ ♪ 501 00:21:07,990 --> 00:21:09,026 Ezra Clyde Jackson. 502 00:21:09,060 --> 00:21:10,821 There he is. 503 00:21:10,855 --> 00:21:13,375 He did it under a pseudonym 'cause there was a broker 504 00:21:13,410 --> 00:21:17,793 who took the work that these Black men had 505 00:21:17,931 --> 00:21:20,727 and then took it to Madison Avenue. 506 00:21:20,762 --> 00:21:22,315 Because the color thing, 507 00:21:22,350 --> 00:21:24,869 it had to be sort of camouflaged. 508 00:21:24,904 --> 00:21:26,595 Oh, there. I'll turn the page. 509 00:21:26,733 --> 00:21:28,666 This the kind of work that he did. 510 00:21:28,701 --> 00:21:31,600 ♪ ♪ 511 00:21:31,635 --> 00:21:32,877 And this is what they did. 512 00:21:32,912 --> 00:21:33,947 They took their work 513 00:21:34,085 --> 00:21:35,432 and then they put a pseudonym on it 514 00:21:35,466 --> 00:21:38,642 and sold it to the comic books... 515 00:21:38,676 --> 00:21:40,989 ♪ ♪ 516 00:21:41,127 --> 00:21:42,887 So they wouldn't know that Black people, 517 00:21:43,025 --> 00:21:45,165 Black men did it. 518 00:21:45,269 --> 00:21:47,582 ♪ ♪ 519 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:49,446 And then when the white soldiers 520 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,344 came back from World War II, 521 00:21:51,482 --> 00:21:54,313 it was just, "We don't need you anymore." 522 00:21:54,451 --> 00:21:59,145 That stained us for his whole life 523 00:21:59,179 --> 00:22:02,735 into my beginning of my life. 524 00:22:02,907 --> 00:22:07,464 I'm still not prepared to join an insurrection. 525 00:22:07,498 --> 00:22:09,673 I just want to understand, and I want you to understand 526 00:22:09,707 --> 00:22:13,021 who I am and who we are. 527 00:22:18,958 --> 00:22:20,477 - I didn't know if what you wanted 528 00:22:20,615 --> 00:22:23,100 was relative to the agenda items. 529 00:22:23,203 --> 00:22:24,584 So I was trying to make an effort 530 00:22:24,619 --> 00:22:26,862 to touch base with you before. 531 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:28,554 Six generations of my family 532 00:22:28,588 --> 00:22:30,487 have been Fifth Ward residents. 533 00:22:30,521 --> 00:22:32,972 The work is personal for me. 534 00:22:33,110 --> 00:22:34,491 I have a daughter, 535 00:22:34,525 --> 00:22:37,873 and I have, you know, a son and a grandson. 536 00:22:38,011 --> 00:22:40,980 They're Black children that are in a cruel world 537 00:22:41,118 --> 00:22:44,984 with discrimination and unfair practices 538 00:22:45,018 --> 00:22:47,366 that they have to navigate life with. 539 00:22:47,504 --> 00:22:50,023 And if I can do anything to give them hope 540 00:22:50,058 --> 00:22:52,060 that they can be whatever they want to be, 541 00:22:52,198 --> 00:22:53,544 that's my responsibility. 542 00:22:53,579 --> 00:22:56,720 [upbeat music] 543 00:22:56,754 --> 00:23:03,520 ♪ ♪ 544 00:23:05,038 --> 00:23:06,799 So I grew up right here in the Fifth Ward. 545 00:23:06,833 --> 00:23:08,179 I was born and raised. 546 00:23:08,317 --> 00:23:13,978 And from birth to 17, when I left 547 00:23:14,013 --> 00:23:17,119 after graduating Evanston Township High School, 548 00:23:17,154 --> 00:23:18,880 I lived in-- I should count them. 549 00:23:18,914 --> 00:23:23,471 it may be somewhere between 10 and 12 different homes 550 00:23:23,505 --> 00:23:25,369 in the Fifth Ward. 551 00:23:25,507 --> 00:23:27,613 So this is my neighborhood. 552 00:23:27,751 --> 00:23:30,478 Much of my childhood I actually lived with my grandparents, 553 00:23:30,512 --> 00:23:35,586 so my mother was pursuing her highest and best life, 554 00:23:35,724 --> 00:23:38,900 and I lived with my grandparents. 555 00:23:38,934 --> 00:23:40,626 So this was my grandparents' home. 556 00:23:40,764 --> 00:23:45,838 And so we lived on the first floor. 557 00:23:45,872 --> 00:23:47,115 This was my home base. 558 00:23:47,253 --> 00:23:51,533 I probably lived here some stretch of grade school, 559 00:23:51,568 --> 00:23:54,294 most of junior high, all of high school. 560 00:23:54,329 --> 00:23:56,055 I lived with my grandparents here in this house. 561 00:23:56,193 --> 00:23:58,506 This is me in front of that house. 562 00:23:58,540 --> 00:24:00,335 [laughs] 563 00:24:02,130 --> 00:24:05,651 We didn't have a lot, but we had a ton of love, 564 00:24:05,789 --> 00:24:07,618 and I didn't know that I didn't have a lot. 565 00:24:07,653 --> 00:24:10,276 I mean, it wasn't until I moved out 566 00:24:10,310 --> 00:24:12,036 and entered into adulting 567 00:24:12,174 --> 00:24:14,383 that I realized that we were, you know, 568 00:24:14,487 --> 00:24:15,833 working class poor. 569 00:24:15,971 --> 00:24:17,456 I thought I was well-off. 570 00:24:17,594 --> 00:24:20,044 [soft music] 571 00:24:20,079 --> 00:24:21,563 It's my village. 572 00:24:21,701 --> 00:24:23,565 Like these streets raised me, 573 00:24:23,703 --> 00:24:26,810 and that community I'm just forever grateful for. 574 00:24:26,844 --> 00:24:29,985 I could have very easily been something else. 575 00:24:30,123 --> 00:24:33,851 I could have very easily had an addiction or, you know, 576 00:24:33,989 --> 00:24:36,923 been in the criminal justice system. 577 00:24:36,958 --> 00:24:42,826 And my community really helped me believe 578 00:24:42,964 --> 00:24:44,690 that I could choose 579 00:24:44,828 --> 00:24:46,933 to be however great I wanted to be. 580 00:24:46,968 --> 00:24:49,626 And I believed them, and here I am today, 581 00:24:49,764 --> 00:24:53,699 trying really, really hard to give back 582 00:24:53,733 --> 00:24:57,565 in the way that I was receiving as a child. 583 00:24:57,599 --> 00:25:04,503 ♪ ♪ 584 00:25:15,997 --> 00:25:17,964 - We are here in Hecky Way. 585 00:25:18,102 --> 00:25:20,139 Hi. How you doing? 586 00:25:20,173 --> 00:25:21,243 - Sauce on the regular tips? 587 00:25:21,278 --> 00:25:22,521 - Yes. 588 00:25:23,694 --> 00:25:25,938 - We specialize in barbecue. 589 00:25:25,972 --> 00:25:28,596 It's a homemade recipe received from my mother. 590 00:25:28,734 --> 00:25:30,563 She got it from her grandmother. 591 00:25:30,701 --> 00:25:32,427 ♪ ♪ 592 00:25:32,461 --> 00:25:34,360 This is our smokers here. 593 00:25:36,017 --> 00:25:37,536 Those are rib tips. 594 00:25:37,674 --> 00:25:40,262 And Kendra's over here working pulled pork-- 595 00:25:40,297 --> 00:25:42,955 or she pretending like she's working the pulled pork. 596 00:25:42,989 --> 00:25:44,163 [laughs] 597 00:25:44,197 --> 00:25:47,166 We sell so much, I had to get a machine. 598 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:48,719 People don't have the work ethic. 599 00:25:48,857 --> 00:25:50,721 That's what we're trying to teach like they used to. 600 00:25:51,653 --> 00:25:55,036 I'm not liberal, okay? 601 00:25:55,070 --> 00:25:56,693 I'm, like, in the middle. 602 00:25:56,831 --> 00:25:59,350 I helped Robin on her campaign to be an alderperson. 603 00:25:59,385 --> 00:26:01,249 You know, our council, in this community, 604 00:26:01,387 --> 00:26:03,044 has got a little too liberal for me. 605 00:26:03,078 --> 00:26:05,909 I mean, reparation, we don't need it. 606 00:26:05,943 --> 00:26:09,878 When we talk about redlining, that wasn't good. 607 00:26:10,016 --> 00:26:12,329 But then there was part of it that was good. 608 00:26:12,432 --> 00:26:15,021 All the Black people live together. 609 00:26:15,056 --> 00:26:17,230 We all was in the same neighborhood. 610 00:26:17,265 --> 00:26:21,269 The poor, the middle class, and the rich. 611 00:26:21,303 --> 00:26:24,617 My family's been here since 1902. 612 00:26:24,755 --> 00:26:28,794 My great-grandfather, now, he was born into slavery. 613 00:26:28,828 --> 00:26:31,141 His mother and three of the siblings 614 00:26:31,175 --> 00:26:33,419 escaped from New Madrid, Missouri, 615 00:26:33,453 --> 00:26:35,041 where they were picking cotton. 616 00:26:35,179 --> 00:26:39,528 And my dad, who raised nine kids 617 00:26:39,667 --> 00:26:41,876 doing domestic work on the North Shore. 618 00:26:41,910 --> 00:26:43,532 You know, the man worked extremely hard, 619 00:26:43,567 --> 00:26:45,569 and he saved his money. 620 00:26:45,604 --> 00:26:46,984 And he built a house. 621 00:26:47,019 --> 00:26:49,608 This is back during the time 622 00:26:49,642 --> 00:26:51,333 when they were not giving 623 00:26:51,471 --> 00:26:55,027 or considering giving Black men money for homes. 624 00:26:55,199 --> 00:26:59,548 You know, we never was on any type of public aid 625 00:26:59,583 --> 00:27:01,896 or assistance or any of those things. 626 00:27:01,930 --> 00:27:03,311 He didn't believe in it. 627 00:27:03,449 --> 00:27:04,830 And he wouldn't take it anyway. 628 00:27:04,864 --> 00:27:07,556 He believed and taught us the work ethic. 629 00:27:07,729 --> 00:27:10,456 And that all of us, you should work for what you want. 630 00:27:10,594 --> 00:27:13,701 This one here is some key people 631 00:27:13,735 --> 00:27:15,288 that played a great role in the community. 632 00:27:15,323 --> 00:27:17,981 This guy here, he owned this company. 633 00:27:18,015 --> 00:27:19,845 Golden Crown Juices. 634 00:27:19,879 --> 00:27:21,018 He couldn't get into the big stores, 635 00:27:21,191 --> 00:27:22,710 but he was smart. 636 00:27:22,744 --> 00:27:24,781 He hired these two white guys to be his salesmen, 637 00:27:24,815 --> 00:27:26,299 and they thought they were the owners. 638 00:27:26,437 --> 00:27:27,507 So that's how he got-- 639 00:27:27,646 --> 00:27:28,647 that's how he got into those stores. 640 00:27:28,785 --> 00:27:29,958 He knew how to think. 641 00:27:30,096 --> 00:27:33,099 This guy is named Jack Moss. 642 00:27:33,134 --> 00:27:36,033 He owned the grocery store that was down the street. 643 00:27:36,171 --> 00:27:38,139 That's where every-- Black people shopped at, 644 00:27:38,277 --> 00:27:39,243 was at his place. 645 00:27:39,278 --> 00:27:40,693 No hand-me-outs. 646 00:27:40,831 --> 00:27:42,108 No government funds. 647 00:27:42,246 --> 00:27:43,282 And you know something? 648 00:27:43,420 --> 00:27:44,766 If you didn't have enough money, 649 00:27:44,904 --> 00:27:45,940 he had a little chart for you. 650 00:27:46,043 --> 00:27:47,631 You'd pay him off weekly. 651 00:27:47,769 --> 00:27:49,253 And that's my dad up there. 652 00:27:49,391 --> 00:27:51,048 I put him close to heaven. 653 00:27:51,083 --> 00:27:52,153 [chuckles] 654 00:27:54,465 --> 00:27:57,503 [soft music] 655 00:27:57,537 --> 00:28:00,333 ♪ ♪ 656 00:28:00,368 --> 00:28:03,336 - I've lived in Evanston for 19 years. 657 00:28:03,371 --> 00:28:05,787 I thought I lived in a diverse community, 658 00:28:05,822 --> 00:28:07,824 my kids went to a diverse school. 659 00:28:07,962 --> 00:28:09,204 But all my friends were white. 660 00:28:09,342 --> 00:28:11,517 I lived in a totally white neighborhood, 661 00:28:11,655 --> 00:28:15,348 and I knew absolutely nothing about the Black community 662 00:28:15,383 --> 00:28:16,936 or the history of the Black community. 663 00:28:16,971 --> 00:28:19,594 And I think once you know that 664 00:28:19,767 --> 00:28:22,390 and once you hear the stories, 665 00:28:22,424 --> 00:28:24,599 you can't help but care. 666 00:28:24,772 --> 00:28:28,189 You can't help but recognize the injustice, 667 00:28:28,327 --> 00:28:31,882 the enormous length of time 668 00:28:32,020 --> 00:28:34,057 that this injustice has been going on. 669 00:28:34,195 --> 00:28:36,611 And so that's why I give a [...], 670 00:28:36,645 --> 00:28:38,026 because there are people in my community-- 671 00:28:38,130 --> 00:28:39,441 it's my community. 672 00:28:39,476 --> 00:28:41,616 Dear Evanston. 673 00:28:41,754 --> 00:28:44,239 And so I started Dear Evanston. 674 00:28:44,377 --> 00:28:46,690 It's an organization based on a Facebook page, 675 00:28:46,725 --> 00:28:48,968 talking to white people about what's going on 676 00:28:49,003 --> 00:28:50,349 in Evanston's Black community. 677 00:28:50,487 --> 00:28:52,938 Because there's such a divide in our city. 678 00:28:53,076 --> 00:28:54,767 And there's so many white people 679 00:28:54,905 --> 00:28:57,425 who are probably pretty well-meaning 680 00:28:57,563 --> 00:29:02,085 but just don't know what's going on. 681 00:29:02,119 --> 00:29:03,880 Just don't know the history of Evanston. 682 00:29:04,018 --> 00:29:05,847 And not because they don't want to know, 683 00:29:05,985 --> 00:29:08,505 but no one's ever taught them. 684 00:29:08,608 --> 00:29:11,128 And I was one of those people. 685 00:29:11,266 --> 00:29:12,336 I grew up in South Africa, 686 00:29:12,474 --> 00:29:15,926 and I left South Africa when I was almost 15. 687 00:29:15,961 --> 00:29:17,307 And I think that growing up in South Africa 688 00:29:17,445 --> 00:29:19,274 and being young 689 00:29:19,412 --> 00:29:22,346 and growing up during apartheid, 690 00:29:22,381 --> 00:29:23,865 there was nothing I could do. 691 00:29:24,003 --> 00:29:28,145 There was nothing that I felt any power to do. 692 00:29:28,283 --> 00:29:31,528 And I remember as a kid feeling very guilty 693 00:29:31,562 --> 00:29:37,292 and uncomfortable and helpless. 694 00:29:38,535 --> 00:29:41,193 I live in this beautiful house, 695 00:29:41,227 --> 00:29:46,439 and the question is, how much do we owe? 696 00:29:46,577 --> 00:29:49,718 And how much should we give? 697 00:29:49,753 --> 00:29:52,445 I think every white person in Evanston 698 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,621 is gonna need to answer that question for themselves. 699 00:29:55,655 --> 00:30:00,177 I can't even say for myself what it is that I'm "prepared" 700 00:30:00,315 --> 00:30:04,009 or that my family is prepared to give, 701 00:30:04,147 --> 00:30:07,253 because it's, like, an insurmountable amount 702 00:30:07,288 --> 00:30:09,946 that is owed. 703 00:30:09,980 --> 00:30:12,672 I don't know how we'll ever pay it. 704 00:30:12,811 --> 00:30:15,952 I don't know how, as a family, we'd be able to pay it, 705 00:30:16,090 --> 00:30:18,126 and how much we'll be willing to, to be very honest. 706 00:30:18,264 --> 00:30:19,714 You know? 707 00:30:19,852 --> 00:30:24,201 How much of--how much of our privilege and our money 708 00:30:24,339 --> 00:30:30,276 are we gonna be willing to ultimately give to this? 709 00:30:30,311 --> 00:30:33,866 Something we think-- I have to think about a lot. 710 00:30:34,004 --> 00:30:40,735 ♪ ♪ 711 00:30:43,324 --> 00:30:46,016 - This is the rough part of Evanston. 712 00:30:46,154 --> 00:30:51,711 This is the part of town where you don't want to be out 713 00:30:51,746 --> 00:30:54,956 on a nice summer night at 11:00 at night. 714 00:30:54,991 --> 00:30:56,613 Kind of a classic story. 715 00:30:56,647 --> 00:30:58,063 We always drove our kids to school. 716 00:30:58,201 --> 00:31:01,411 I would just drive them and then go to work. 717 00:31:01,445 --> 00:31:03,068 So we're driving by the high school, 718 00:31:03,206 --> 00:31:05,242 with police line all over the place. 719 00:31:05,380 --> 00:31:06,899 Someone got shot at the high school. 720 00:31:06,934 --> 00:31:08,556 I don't know who did it. 721 00:31:08,694 --> 00:31:10,903 It's just the nature of this neighborhood, or you know, 722 00:31:10,938 --> 00:31:12,629 it's--it's a rough-- 723 00:31:12,732 --> 00:31:14,838 it's a rough part of town. 724 00:31:14,873 --> 00:31:17,806 Just it's just-- just the way it is. 725 00:31:17,841 --> 00:31:20,119 If you were to look at some of these mailboxes, 726 00:31:20,154 --> 00:31:23,709 you'll see that there are lots of people, 727 00:31:23,743 --> 00:31:26,539 probably seven or eight names just listed on the mailbox. 728 00:31:28,369 --> 00:31:29,473 It's not right or wrong. 729 00:31:29,611 --> 00:31:31,027 It's just this is, you know-- 730 00:31:31,165 --> 00:31:33,236 this is how they get through life's journey, as well. 731 00:31:33,374 --> 00:31:34,271 Just... 732 00:31:36,964 --> 00:31:38,724 That's their world. 733 00:31:52,358 --> 00:31:54,464 Come on, Wolf. Come on. 734 00:31:54,602 --> 00:31:57,294 Robin, as to why reparations are needed, 735 00:31:57,329 --> 00:31:58,882 she's mentioned that, you know, 736 00:31:59,020 --> 00:32:01,264 people are being priced out of Evanston. 737 00:32:01,298 --> 00:32:03,749 And you know, thank God for the U.S. Census. 738 00:32:03,783 --> 00:32:07,132 I mean, in 1990, Evanston was 78% white. 739 00:32:07,166 --> 00:32:09,306 It's now 59% white. 740 00:32:09,341 --> 00:32:11,239 It's okay. 741 00:32:11,274 --> 00:32:14,380 In 1990, it was 22% Black. 742 00:32:14,415 --> 00:32:16,865 It's now 16% Black. 743 00:32:16,900 --> 00:32:18,315 Again, I don't have a problem with that. 744 00:32:18,453 --> 00:32:20,593 That's just people come and go, and people move. 745 00:32:20,731 --> 00:32:22,561 In the meantime, Evanston has gone 746 00:32:22,699 --> 00:32:26,772 from 15% Asian to 27% Asian. 747 00:32:26,806 --> 00:32:30,327 I--so I just don't see this issue that, you know, 748 00:32:30,465 --> 00:32:31,466 the part of the reparations fund 749 00:32:31,604 --> 00:32:33,434 is gonna be used to keep Black families 750 00:32:33,572 --> 00:32:35,056 in the community. 751 00:32:35,091 --> 00:32:36,161 I don't know why they would be given 752 00:32:36,299 --> 00:32:39,992 more status than any other group of people. 753 00:32:40,027 --> 00:32:42,788 There's a lot of people who are afraid to speak up. 754 00:32:42,822 --> 00:32:44,134 You're afraid that you-- 755 00:32:44,272 --> 00:32:46,723 and speak to a contrary position, 756 00:32:46,757 --> 00:32:49,864 you're actually afraid to actually speak your mind, 757 00:32:50,037 --> 00:32:50,899 because someone's gonna sit there 758 00:32:50,934 --> 00:32:53,316 and say, "You are a--" whatever. 759 00:32:53,454 --> 00:32:56,629 And--or your car is going to get keyed, or you're-- 760 00:32:56,664 --> 00:32:59,598 you know, again, I don't know that there's any incidences 761 00:32:59,632 --> 00:33:01,772 of someone who said something that didn't agree 762 00:33:01,807 --> 00:33:03,878 with the masses getting their car keyed, 763 00:33:04,051 --> 00:33:06,087 but that's the inner feeling. 764 00:33:06,122 --> 00:33:08,607 That saying something controversial 765 00:33:08,641 --> 00:33:10,643 is gonna end up, you know, causing harm 766 00:33:10,781 --> 00:33:12,749 to myself and my family. 767 00:33:12,783 --> 00:33:14,613 I mean, if you think about reparations, 768 00:33:14,647 --> 00:33:17,719 reparations conceptually, 769 00:33:17,857 --> 00:33:20,412 it's for those that were victimized by slavery. 770 00:33:20,584 --> 00:33:23,691 So if there was gonna be a time to make the reparations 771 00:33:23,829 --> 00:33:25,762 for the harm of slavery, I would argue 772 00:33:25,796 --> 00:33:27,902 that that should have been done, you know, 773 00:33:28,075 --> 00:33:29,973 in the late 19th century. 774 00:33:30,008 --> 00:33:31,699 We're now in the 21st century. 775 00:33:31,733 --> 00:33:33,287 I think what it'll end up doing 776 00:33:33,321 --> 00:33:35,841 is making us look like a bunch of bloody fools. 777 00:33:41,122 --> 00:33:43,297 - All that makes somebody Black or somebody white-- 778 00:33:43,331 --> 00:33:45,230 what we're talking about is just skin color. 779 00:33:45,368 --> 00:33:47,508 [indistinct chatter] 780 00:33:47,646 --> 00:33:49,820 In my family, it's all mixed. 781 00:33:49,855 --> 00:33:51,167 You want a bag? You sure? 782 00:33:51,305 --> 00:33:52,616 - Not gonna last that long. 783 00:33:52,754 --> 00:33:54,239 - All right. Thanks, man. 784 00:33:54,377 --> 00:33:56,310 I did a DNA on myself. 785 00:33:56,344 --> 00:33:58,795 I'm all mixed up. 786 00:33:58,829 --> 00:34:00,348 This is just a human body. 787 00:34:00,452 --> 00:34:02,178 My spirit, I love. 788 00:34:02,316 --> 00:34:04,318 That has no color. 789 00:34:04,421 --> 00:34:07,010 We all in this country are nothing but a bunch of mutts. 790 00:34:07,148 --> 00:34:08,839 [laughs] 791 00:34:08,943 --> 00:34:12,774 We all are mutts. 792 00:34:12,911 --> 00:34:14,880 So I came out with a package called The Mutt. 793 00:34:17,226 --> 00:34:20,196 These, hot links. 794 00:34:20,230 --> 00:34:22,370 Open up. [laughs] 795 00:34:23,922 --> 00:34:26,409 This here, chicken wings. 796 00:34:34,417 --> 00:34:36,728 See, this here is the Black people. 797 00:34:36,764 --> 00:34:38,214 This is-- the red is the Indians. 798 00:34:38,351 --> 00:34:39,248 Okay? 799 00:34:41,976 --> 00:34:45,980 And then you take--and you put your white bread on top. 800 00:34:46,152 --> 00:34:47,775 Okay? 801 00:34:47,913 --> 00:34:48,983 And there it is. 802 00:34:49,016 --> 00:34:50,398 That's The Mutt. 803 00:34:51,434 --> 00:34:52,710 Very special. 804 00:34:52,745 --> 00:34:54,713 I mean, that council's really liberal. 805 00:34:54,851 --> 00:34:55,783 Nice people. 806 00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:57,336 But they're liberal, 807 00:34:57,371 --> 00:34:59,545 and they're scared to be called racist. 808 00:34:59,580 --> 00:35:01,444 And they're gonna let it go through. 809 00:35:01,478 --> 00:35:03,204 But will anything get done? 810 00:35:03,342 --> 00:35:04,205 That's what we've got to see. 811 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:06,380 We're gonna see where this goes. 812 00:35:06,414 --> 00:35:10,280 I don't think it's gonna go too far for anyone. 813 00:35:10,418 --> 00:35:12,213 [cheers and applause] 814 00:35:12,351 --> 00:35:14,664 - We, the leaders 815 00:35:14,802 --> 00:35:19,496 of the effort for reparations now, 816 00:35:19,634 --> 00:35:23,086 reparations not in the next century, 817 00:35:23,224 --> 00:35:26,952 not in 2185, 818 00:35:27,090 --> 00:35:29,851 not 10 years from now, 819 00:35:29,886 --> 00:35:33,545 but reparations when? 820 00:35:33,579 --> 00:35:38,170 Reparations when? Reparations when? 821 00:35:38,308 --> 00:35:41,035 - The reparations movement during the 20th century 822 00:35:41,173 --> 00:35:43,969 took many forms and faced many obstacles. 823 00:35:44,003 --> 00:35:45,660 ♪ ♪ 824 00:35:45,798 --> 00:35:47,973 Early in the century, there was Marcus Garvey 825 00:35:48,111 --> 00:35:52,046 and his reparations and repatriation movement. 826 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,462 He was followed by Queen Mother Moore, 827 00:35:54,497 --> 00:35:56,947 who in 1957 gathered 828 00:35:56,982 --> 00:35:59,985 over a million signatures on a petition for reparations 829 00:36:00,019 --> 00:36:02,781 which she presented to the United Nations. 830 00:36:02,815 --> 00:36:05,508 And in the 1960s and '70s, the Black Panthers 831 00:36:05,542 --> 00:36:07,682 had a 10-point program for liberation, 832 00:36:07,820 --> 00:36:10,892 which included a demand for payment of the reparations 833 00:36:11,030 --> 00:36:14,379 promised in Special Field Order No. 15. 834 00:36:14,482 --> 00:36:15,552 But when we think about 835 00:36:15,587 --> 00:36:17,589 the modern reparations movement, 836 00:36:17,727 --> 00:36:18,797 it was really Congressman John Conyers 837 00:36:18,831 --> 00:36:20,039 who got the ball rolling 838 00:36:20,178 --> 00:36:23,560 on the government reparations policy. 839 00:36:23,595 --> 00:36:26,322 Spurred on by reparation's Ray Jenkins, 840 00:36:26,356 --> 00:36:30,084 Conyers crafted the first version of H.R. 40 in 1989 841 00:36:30,222 --> 00:36:31,810 and unsuccessfully petitioned 842 00:36:31,948 --> 00:36:33,225 the House Judiciary Committee 843 00:36:33,260 --> 00:36:36,539 to take the bill up for the next 30 years. 844 00:36:36,642 --> 00:36:40,577 ♪ ♪ 845 00:36:40,612 --> 00:36:42,027 The work is now being carried forward 846 00:36:42,165 --> 00:36:45,203 by representative Sheila Jackson Lee in Washington. 847 00:36:56,352 --> 00:36:58,043 - You're here to-- 848 00:36:58,077 --> 00:36:59,803 - I'm here to meet with the Congresswoman, yes. 849 00:36:59,941 --> 00:37:02,220 - Okay. Sign in. Just go ahead. 850 00:37:03,151 --> 00:37:05,050 And she should be here momentarily. 851 00:37:05,188 --> 00:37:05,982 So... - Okay. 852 00:37:07,811 --> 00:37:10,400 [reporter on TV speaking indistinctly] 853 00:37:18,581 --> 00:37:21,066 - Secretary Alex Azar from earlier today. 854 00:37:22,550 --> 00:37:24,449 - We don't know exactly how many... 855 00:37:24,587 --> 00:37:25,519 - Councilwoman? 856 00:37:25,622 --> 00:37:27,245 - We're so excited to see you. 857 00:37:27,383 --> 00:37:29,074 - Very happy to be here. - Thank you so very much. 858 00:37:29,108 --> 00:37:30,178 Thank you. Come on over here. 859 00:37:30,213 --> 00:37:31,801 - Okay. All right. - Thank you. 860 00:37:31,835 --> 00:37:36,806 I'm delighted to welcome you and to congratulate you. 861 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,912 We were so excited when we saw the legislation. 862 00:37:39,947 --> 00:37:42,398 In fact, we have used it in presentations that we've made. 863 00:37:42,536 --> 00:37:43,985 - Wow. 864 00:37:44,020 --> 00:37:47,437 - I use your outstanding construct. 865 00:37:47,575 --> 00:37:50,302 You've been, councilmember, a real hero--shero--to me. 866 00:37:50,337 --> 00:37:52,131 - Thank you. Thank you. 867 00:37:52,166 --> 00:37:53,961 Being a member of National League of Cities, 868 00:37:54,099 --> 00:37:57,413 you know, we learn that all government starts locally, 869 00:37:57,447 --> 00:38:00,761 and the thought was, why not do what we can do here 870 00:38:00,795 --> 00:38:04,868 at a local level while H.R. 40 is working through its process, 871 00:38:04,903 --> 00:38:06,560 through your leadership? 872 00:38:06,594 --> 00:38:09,425 We could have layers of repair and layers of remedy, 873 00:38:09,459 --> 00:38:11,323 because, as we know, those damages, 874 00:38:11,358 --> 00:38:12,980 yes, were rooted in slavery. 875 00:38:13,118 --> 00:38:15,500 But you know, it looked like discrimination 876 00:38:15,534 --> 00:38:18,917 even still today because the color of our dark skin. 877 00:38:18,951 --> 00:38:23,162 So excited to share anything that we've done in Evanston 878 00:38:23,197 --> 00:38:27,063 and then learn more about your goals for H.R. 40 879 00:38:27,097 --> 00:38:29,445 and how we can even support that 880 00:38:29,479 --> 00:38:31,585 and make sure that it gets passed. 881 00:38:31,619 --> 00:38:34,967 - Well, I think the good news is that you are proactive. 882 00:38:35,105 --> 00:38:37,487 So I am very grateful for that laboratory 883 00:38:37,625 --> 00:38:39,144 that you've given us. 884 00:38:39,282 --> 00:38:41,560 And I think it will be very effective, 885 00:38:41,595 --> 00:38:44,425 being utilized and shared with members of Congress. 886 00:38:44,460 --> 00:38:46,600 And what you have done just adds 887 00:38:46,703 --> 00:38:51,225 to the really important story of what reparations can be. 888 00:38:51,259 --> 00:38:53,400 So thank you. 889 00:38:53,434 --> 00:38:55,194 Glad you're here for the National League of Cities. 890 00:38:55,333 --> 00:38:58,543 And glad we were able to have this moment. 891 00:38:58,577 --> 00:38:59,578 - Thank you. I know. 892 00:38:59,613 --> 00:39:00,890 I wish this wasn't happening, 893 00:39:01,028 --> 00:39:02,443 'cause my first thing was to get a big hug. 894 00:39:02,478 --> 00:39:03,755 - Same here. - But next time. 895 00:39:03,789 --> 00:39:04,756 - Yeah. 896 00:39:04,790 --> 00:39:06,309 - Okay. 897 00:39:16,215 --> 00:39:17,285 - I need a moment. 898 00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:19,046 [laughs] - Yeah. 899 00:39:19,149 --> 00:39:22,049 [soft music] 900 00:39:22,187 --> 00:39:23,637 ♪ ♪ 901 00:39:23,671 --> 00:39:25,397 - China has identified the cause 902 00:39:25,432 --> 00:39:28,296 of the mysterious pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan City. 903 00:39:28,435 --> 00:39:32,162 - In the past two weeks, the number of cases 904 00:39:32,197 --> 00:39:36,891 of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold. 905 00:39:36,926 --> 00:39:39,100 - The great shutdown of 2020 is underway. 906 00:39:39,135 --> 00:39:41,931 We know the hospital surge is coming. 907 00:39:41,965 --> 00:39:46,522 - I am officially declaring a national emergency. 908 00:39:46,556 --> 00:39:47,764 Two very big words. 909 00:39:47,799 --> 00:39:51,078 - It is lights out for tens of thousands 910 00:39:51,112 --> 00:39:53,080 of bars and restaurants across the city, 911 00:39:53,114 --> 00:39:54,944 and even more across the state. 912 00:39:55,082 --> 00:39:58,568 - To avoid loss of potentially tens of thousands of lives, 913 00:39:58,603 --> 00:40:01,433 we must enact an immediate stay-at-home order 914 00:40:01,571 --> 00:40:03,953 for the state of Illinois. 915 00:40:04,091 --> 00:40:07,232 So that is the action that I'm announcing today. 916 00:40:09,993 --> 00:40:11,443 - We were in DC, 917 00:40:11,478 --> 00:40:15,620 and as we were in DC, the coronavirus pandemic 918 00:40:15,723 --> 00:40:18,346 was becoming a concern. 919 00:40:18,450 --> 00:40:19,969 We returned home 920 00:40:20,003 --> 00:40:22,212 to pretty much full-blown pandemic. 921 00:40:22,247 --> 00:40:25,284 Due to COVID, we have a legit budget concern. 922 00:40:25,423 --> 00:40:27,528 The recommendation was that we consider 923 00:40:27,563 --> 00:40:30,807 postponing reparation work until 2021. 924 00:40:30,945 --> 00:40:36,503 Why in the world would we postpone reparation 925 00:40:36,537 --> 00:40:40,161 for a community that was also 926 00:40:40,196 --> 00:40:44,683 disproportionately impacted by the COVID virus? 927 00:40:44,718 --> 00:40:50,102 So we're moving forward with our deadlines as of right now. 928 00:40:50,137 --> 00:40:53,174 Good evening, and thank you all for joining us 929 00:40:53,312 --> 00:40:57,316 for our second Town Hall for reparations in Evanston. 930 00:40:57,455 --> 00:41:01,769 I'm very excited to introduce our next guest. 931 00:41:01,804 --> 00:41:05,083 We have Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee 932 00:41:05,221 --> 00:41:08,362 here with us tonight, and we are behind her-- 933 00:41:08,396 --> 00:41:10,502 I am, I'll speak for myself-- 934 00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:15,127 as you lead our nation towards having H.R. 40 pass. 935 00:41:15,162 --> 00:41:17,785 - Alderman Simmons, I am delighted to be here, 936 00:41:17,923 --> 00:41:19,994 and I was very privileged to work with the honorable 937 00:41:20,132 --> 00:41:22,272 John Conyers, late John Conyers, 938 00:41:22,307 --> 00:41:25,137 on many issues, including criminal justice reform 939 00:41:25,275 --> 00:41:27,830 and, of course, H.R. 40. 940 00:41:27,864 --> 00:41:29,866 The time is now for our nation to study 941 00:41:29,901 --> 00:41:31,868 and acknowledge the effects and impact 942 00:41:32,006 --> 00:41:33,318 of slavery in America. 943 00:41:33,352 --> 00:41:36,286 The time is now to shed light on our shared truth 944 00:41:36,424 --> 00:41:39,048 to enable healing to a national reckoning, 945 00:41:39,082 --> 00:41:42,120 and to embrace and uplift our shared humanity. 946 00:41:42,154 --> 00:41:44,294 And what you have done in Evanston 947 00:41:44,329 --> 00:41:46,849 is a step forward for people to see 948 00:41:46,987 --> 00:41:50,128 the value that will come out of recognizing 949 00:41:50,162 --> 00:41:52,406 the idea of reparations. 950 00:41:52,544 --> 00:41:56,686 So in H.R. 40, we have 126 cosponsors. 951 00:41:56,721 --> 00:41:59,137 We've never had that many cosponsors 952 00:41:59,275 --> 00:42:00,414 in the decades that it's been found. 953 00:42:00,587 --> 00:42:03,417 14 members away from 150. 954 00:42:03,451 --> 00:42:05,488 And I have no doubt that we're gonna work 955 00:42:05,523 --> 00:42:07,041 to pass this legislation 956 00:42:07,076 --> 00:42:09,354 out of the United States House and the Senate. 957 00:42:09,492 --> 00:42:10,769 Thank you for having me. 958 00:42:10,804 --> 00:42:11,805 - Thank you very much. 959 00:42:11,908 --> 00:42:13,600 We appreciate you being here. 960 00:42:13,634 --> 00:42:15,187 And we have to close out this meeting. 961 00:42:15,222 --> 00:42:17,189 So thank you-- - Can I say something? 962 00:42:17,224 --> 00:42:19,295 Can I say something? - Please. Please. 963 00:42:19,398 --> 00:42:21,297 - I think most people know by now, 964 00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:25,543 but Hecky Powell is very ill, 965 00:42:25,577 --> 00:42:28,028 and we should all pray for him tonight. 966 00:42:28,166 --> 00:42:29,443 - Yes. 967 00:42:29,477 --> 00:42:33,516 - He is in intensive care with COVID. 968 00:42:33,551 --> 00:42:34,690 Thank you. 969 00:42:34,724 --> 00:42:38,038 - Thank you for making that point. 970 00:42:38,072 --> 00:42:41,213 [somber music] 971 00:42:41,248 --> 00:42:48,013 ♪ ♪ 972 00:42:51,776 --> 00:42:54,192 - Data collected by state and local agencies 973 00:42:54,226 --> 00:42:55,918 suggests Blacks are being 974 00:42:55,952 --> 00:42:59,404 disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. 975 00:42:59,438 --> 00:43:01,855 - Black people in the U.S. are nearly three times 976 00:43:01,889 --> 00:43:04,271 as likely to become infected with the virus 977 00:43:04,409 --> 00:43:06,342 as their white neighbors, 978 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:08,586 and nearly twice as likely to die from it. 979 00:43:08,724 --> 00:43:12,037 - So you are talking about 400 years of racism 980 00:43:12,175 --> 00:43:15,385 as a national model in this country, 981 00:43:15,523 --> 00:43:18,388 and we are surprised at why Black people 982 00:43:18,423 --> 00:43:21,495 are the most vulnerable to any public health issue? 983 00:43:21,529 --> 00:43:26,604 ♪ ♪ 984 00:43:26,742 --> 00:43:30,297 - Hecky is somebody who was the first 985 00:43:30,331 --> 00:43:33,438 that I talked to about running for Alderman. 986 00:43:33,576 --> 00:43:35,613 His passing was a great loss 987 00:43:35,647 --> 00:43:37,580 for everybody in the community. 988 00:43:37,615 --> 00:43:39,478 I think everybody felt like 989 00:43:39,513 --> 00:43:41,964 they had a special relationship with Hecky. 990 00:43:41,998 --> 00:43:44,207 ♪ ♪ 991 00:43:44,242 --> 00:43:45,968 I know that I did. 992 00:43:46,071 --> 00:43:50,973 ♪ ♪ 993 00:43:51,111 --> 00:43:53,976 [upbeat music] 994 00:43:54,079 --> 00:44:00,879 ♪ ♪ 995 00:44:02,467 --> 00:44:04,745 - The greatest hurdle 996 00:44:04,780 --> 00:44:06,022 is the political will to make it happen. 997 00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:08,853 And Alderman Simmons made it happen. 998 00:44:08,991 --> 00:44:10,751 ♪ ♪ 999 00:44:10,786 --> 00:44:12,926 Before I took the job, I knew that Evanston 1000 00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:14,513 was working on a reparations program, 1001 00:44:14,548 --> 00:44:17,344 and I wanted the opportunity to work with the committee. 1002 00:44:17,378 --> 00:44:20,243 My background as an attorney is primarily litigation. 1003 00:44:21,382 --> 00:44:23,005 The number one question that I get asked 1004 00:44:23,143 --> 00:44:24,972 as the legal counsel is, 1005 00:44:25,110 --> 00:44:29,701 how do you deal with it being a race-based program? 1006 00:44:29,736 --> 00:44:31,047 How do you get over that hurdle? 1007 00:44:34,050 --> 00:44:37,778 With respect to reparations or any sort of equity work 1008 00:44:37,916 --> 00:44:44,198 in this country, ironically, you battle the 14th Amendment. 1009 00:44:44,336 --> 00:44:46,614 The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection 1010 00:44:46,753 --> 00:44:49,548 under the laws of all citizens in the United States. 1011 00:44:49,583 --> 00:44:51,240 Although the Amendment was passed 1012 00:44:51,274 --> 00:44:54,726 to try and benefit freed slaves 1013 00:44:54,761 --> 00:44:57,349 and African Americans in the country, 1014 00:44:57,384 --> 00:45:00,042 it's actually been used to deny opportunities 1015 00:45:00,076 --> 00:45:01,733 to those same groups. 1016 00:45:01,768 --> 00:45:03,977 If someone sues, they say, "This isn't right. 1017 00:45:04,115 --> 00:45:05,357 This is reverse discrimination." 1018 00:45:05,495 --> 00:45:07,463 This is one of my favorite terms. 1019 00:45:07,497 --> 00:45:09,637 This is reverse discrimination. 1020 00:45:09,741 --> 00:45:12,433 And ironically, 1021 00:45:12,571 --> 00:45:15,298 discrimination is one of the hardest things to prove. 1022 00:45:15,436 --> 00:45:17,438 You can always say in the area of housing, 1023 00:45:17,473 --> 00:45:18,923 "This person was denied 1024 00:45:19,061 --> 00:45:20,372 "because of their income. 1025 00:45:20,407 --> 00:45:21,753 "They were denied because of their credit. 1026 00:45:21,891 --> 00:45:24,135 "They were denied because of a laundry list 1027 00:45:24,169 --> 00:45:26,827 of things that had nothing to do with their race." 1028 00:45:29,105 --> 00:45:31,625 But we didn't have the resources internally 1029 00:45:31,659 --> 00:45:35,767 to find that evidence. 1030 00:45:35,802 --> 00:45:39,633 And Dino Robinson was instrumental in gathering 1031 00:45:39,771 --> 00:45:41,808 a lot of evidence, specifically implicating 1032 00:45:41,946 --> 00:45:43,050 actions of the city 1033 00:45:43,188 --> 00:45:45,639 with respect to discrimination. 1034 00:45:45,777 --> 00:45:48,573 - You know, what we're trying to anticipate is, 1035 00:45:48,607 --> 00:45:49,574 what if somebody comes and says, 1036 00:45:49,608 --> 00:45:51,714 "Well, this wasn't a law 1037 00:45:51,749 --> 00:45:54,475 "in the law books in the city of Evanston. 1038 00:45:54,510 --> 00:45:56,167 So how can you say it happened?" 1039 00:45:56,339 --> 00:45:58,790 Well, since we did not have any written laws, 1040 00:45:58,928 --> 00:46:01,172 we had to look for the underlying evidence 1041 00:46:01,310 --> 00:46:05,417 in, you know, procedures and thought processes, 1042 00:46:05,555 --> 00:46:08,524 and maybe just the way the city of Evanston 1043 00:46:08,558 --> 00:46:10,250 conducted themselves with the Black community. 1044 00:46:11,389 --> 00:46:12,459 So we found this recently. 1045 00:46:12,597 --> 00:46:15,186 "Negroes unable to secure homes here." 1046 00:46:15,358 --> 00:46:18,810 This came out January 2, 1918. 1047 00:46:18,845 --> 00:46:21,606 Nearly 50 colored families living in cramped homes 1048 00:46:21,744 --> 00:46:23,746 of friends and relatives are unable to rent 1049 00:46:23,781 --> 00:46:26,404 any other hundreds of empty houses. 1050 00:46:26,438 --> 00:46:28,993 And it goes on to say, like, landlords will not rent 1051 00:46:29,027 --> 00:46:33,031 to Negroes, and how can land owners 1052 00:46:33,066 --> 00:46:36,586 and realtors selling homes to Negroes, 1053 00:46:36,724 --> 00:46:38,519 how can we prevent that from happening? 1054 00:46:38,554 --> 00:46:39,969 And can we move the Black community 1055 00:46:40,107 --> 00:46:42,075 to unincorporated Niles? 1056 00:46:42,109 --> 00:46:45,112 So that is played out over and over again. 1057 00:46:45,147 --> 00:46:46,734 We know it happens, 1058 00:46:46,873 --> 00:46:49,979 but to find documentation of some sort, 1059 00:46:50,014 --> 00:46:51,463 you know, it's an eye-opener. 1060 00:46:51,498 --> 00:46:55,329 Yes, beautiful Evanston has its roots in Jim Crow. 1061 00:46:57,297 --> 00:47:00,196 [birds chirping] 1062 00:47:13,692 --> 00:47:14,935 - There's a reason why a lot of the Blacks 1063 00:47:14,970 --> 00:47:16,695 are not here anymore. 1064 00:47:16,730 --> 00:47:19,422 I think my mom is the last original owner on this block. 1065 00:47:19,560 --> 00:47:20,665 - That's what I've been told. 1066 00:47:20,803 --> 00:47:22,356 I don't know for sure. 1067 00:47:22,494 --> 00:47:24,531 - This is a first-step initiative 1068 00:47:24,669 --> 00:47:28,190 to try to re-compensate for the losses 1069 00:47:28,224 --> 00:47:30,330 that we've taken over the years. 1070 00:47:30,468 --> 00:47:32,159 - It would help for now. 1071 00:47:34,541 --> 00:47:38,786 - Well, I think that it's more like repairing the dignity. 1072 00:47:38,821 --> 00:47:40,547 You know, people looking at you 1073 00:47:40,685 --> 00:47:42,790 based on the color of your skin 1074 00:47:42,825 --> 00:47:44,309 and being discriminated against 1075 00:47:44,344 --> 00:47:47,657 just solely because of how you look, you know, 1076 00:47:47,692 --> 00:47:50,833 it really can have a traumatic effect on you overall. 1077 00:47:50,868 --> 00:47:53,940 In looking back at what my dad had to go through 1078 00:47:53,974 --> 00:47:55,665 back in the South during Jim Crow, 1079 00:47:55,700 --> 00:48:00,118 and you could literally be beaten and killed 1080 00:48:00,153 --> 00:48:01,844 for standing up for yourself. 1081 00:48:01,982 --> 00:48:05,192 So it took me a long time to understand 1082 00:48:05,330 --> 00:48:10,888 that my dad was protecting me by shuffling his feet 1083 00:48:10,922 --> 00:48:14,408 and skinning and grinning in front of the white man. 1084 00:48:14,546 --> 00:48:16,686 And it took me at least 30 years 1085 00:48:16,721 --> 00:48:18,861 to understand why he did that. 1086 00:48:19,758 --> 00:48:22,761 So yeah, I think that these type of programs 1087 00:48:22,796 --> 00:48:25,868 restore dignity and faith that, you know, 1088 00:48:25,903 --> 00:48:29,596 the system is changing and working in a way 1089 00:48:29,630 --> 00:48:32,530 towards bringing better equality 1090 00:48:32,668 --> 00:48:35,982 and bringing different racestogether 1091 00:48:36,016 --> 00:48:38,018 in more understanding. 1092 00:48:39,468 --> 00:48:40,918 - Good afternoon. You're on the air. 1093 00:48:40,952 --> 00:48:43,127 - I got friends and family talking about, 1094 00:48:43,161 --> 00:48:45,370 they're gonna give us reparations now. 1095 00:48:45,405 --> 00:48:47,165 Come on. [laughs] 1096 00:48:47,200 --> 00:48:48,615 I bet you a million dollars 1097 00:48:48,718 --> 00:48:50,548 they give us Juneteenth 1098 00:48:50,582 --> 00:48:53,620 before they give us reparations. 1099 00:48:53,723 --> 00:48:56,105 - Surprise! 1100 00:48:56,140 --> 00:48:58,866 - ♪ Happy birthday to me - ♪ Happy birthday to you 1101 00:48:59,039 --> 00:49:02,284 - ♪ Happy birthday to me - ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ 1102 00:49:02,422 --> 00:49:06,219 all: ♪ Happy birthday, dear Carlis ♪ 1103 00:49:06,322 --> 00:49:09,739 - ♪ Happy birthday to me - ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ 1104 00:49:09,774 --> 00:49:11,258 - ♪ And many more 1105 00:49:11,293 --> 00:49:12,501 - Yay! Whoo! 1106 00:49:12,535 --> 00:49:13,467 - You didn't tell me about 1107 00:49:13,605 --> 00:49:14,917 these fine young ladies down here. 1108 00:49:14,952 --> 00:49:17,851 [laughter] 1109 00:49:18,024 --> 00:49:19,818 - Bless the hands up in spirit 1110 00:49:19,853 --> 00:49:21,579 and bless the people who will receive it. 1111 00:49:21,613 --> 00:49:23,546 Please let all of the blessings continue 1112 00:49:23,581 --> 00:49:25,755 for our health and our wealth, 1113 00:49:25,893 --> 00:49:27,965 and thank you for fellowship and friendship. 1114 00:49:28,103 --> 00:49:30,312 Amen. Amen. Amen. - Amen. 1115 00:49:30,450 --> 00:49:32,797 - Good bread, good meat, good Lord, let's eat. 1116 00:49:32,935 --> 00:49:34,833 [laughter] 1117 00:49:37,043 --> 00:49:38,492 - Carlis... - Hmm? 1118 00:49:38,630 --> 00:49:41,909 - Tell us the story about your parents' house, 1119 00:49:41,944 --> 00:49:44,326 that they were-- 1120 00:49:44,360 --> 00:49:46,673 they actually what-- they moved the street or... 1121 00:49:46,811 --> 00:49:47,915 - Yeah. 1122 00:49:47,950 --> 00:49:49,400 They tore the street off the map. 1123 00:49:49,434 --> 00:49:50,746 It's no longer on the map. 1124 00:49:50,780 --> 00:49:53,404 They were building those very expensive homes 1125 00:49:53,576 --> 00:49:56,752 up and down Central Park. 1126 00:49:56,786 --> 00:49:58,581 For some reason or another, they didn't want-- 1127 00:49:58,616 --> 00:50:00,998 they couldn't get the value of their homes 1128 00:50:01,136 --> 00:50:03,000 if Black people were living near them. 1129 00:50:04,863 --> 00:50:07,832 So the developers moved all the Blacks out. 1130 00:50:07,866 --> 00:50:09,282 - Same as what's happening right now. 1131 00:50:09,316 --> 00:50:10,697 - Right, and I think 1132 00:50:10,835 --> 00:50:12,078 that's one reason why my grandfather 1133 00:50:12,112 --> 00:50:13,872 turned to alcohol, 1134 00:50:14,011 --> 00:50:15,702 because he could not hold his head up 1135 00:50:15,736 --> 00:50:17,255 in front of his own family. 1136 00:50:17,290 --> 00:50:19,154 You cannot pay my grandfather back. 1137 00:50:19,292 --> 00:50:20,362 He's dead. 1138 00:50:20,500 --> 00:50:22,536 But we descendants, 1139 00:50:22,674 --> 00:50:26,126 we survived without any assistance 1140 00:50:26,161 --> 00:50:27,507 from the city of Evanston. 1141 00:50:27,645 --> 00:50:29,233 No banks, nothing. 1142 00:50:29,371 --> 00:50:31,856 Now give us what we're due. 1143 00:50:31,994 --> 00:50:33,789 - We need a cash payment. 1144 00:50:33,823 --> 00:50:36,171 Alderman Ruth Simmons said that that's what 1145 00:50:36,309 --> 00:50:38,345 she was gonna give us from the beginning. 1146 00:50:38,380 --> 00:50:40,209 - She knows. 1147 00:50:40,347 --> 00:50:43,937 She knows from firsthand what happened. 1148 00:50:45,904 --> 00:50:47,734 And yet and still she does nothing about it. 1149 00:50:47,872 --> 00:50:49,425 - So we have a reparations bill, 1150 00:50:49,563 --> 00:50:51,841 and I thank her for that, okay? 1151 00:50:51,979 --> 00:50:54,534 But we are ready now to go to the next step. 1152 00:50:54,568 --> 00:50:56,881 We're all in this same boat together. 1153 00:50:56,915 --> 00:51:02,093 But every time we grab an oar, you want to row against us. 1154 00:51:02,231 --> 00:51:05,200 Let's row together in this community. 1155 00:51:05,234 --> 00:51:09,100 Let's build this country as it was intended to be, 1156 00:51:09,135 --> 00:51:10,722 the city on the hill 1157 00:51:10,757 --> 00:51:12,655 that is a light for the entire world. 1158 00:51:21,147 --> 00:51:24,702 - For the purpose of moving this meeting forward, 1159 00:51:24,736 --> 00:51:27,636 do we have consensus on $25,000 1160 00:51:27,774 --> 00:51:32,606 for purchase of a new home as the number up to? 1161 00:51:32,744 --> 00:51:34,815 - Yeah. - I vote yes. 1162 00:51:34,953 --> 00:51:38,233 - Okay, so with that said, I'm making a motion 1163 00:51:38,267 --> 00:51:45,032 that we extend the program budget for housing to $400,000 1164 00:51:45,067 --> 00:51:46,931 for a total program budget. 1165 00:51:47,069 --> 00:51:49,002 - Mother? - Alderman Braithwaite? 1166 00:51:49,175 --> 00:51:51,315 - [speaking indistinctly] - Okay. 1167 00:51:51,349 --> 00:51:54,835 So with that said, staff, we want to move forward 1168 00:51:54,870 --> 00:51:57,907 with a program budget of 400K 1169 00:51:57,942 --> 00:52:02,257 for purchase benefit up to 25,000. 1170 00:52:02,395 --> 00:52:03,982 - I vote yes. - Okay. 1171 00:52:04,121 --> 00:52:05,363 And with that, do we have anyone 1172 00:52:05,398 --> 00:52:07,296 signed up for public comment? 1173 00:52:07,331 --> 00:52:09,264 - John, are you ready to go next? 1174 00:52:09,298 --> 00:52:10,541 - I'm always ready. 1175 00:52:10,679 --> 00:52:13,302 $400,000 is not a lot of money. 1176 00:52:13,337 --> 00:52:16,512 $400,000 is not gonna go too far. 1177 00:52:16,547 --> 00:52:18,825 But all the conversations that I've been hearing, 1178 00:52:18,963 --> 00:52:22,208 it's not indicative of reparation. 1179 00:52:22,242 --> 00:52:24,934 It's indicative of programs that were already 1180 00:52:25,072 --> 00:52:27,454 previously in place in other places. 1181 00:52:27,489 --> 00:52:28,455 If you're gonna do reparations, 1182 00:52:28,490 --> 00:52:30,043 do reparations. 1183 00:52:30,077 --> 00:52:32,149 If you're gonna give people money for reparations, 1184 00:52:32,287 --> 00:52:33,184 then you get them money 1185 00:52:33,322 --> 00:52:35,738 to repair the damage that's done. 1186 00:52:35,876 --> 00:52:38,155 You don't give them money and then demand 1187 00:52:38,189 --> 00:52:39,984 and tell them what they can do with it. 1188 00:52:40,018 --> 00:52:41,917 Call a spade a spade. 1189 00:52:42,055 --> 00:52:43,574 And don't let them twist it into something 1190 00:52:43,608 --> 00:52:46,853 that is other than what it's represented to be, 1191 00:52:46,991 --> 00:52:48,234 because then the backlash 1192 00:52:48,268 --> 00:52:50,995 is gonna be on you later on. 1193 00:52:57,104 --> 00:52:58,727 - Thank you all for coming. 1194 00:52:58,865 --> 00:53:01,385 And with that said, Alderman Rainey, 1195 00:53:01,523 --> 00:53:04,146 if you don't have any final comment, 1196 00:53:04,284 --> 00:53:07,460 you could move adjournment. 1197 00:53:07,494 --> 00:53:09,013 - I move adjournment. 1198 00:53:09,151 --> 00:53:11,188 - I second. Thank you all. 1199 00:53:11,222 --> 00:53:12,499 - Bye. 1200 00:53:36,454 --> 00:53:37,973 - I'm good. 1201 00:53:38,007 --> 00:53:40,320 Are you dressed and ready to go to graduation? 1202 00:53:45,083 --> 00:53:47,016 Do you have a graduation outfit on now? 1203 00:53:47,051 --> 00:53:49,674 It's a special day, baby. 1204 00:53:51,952 --> 00:53:54,472 It's always tough to end with a, you know, 1205 00:53:54,507 --> 00:53:55,991 "This isn't reparation." 1206 00:53:56,094 --> 00:53:58,200 Because it is. 1207 00:53:58,338 --> 00:54:03,378 Any direct benefit to address the damages 1208 00:54:03,412 --> 00:54:06,553 to a targeted community is repair. 1209 00:54:06,691 --> 00:54:09,522 And that's what it is on a local level. 1210 00:54:09,556 --> 00:54:11,627 But I also feel the frustrations 1211 00:54:11,765 --> 00:54:14,941 of a resident that says this isn't reparations. 1212 00:54:15,079 --> 00:54:16,183 It's not enough. 1213 00:54:16,218 --> 00:54:17,806 You know, I appreciate your effort. 1214 00:54:17,944 --> 00:54:21,568 I--I respect and understand their frustrations, 1215 00:54:21,706 --> 00:54:24,053 and for me that's frustrating, because I want to do more. 1216 00:54:27,056 --> 00:54:29,266 Are you ready? - Look. 1217 00:54:29,404 --> 00:54:30,750 - Perfect. 1218 00:54:31,682 --> 00:54:33,062 [laughs] 1219 00:54:33,200 --> 00:54:34,409 Yay, Bailee! 1220 00:54:34,443 --> 00:54:36,065 - [laughs] 1221 00:54:36,203 --> 00:54:37,066 - All right, get it on. 1222 00:54:37,204 --> 00:54:38,067 Turn it on. 1223 00:54:38,205 --> 00:54:40,069 - Okay. 1224 00:54:40,104 --> 00:54:41,105 - I'll tell you right now, I'm just excited. 1225 00:54:41,243 --> 00:54:42,348 My daughter is graduating from Northwestern. 1226 00:54:42,486 --> 00:54:44,004 She's going to Yale. 1227 00:54:44,039 --> 00:54:47,284 And I'm just going to leave my work for a little while 1228 00:54:47,422 --> 00:54:48,768 and go celebrate Bailee. 1229 00:54:50,114 --> 00:54:51,874 - So you know this is just gonna be 1230 00:54:51,909 --> 00:54:53,566 the president and the mayor. 1231 00:54:53,704 --> 00:54:54,567 - That's fine. 1232 00:54:54,705 --> 00:54:55,671 I don't care. 1233 00:54:55,809 --> 00:54:59,503 It is Bailee Rue graduation. 1234 00:54:59,641 --> 00:55:01,125 Okay, go out there and walk in here. 1235 00:55:01,159 --> 00:55:03,817 - Oh, my God, seriously? - Go on. Yeah, seriously. 1236 00:55:03,852 --> 00:55:05,785 [chuckling] 1237 00:55:08,960 --> 00:55:10,099 - Oh, my God. 1238 00:55:10,237 --> 00:55:11,653 - Go around the corner. 1239 00:55:11,687 --> 00:55:14,587 ["Pomp and Circumstance" playing] 1240 00:55:14,690 --> 00:55:16,623 Okay, Bailee. 1241 00:55:16,761 --> 00:55:18,867 - Mother. 1242 00:55:18,901 --> 00:55:21,387 - Yay, Bailee! - Yay! 1243 00:55:21,421 --> 00:55:23,458 Yay! [laughs] 1244 00:55:23,596 --> 00:55:26,081 - Yay! - Yay! 1245 00:55:26,115 --> 00:55:27,427 Have a seat. 1246 00:55:27,462 --> 00:55:28,394 - Now I sit. 1247 00:55:28,428 --> 00:55:30,016 - Now you sit. 1248 00:55:30,154 --> 00:55:31,880 ♪ ♪ 1249 00:55:31,914 --> 00:55:33,260 And this just plays until it starts, 1250 00:55:33,295 --> 00:55:35,297 'cause that's what you would be doing. 1251 00:55:35,435 --> 00:55:36,643 - Yeah, we'd be walking in. 1252 00:55:36,781 --> 00:55:37,920 - See? 1253 00:55:37,955 --> 00:55:39,612 - I'm a bit underwhelmed right now. 1254 00:55:39,646 --> 00:55:41,199 - [laughs] 1255 00:55:41,303 --> 00:55:48,034 ♪ ♪ 1256 00:55:48,172 --> 00:55:50,968 [mellow music] 1257 00:55:51,002 --> 00:55:53,833 [laughter] 1258 00:55:53,867 --> 00:55:55,075 ♪ ♪ 1259 00:55:55,110 --> 00:55:56,698 - Where you trying to go on this little bike? 1260 00:55:56,801 --> 00:56:03,601 ♪ ♪ 1261 00:56:15,406 --> 00:56:18,064 - Tonight, video has surfaced of an African American man 1262 00:56:18,098 --> 00:56:20,722 being chased down and killed in a Georgia community. 1263 00:56:20,756 --> 00:56:23,690 His family says he was just out jogging. 1264 00:56:23,725 --> 00:56:25,692 - Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old 1265 00:56:25,727 --> 00:56:27,453 Louisville first responder, 1266 00:56:27,591 --> 00:56:30,697 shot eight times and killed by police. 1267 00:56:30,732 --> 00:56:33,459 - This is 46-year-old George Floyd. 1268 00:56:33,597 --> 00:56:37,463 He is the man who died in police custody on Monday. 1269 00:56:37,601 --> 00:56:39,706 - Over the last several hours, the situation here 1270 00:56:39,741 --> 00:56:41,294 has really deteriorated. 1271 00:56:41,432 --> 00:56:43,503 Police started pushing and clearing out the street. 1272 00:56:43,538 --> 00:56:45,125 [tense music] 1273 00:56:45,160 --> 00:56:47,093 - Black Lives Matter! 1274 00:56:47,127 --> 00:56:48,715 all: Black Lives Matter! 1275 00:56:48,853 --> 00:56:50,545 - I am not okay. 1276 00:56:50,579 --> 00:56:56,620 We're experiencing the trauma of racial terror 1277 00:56:56,654 --> 00:57:01,176 and Black public execution. 1278 00:57:01,210 --> 00:57:06,215 And people hurting and dying 1279 00:57:06,250 --> 00:57:08,217 and grief. 1280 00:57:08,252 --> 00:57:09,702 all: Hey, hey, ho, ho, 1281 00:57:09,736 --> 00:57:11,911 these racist cops have got to go! 1282 00:57:12,049 --> 00:57:13,982 Hey, hey, ho, ho, 1283 00:57:14,016 --> 00:57:16,018 these racist cops have got to go! 1284 00:57:16,156 --> 00:57:18,331 Hey, hey, ho, ho, 1285 00:57:18,504 --> 00:57:20,022 these racist cops have got to go! 1286 00:57:20,160 --> 00:57:22,059 Hey, hey, ho, ho, 1287 00:57:22,197 --> 00:57:24,199 these racist cops have got to go! 1288 00:57:24,233 --> 00:57:26,339 Hey, hey, ho, ho! 1289 00:57:26,512 --> 00:57:29,653 - Let me tell you, justice is just the minimum. 1290 00:57:29,791 --> 00:57:32,310 We have had chattel enslavement, 1291 00:57:32,449 --> 00:57:34,485 Jim Crow redlining, 1292 00:57:34,623 --> 00:57:37,592 police terror now we're dealing with today. 1293 00:57:37,626 --> 00:57:39,835 It is genocide is what is happening 1294 00:57:39,973 --> 00:57:42,942 to our Black people in this nation. 1295 00:57:42,976 --> 00:57:45,910 The ally community, thank you for being here, 1296 00:57:45,945 --> 00:57:48,119 being bold, but it's not enough 1297 00:57:48,154 --> 00:57:51,468 that you come to these places and you stand here. 1298 00:57:51,502 --> 00:57:54,954 You must go to your own places, and you must raise your voice 1299 00:57:55,092 --> 00:57:58,164 in the same manner, with the same energy 1300 00:57:58,267 --> 00:58:00,407 in your private spaces! 1301 00:58:00,511 --> 00:58:02,340 Do the right thing! 1302 00:58:02,479 --> 00:58:04,550 [cheers and applause] 1303 00:58:04,653 --> 00:58:06,379 - The ground shifted. 1304 00:58:06,413 --> 00:58:08,761 There was COVID, just shutting everything down, 1305 00:58:08,795 --> 00:58:12,454 and suddenly, there was Ahmaud Arbery. 1306 00:58:12,489 --> 00:58:13,835 And then there was Breonna Taylor. 1307 00:58:13,973 --> 00:58:14,905 Then there was George Floyd. 1308 00:58:15,077 --> 00:58:17,183 There was so much going on 1309 00:58:17,217 --> 00:58:20,911 to do with race in this country 1310 00:58:20,945 --> 00:58:25,605 that it has left me spinning. 1311 00:58:26,917 --> 00:58:31,059 Being white, being a woman, and being middle aged, 1312 00:58:31,197 --> 00:58:35,304 I don't trust my voice to be a legitimate advocate. 1313 00:58:35,339 --> 00:58:37,928 I mean, I hope I am. 1314 00:58:38,100 --> 00:58:40,068 Now people want to know more, 1315 00:58:40,206 --> 00:58:43,968 and I don't know that I am qualified. 1316 00:58:46,281 --> 00:58:49,008 Being white, it is so easy to put up a yard sign 1317 00:58:49,042 --> 00:58:51,320 and not really even understand the issues 1318 00:58:51,355 --> 00:58:54,358 or understand what that really means. 1319 00:58:54,392 --> 00:58:57,085 That can really lead to complacency 1320 00:58:57,119 --> 00:58:59,018 and that you think you've done your job. 1321 00:59:00,571 --> 00:59:03,367 You can't abdicate responsibility. 1322 00:59:03,401 --> 00:59:08,614 We white people are the people who have to write the check. 1323 00:59:08,752 --> 00:59:12,687 You know, my heart supports it. 1324 00:59:12,721 --> 00:59:15,068 - Now in Evanston, a battle 1325 00:59:15,206 --> 00:59:17,070 over the city's reparations plan. 1326 00:59:17,208 --> 00:59:19,348 - Lots in the community are questioning why the money 1327 00:59:19,383 --> 00:59:20,798 goes directly to the banks, 1328 00:59:20,936 --> 00:59:22,559 why people can't have a cash payment. 1329 00:59:22,593 --> 00:59:24,561 - Claiming that is was nothing more 1330 00:59:24,699 --> 00:59:26,286 than a housing program. 1331 00:59:26,321 --> 00:59:28,841 - The Evanston city council is set to vote Monday 1332 00:59:28,979 --> 00:59:31,775 on a bill to give reparations to Black residents, 1333 00:59:31,809 --> 00:59:35,468 but some residents are saying, "Not so fast." 1334 00:59:35,641 --> 00:59:36,883 - Good morning, everyone. 1335 00:59:37,021 --> 00:59:38,471 My name is Sebastian Nalls, 1336 00:59:38,505 --> 00:59:40,335 and I'm one of the organizers 1337 00:59:40,369 --> 00:59:43,545 with Evanston Rejects Racist Reparations. 1338 00:59:43,580 --> 00:59:47,066 This program, as it is, is incomplete, 1339 00:59:47,100 --> 00:59:50,345 and it makes no sense to go forward with it. 1340 00:59:50,379 --> 00:59:54,452 - How divisive this Evanston reparations bill is becoming. 1341 00:59:54,591 --> 00:59:57,007 We ask that everyone just wait. 1342 00:59:57,179 --> 00:59:58,871 Go back to the drawing board. 1343 00:59:58,905 --> 01:00:01,011 We implore the Evanston public to join us 1344 01:00:01,183 --> 01:00:02,978 in resisting this initiative. 1345 01:00:03,116 --> 01:00:07,327 - Reparations are meant to close the racial wealth gap. 1346 01:00:07,465 --> 01:00:10,123 The program that the city of Evanston is offering 1347 01:00:10,158 --> 01:00:12,816 does not do that at all. 1348 01:00:12,850 --> 01:00:15,750 We want a real program. 1349 01:00:15,888 --> 01:00:18,511 We don't want a program that's a fraud. 1350 01:00:18,684 --> 01:00:20,478 This is important. 1351 01:00:20,513 --> 01:00:22,308 They say in America 1352 01:00:22,342 --> 01:00:24,931 that only one in six white people 1353 01:00:24,966 --> 01:00:27,037 support reparations. 1354 01:00:27,209 --> 01:00:30,627 The fact that so many white people in Evanston 1355 01:00:30,765 --> 01:00:32,663 support this... - [laughs] 1356 01:00:32,698 --> 01:00:34,182 - That should tell you it's not reparations. 1357 01:00:34,216 --> 01:00:36,253 - That's the warning. 1358 01:00:36,391 --> 01:00:38,842 - Just based--I'm just talking about the data. 1359 01:00:38,980 --> 01:00:40,567 You know, what is happening now 1360 01:00:40,602 --> 01:00:44,433 is we're gonna recycle programming 1361 01:00:44,571 --> 01:00:46,988 that we've already done for decades 1362 01:00:47,126 --> 01:00:49,991 and decades that hasn't helped 1363 01:00:50,025 --> 01:00:52,027 to close the racial wealth gap. 1364 01:00:52,165 --> 01:00:53,857 - Now, when you're incepting something 1365 01:00:53,995 --> 01:00:55,065 that you're trying to bring out, 1366 01:00:55,237 --> 01:00:57,446 it has to be near perfect. 1367 01:00:57,481 --> 01:01:01,623 And this is just a bunch of sloppy crap 1368 01:01:01,761 --> 01:01:03,763 that they have put together. 1369 01:01:03,901 --> 01:01:05,558 They're literally throwing it against the wall 1370 01:01:05,731 --> 01:01:08,457 to see what will stick and what will not stick. 1371 01:01:08,595 --> 01:01:10,770 - There are possible legal ramifications 1372 01:01:10,805 --> 01:01:12,634 where the whole program in and of itself 1373 01:01:12,669 --> 01:01:14,429 could get thrown out. 1374 01:01:14,463 --> 01:01:15,775 And that itself could shut down 1375 01:01:15,810 --> 01:01:18,157 the reparations movement as a whole. 1376 01:01:18,295 --> 01:01:21,470 - Whatever the vote tomorrow, it's not over. 1377 01:01:21,505 --> 01:01:23,127 It's just beginning. 1378 01:01:23,162 --> 01:01:28,581 And we are going to follow them 1379 01:01:28,754 --> 01:01:31,032 and this process in Evanston. 1380 01:01:31,170 --> 01:01:34,449 - My hope is, is that some of these aldermen 1381 01:01:34,552 --> 01:01:37,348 will finally recognize, okay, 1382 01:01:37,383 --> 01:01:39,696 maybe this isn't the right thing to do. 1383 01:01:42,629 --> 01:01:45,391 - I think what they're offering us is an insult, 1384 01:01:45,425 --> 01:01:47,980 and we decided elderly homeowners 1385 01:01:48,014 --> 01:01:50,741 should get the first reparations. 1386 01:01:50,776 --> 01:01:53,433 That's gonna be spread over a 10-year period. 1387 01:01:53,468 --> 01:01:56,816 And now the city of Evanston is balking on that. 1388 01:01:56,954 --> 01:02:00,026 - The proposal, as from what I understand it, 1389 01:02:00,061 --> 01:02:05,204 is they're trying to vote for the first $400,000 1390 01:02:05,342 --> 01:02:08,276 to go for a housing program. 1391 01:02:08,310 --> 01:02:09,553 Not happening. 1392 01:02:09,691 --> 01:02:11,175 It should not be. 1393 01:02:11,210 --> 01:02:12,867 - Now's the time for you to stand up 1394 01:02:13,005 --> 01:02:15,110 and show what you're about. 1395 01:02:15,248 --> 01:02:19,114 We hear what they say, okay, we read what they put in paper. 1396 01:02:19,252 --> 01:02:23,153 But then I'll wait to the vote, okay, 1397 01:02:23,187 --> 01:02:26,397 before I make any kind of decision about the consistency 1398 01:02:26,432 --> 01:02:29,607 of Evanston with saying one thing, 1399 01:02:29,746 --> 01:02:32,645 and then doing totally the opposite 1400 01:02:32,679 --> 01:02:34,198 when it comes to application. 1401 01:02:34,336 --> 01:02:37,270 [tense music] 1402 01:02:37,408 --> 01:02:42,862 ♪ ♪ 1403 01:02:43,000 --> 01:02:47,418 - I had been really obsessed with defending the case 1404 01:02:47,453 --> 01:02:48,972 for reparations on a local level. 1405 01:02:49,075 --> 01:02:51,008 And it was just nonstop. 1406 01:02:51,146 --> 01:02:52,527 - Calling the meeting to order. 1407 01:02:52,561 --> 01:02:54,460 Alderman Simmons? - Aye. 1408 01:02:54,563 --> 01:02:56,082 It was sleepless nights. 1409 01:02:56,117 --> 01:02:58,671 It was always doing more research. 1410 01:02:58,705 --> 01:03:03,572 And I did that while managing the rest of my life 1411 01:03:03,607 --> 01:03:05,436 being the alderman of the Fifth Ward. 1412 01:03:05,471 --> 01:03:07,473 Technically, it's part time. 1413 01:03:07,611 --> 01:03:11,477 I can't work 40, 60 hours a week 1414 01:03:11,511 --> 01:03:13,341 for $15,000 a year. 1415 01:03:13,375 --> 01:03:15,308 I can't do it. 1416 01:03:15,446 --> 01:03:18,346 My first responsibility is to my children, 1417 01:03:18,484 --> 01:03:25,077 and I have sacrificed a lot being the alderman. 1418 01:03:25,180 --> 01:03:28,701 And it's been uncomfortable for my family. 1419 01:03:28,735 --> 01:03:30,358 My daughter has not been able 1420 01:03:30,392 --> 01:03:32,291 to even walk the dog in peace sometimes. 1421 01:03:32,429 --> 01:03:37,089 People have intimidated her. 1422 01:03:39,919 --> 01:03:41,679 It's been a lot of stress on my mother 1423 01:03:41,818 --> 01:03:46,132 to see her only child treated so cruelly. 1424 01:03:46,270 --> 01:03:47,616 And then just the time. 1425 01:03:47,754 --> 01:03:49,826 Because of the way that I serve, 1426 01:03:49,964 --> 01:03:52,414 I don't know how to say, 1427 01:03:52,449 --> 01:03:56,487 "I can't help you right now, homeless family." 1428 01:03:56,625 --> 01:03:58,041 You know? 1429 01:03:58,075 --> 01:03:59,387 "Find another way." 1430 01:03:59,525 --> 01:04:04,047 I only know how to find a solution for them. 1431 01:04:04,185 --> 01:04:05,531 I only know how to do everything 1432 01:04:05,565 --> 01:04:11,848 that I can to help them. 1433 01:04:13,194 --> 01:04:15,990 - And while the whole nation is watching, 1434 01:04:16,024 --> 01:04:18,820 there are people that are waiting for this to fail. 1435 01:04:18,855 --> 01:04:21,133 - Because I'm not able to balance it, 1436 01:04:21,167 --> 01:04:23,273 I'm not able to turn the service off, 1437 01:04:23,307 --> 01:04:26,448 so I have just committed to the balance of this term. 1438 01:04:26,586 --> 01:04:29,624 And then after that, I'll have to heal 1439 01:04:29,762 --> 01:04:33,145 and repair damages that have been done to my life 1440 01:04:33,179 --> 01:04:34,905 and to my family. 1441 01:04:35,043 --> 01:04:39,530 - But for our Black residents, I just ask for your patience. 1442 01:04:39,565 --> 01:04:46,330 ♪ ♪ 1443 01:04:48,539 --> 01:04:49,437 - Good evening, everyone. 1444 01:04:49,575 --> 01:04:50,645 I am Mayor Hagerty, 1445 01:04:50,783 --> 01:04:52,026 mayor of the city of Evanston. 1446 01:04:52,164 --> 01:04:54,787 It is Monday, March 22, 2021, 1447 01:04:54,925 --> 01:04:57,272 and I call this public hearing to order. 1448 01:04:57,410 --> 01:04:58,549 I'm now gonna open it, 1449 01:04:58,584 --> 01:05:00,206 and we'll start with Alderperson Simmons. 1450 01:05:00,344 --> 01:05:03,692 - Thank you all for establishing this path forward 1451 01:05:03,727 --> 01:05:06,109 to reparations in Evanston. 1452 01:05:06,143 --> 01:05:08,801 The reparations subcommittee recommends city council 1453 01:05:08,939 --> 01:05:13,771 adopt Resolution 37-R-21 to authorize the implementation 1454 01:05:13,806 --> 01:05:17,189 of the local reparation restorative housing program, 1455 01:05:17,292 --> 01:05:20,675 and the initial program budget of $400,000. 1456 01:05:20,709 --> 01:05:23,298 I move approval. - Second. 1457 01:05:23,333 --> 01:05:25,576 - We are now gonna move to public comment. 1458 01:05:25,611 --> 01:05:26,612 Illinois-- 1459 01:05:26,750 --> 01:05:27,785 - Did you see who's in the meeting? 1460 01:05:27,924 --> 01:05:29,995 - Dr. Sandy Darity first. 1461 01:05:30,029 --> 01:05:31,789 - Oh, he's--he's anti. 1462 01:05:31,824 --> 01:05:34,551 - The Evanston plan does very little 1463 01:05:34,585 --> 01:05:37,726 about the equity gap produced by segregation and redlining. 1464 01:05:37,864 --> 01:05:40,384 - It perpetuated the systemic racism 1465 01:05:40,419 --> 01:05:42,179 and added age discrimination. 1466 01:05:42,214 --> 01:05:43,560 - We want cash payments. 1467 01:05:43,594 --> 01:05:45,562 Robin promised us that. 1468 01:05:45,596 --> 01:05:48,254 - And the push forward appears to be more oriented 1469 01:05:48,289 --> 01:05:50,670 towards photo ops and marketing 1470 01:05:50,808 --> 01:05:53,673 something that simply isn't true. 1471 01:05:53,708 --> 01:05:55,744 - First, I want to support the passage. 1472 01:05:55,882 --> 01:06:00,128 I also think we should have on the agenda cash payments. 1473 01:06:00,266 --> 01:06:01,578 - [laughs] 1474 01:06:01,612 --> 01:06:02,993 I can't tell if he was for or against it. 1475 01:06:03,131 --> 01:06:05,168 - Don't slam the door on something 1476 01:06:05,202 --> 01:06:07,101 that can be positive for our community. 1477 01:06:07,239 --> 01:06:08,654 - That's right, Miss Adams. 1478 01:06:08,688 --> 01:06:10,483 - Yes, it's small, but it's a start, 1479 01:06:10,621 --> 01:06:12,382 and we must start somewhere. 1480 01:06:12,416 --> 01:06:15,281 It is a sign that Evanston cares about families 1481 01:06:15,316 --> 01:06:16,489 that look like mine. 1482 01:06:16,627 --> 01:06:19,354 - If you vote no tonight, 1483 01:06:19,492 --> 01:06:22,288 you will be on the wrong side of history. 1484 01:06:22,426 --> 01:06:24,290 - If we do not step forward now, 1485 01:06:24,428 --> 01:06:27,949 all of these other reparations programs in the United States 1486 01:06:28,087 --> 01:06:30,193 will probably suffer as well. 1487 01:06:30,331 --> 01:06:31,746 - But most of all, we in Evanston 1488 01:06:31,884 --> 01:06:34,369 are leading the way to heal a nation. 1489 01:06:34,542 --> 01:06:35,853 - I love her. 1490 01:06:35,888 --> 01:06:38,201 - Thank you to Alderman Rue Simmons. 1491 01:06:38,339 --> 01:06:39,512 Not only did you push us forward, 1492 01:06:39,547 --> 01:06:42,550 but you made us believe we could do it. 1493 01:06:42,584 --> 01:06:45,311 I think this step is gonna pull all of America forward. 1494 01:06:45,449 --> 01:06:47,279 - City clerk, could you please take the roll 1495 01:06:47,313 --> 01:06:49,522 on this historic vote tonight? 1496 01:06:49,660 --> 01:06:51,904 - Alderman Fisk. - Aye. 1497 01:06:52,042 --> 01:06:54,458 - Alderman Braithwaite. - Aye. 1498 01:06:54,596 --> 01:06:56,771 - Alderman Wynne. - Aye. 1499 01:06:56,805 --> 01:06:58,462 - Alderman Wilson. - Aye. 1500 01:06:58,497 --> 01:07:00,602 - Alderman Simmons. - Aye. 1501 01:07:00,740 --> 01:07:03,743 - Alderman Suffredin. - Aye. 1502 01:07:03,881 --> 01:07:06,815 - Alderman Revelle. - Aye. 1503 01:07:06,850 --> 01:07:10,888 - Alderman Rainey. - Aye. 1504 01:07:10,923 --> 01:07:13,167 - And Alderman Fleming. 1505 01:07:13,305 --> 01:07:15,134 - No. 1506 01:07:15,169 --> 01:07:19,207 - All right, so on a 8-to-1 vote, 1507 01:07:19,345 --> 01:07:22,831 the Evanston city council approved adoption 1508 01:07:22,866 --> 01:07:25,903 of resolution 37-R-27 authorizing 1509 01:07:25,938 --> 01:07:27,802 the implementation of the Evanston 1510 01:07:27,836 --> 01:07:29,873 local reparations program. 1511 01:07:30,011 --> 01:07:31,426 - Good job. 1512 01:07:31,461 --> 01:07:32,910 - [applauding] 1513 01:07:32,945 --> 01:07:34,429 - Thank you. Good night. 1514 01:07:34,567 --> 01:07:35,120 - Good night. - Good night. 1515 01:07:35,154 --> 01:07:36,431 - Good night. 1516 01:07:36,466 --> 01:07:37,432 - Nice job. 1517 01:07:42,127 --> 01:07:43,162 - Congratulations to you. 1518 01:07:43,197 --> 01:07:44,267 - We did it. 1519 01:07:44,405 --> 01:07:45,337 It's happening. 1520 01:07:45,440 --> 01:07:46,407 - [crying] That's my baby. 1521 01:07:46,441 --> 01:07:47,994 - You okay, mother? 1522 01:07:48,029 --> 01:07:50,238 - That made me so happy. 1523 01:07:50,376 --> 01:07:52,068 - Yeah. 1524 01:07:52,206 --> 01:07:54,415 I wish we didn't have those negative comments, though. 1525 01:07:54,553 --> 01:07:55,968 - You did a great job. 1526 01:07:56,002 --> 01:07:58,488 Congratulations to you. - Mm-hmm. 1527 01:07:58,660 --> 01:07:59,765 - Congratulations to you. 1528 01:07:59,799 --> 01:08:02,768 - I'm so very proud. 1529 01:08:02,906 --> 01:08:05,322 She's been amazing all her life. 1530 01:08:05,357 --> 01:08:10,741 This is just one more amazing something from my daughter. 1531 01:08:10,879 --> 01:08:12,053 Yeah. 1532 01:08:12,088 --> 01:08:15,125 [soft music] 1533 01:08:15,263 --> 01:08:21,994 ♪ ♪ 1534 01:08:26,240 --> 01:08:29,415 - This week, Evanston, Illinois, made history. 1535 01:08:29,450 --> 01:08:31,899 - The nation's first government-backed reparations 1536 01:08:32,038 --> 01:08:34,731 initiative for Black Americans was approved 1537 01:08:34,764 --> 01:08:36,871 this week in Evanston, Illinois. 1538 01:08:37,009 --> 01:08:40,737 - In a near unanimous vote, Evanston city council 1539 01:08:40,771 --> 01:08:44,637 voted to approve the first installment of $400,000 1540 01:08:44,774 --> 01:08:47,813 to be distributed among eligible Black households. 1541 01:08:47,951 --> 01:08:50,194 - The money can be used for down payments, 1542 01:08:50,333 --> 01:08:53,508 mortgage payments, repairs, or home improvements. 1543 01:08:53,646 --> 01:08:55,821 - Many hope the historic program 1544 01:08:55,959 --> 01:08:58,996 will pave the way for more reparations in other cities. 1545 01:08:59,100 --> 01:09:03,898 ♪ ♪ 1546 01:09:14,080 --> 01:09:16,807 - This is the international headquarters. 1547 01:09:16,842 --> 01:09:19,120 But really it is the headquarters. 1548 01:09:19,155 --> 01:09:21,950 It's just--it's just myself, and most recently, 1549 01:09:22,087 --> 01:09:23,883 we have an employee, Shawn. 1550 01:09:24,021 --> 01:09:27,577 I have launched a nonprofit called First Repair. 1551 01:09:27,611 --> 01:09:31,028 "First" because we are the first in the nation 1552 01:09:31,166 --> 01:09:34,377 to have a funded reparation plan 1553 01:09:34,514 --> 01:09:37,414 with tangible steps and measurable outcomes. 1554 01:09:37,449 --> 01:09:42,178 So this is the reception area. 1555 01:09:42,211 --> 01:09:45,594 It's Shawn's office, and it's our conference room. 1556 01:09:45,767 --> 01:09:48,701 And here's our break room. 1557 01:09:48,839 --> 01:09:50,151 [laughs] 1558 01:09:50,185 --> 01:09:51,670 And then here's my office. 1559 01:09:51,703 --> 01:09:53,741 There's really nothing to it. 1560 01:09:53,774 --> 01:09:57,123 This is where I do my work every day. 1561 01:09:57,157 --> 01:09:58,884 It's what I do full time now. 1562 01:09:58,918 --> 01:10:01,645 I retired this year as alderman, 1563 01:10:01,782 --> 01:10:05,130 and now I'm able to singularly focus 1564 01:10:05,166 --> 01:10:09,135 on reparations in Evanston and beyond. 1565 01:10:09,170 --> 01:10:14,037 There has been great interest in advancing reparations 1566 01:10:14,175 --> 01:10:16,315 beyond Evanston. 1567 01:10:16,452 --> 01:10:19,559 That passing vote has set a precedent, 1568 01:10:19,594 --> 01:10:22,459 and it's shown a possibility that others 1569 01:10:22,494 --> 01:10:24,323 are now looking to as a reference, as, 1570 01:10:24,358 --> 01:10:25,876 "Okay, they did this in Evanston. 1571 01:10:26,014 --> 01:10:27,430 We can do this here." 1572 01:10:27,568 --> 01:10:34,368 ♪ ♪ 1573 01:10:34,505 --> 01:10:35,541 - Good morning. 1574 01:10:35,576 --> 01:10:36,577 Good morning. Good morning. 1575 01:10:36,611 --> 01:10:38,682 Good morning. Good morning. 1576 01:10:38,717 --> 01:10:41,823 Thank you all for your sponsorship on H.R. 40. 1577 01:10:41,858 --> 01:10:42,755 We're so excited. - I'm so excited. 1578 01:10:42,790 --> 01:10:43,687 - Thank you. 1579 01:10:43,722 --> 01:10:45,724 Thank you. 1580 01:10:45,758 --> 01:10:47,898 This idea of H.R. 40 1581 01:10:48,036 --> 01:10:51,695 was to finally have us in dignity, 1582 01:10:51,730 --> 01:10:53,456 and have the American people say, 1583 01:10:53,594 --> 01:10:55,871 "That's the right thing to do." 1584 01:10:56,010 --> 01:10:57,529 Good morning, Mr. Chairman. - How are you? 1585 01:10:57,632 --> 01:11:01,532 - I can't thank you enough for this markup. 1586 01:11:01,567 --> 01:11:03,568 - Today is going to be a long, contentious one. 1587 01:11:03,603 --> 01:11:04,812 - Well, I'm ready for this. 1588 01:11:04,846 --> 01:11:06,054 I feel a moment in history. 1589 01:11:06,192 --> 01:11:07,228 I'm excited. 1590 01:11:07,366 --> 01:11:08,609 Let's do this, Mr. Chairman. 1591 01:11:08,746 --> 01:11:10,818 All right. [laughs] 1592 01:11:10,852 --> 01:11:11,957 [gavel clacks] 1593 01:11:11,991 --> 01:11:14,235 - I now call up H.R. 40, 1594 01:11:14,270 --> 01:11:15,892 the Commission to Study and Develop 1595 01:11:16,030 --> 01:11:18,481 Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act. 1596 01:11:18,514 --> 01:11:21,138 This legislation is long overdue. 1597 01:11:21,173 --> 01:11:24,590 - Mr. Chairman, I'm very pleased to be able to speak 1598 01:11:24,728 --> 01:11:28,111 in support of my legislation H.R. 40, which I introduced, 1599 01:11:28,249 --> 01:11:29,906 that establishes a commission to study 1600 01:11:30,044 --> 01:11:31,770 and develop reparation proposals 1601 01:11:31,907 --> 01:11:33,427 for African Americans. 1602 01:11:33,460 --> 01:11:35,567 It was historic. 1603 01:11:35,670 --> 01:11:39,847 The first time the bill ever got to the moment 1604 01:11:39,880 --> 01:11:42,469 of something that is so integral 1605 01:11:42,505 --> 01:11:46,232 to the process of governance, 1606 01:11:46,267 --> 01:11:47,612 which is called a markup, 1607 01:11:47,751 --> 01:11:50,133 which means the bill is on its way 1608 01:11:50,166 --> 01:11:52,411 to a possible vote on the floor and to become law. 1609 01:11:52,549 --> 01:11:55,518 And here we are today, marking up for the first time 1610 01:11:55,552 --> 01:11:58,590 in the history of the United States of America 1611 01:11:58,624 --> 01:12:01,800 any legislation that deals directly 1612 01:12:01,938 --> 01:12:05,666 with the years and centuries of slavery. 1613 01:12:05,804 --> 01:12:08,254 - Look, everyone knows how evil slavery was. 1614 01:12:08,289 --> 01:12:09,911 Wrong as wrong could be. 1615 01:12:09,946 --> 01:12:12,189 But this is not--this-- 1616 01:12:12,224 --> 01:12:15,469 this is not-- not what we want to be passing. 1617 01:12:15,503 --> 01:12:18,748 - Reparation is divisive. 1618 01:12:18,782 --> 01:12:21,198 It speaks to the fact that we are a hapless, hopeless race 1619 01:12:21,337 --> 01:12:22,924 that never did anything but wait for white people 1620 01:12:22,959 --> 01:12:24,478 to show up and help us. 1621 01:12:24,512 --> 01:12:25,824 And it's a falsehood. 1622 01:12:25,962 --> 01:12:28,344 - I would offer that I think 1623 01:12:28,482 --> 01:12:31,657 this is the wrong path for the future of our nation. 1624 01:12:31,692 --> 01:12:33,175 And I think that is the problem here. 1625 01:12:33,210 --> 01:12:35,316 And I think this is not the direction we want 1626 01:12:35,351 --> 01:12:36,869 to carry our country forward. 1627 01:12:36,904 --> 01:12:38,250 - The opposition was, 1628 01:12:38,284 --> 01:12:41,287 "That happened then. This is now." 1629 01:12:41,322 --> 01:12:44,118 A very weak argument. 1630 01:12:44,152 --> 01:12:46,050 Shallow argument. 1631 01:12:46,085 --> 01:12:51,469 A total refusal to really see slavery for what it was. 1632 01:12:51,505 --> 01:12:52,954 It was a crime. 1633 01:12:53,092 --> 01:12:55,129 But no one paid the price. 1634 01:12:55,163 --> 01:12:58,684 H.R. 40 is a concentrated effort 1635 01:12:58,719 --> 01:13:02,205 to right a wrong, and to do it with dignity 1636 01:13:02,343 --> 01:13:04,449 and study and respect. 1637 01:13:04,483 --> 01:13:06,692 I can't imagine why any one of us 1638 01:13:06,830 --> 01:13:08,418 would not vote for H.R. 40, 1639 01:13:08,452 --> 01:13:09,385 the Commission to Study 1640 01:13:09,523 --> 01:13:10,903 and Develop Reparation Proposals, 1641 01:13:11,041 --> 01:13:15,183 and I ask my colleagues to vote yes on this bill. 1642 01:13:15,321 --> 01:13:16,943 - Reporting quorum being present, 1643 01:13:17,082 --> 01:13:18,532 the question is on the motion to report the bill 1644 01:13:18,566 --> 01:13:21,189 H.R. 40 as amended favorably to the House. 1645 01:13:21,224 --> 01:13:23,468 Those in favor, respond by saying aye. 1646 01:13:23,502 --> 01:13:24,469 - Aye. - Aye. 1647 01:13:24,503 --> 01:13:26,367 - Those no. - No. 1648 01:13:26,505 --> 01:13:27,886 - The ayes have it, and the bill 1649 01:13:27,920 --> 01:13:29,266 is ordered and reported favorably. 1650 01:13:29,300 --> 01:13:30,544 - Good job, Senate majority. - Thank you. 1651 01:13:30,682 --> 01:13:32,511 - Thank you. 1652 01:13:32,546 --> 01:13:34,168 I had a great weight on my shoulders 1653 01:13:34,306 --> 01:13:35,825 that was lifted a little bit. 1654 01:13:35,996 --> 01:13:39,829 It was so emotional to see 1655 01:13:40,001 --> 01:13:42,072 that the journey had made a leap. 1656 01:13:42,107 --> 01:13:43,833 ♪ ♪ 1657 01:13:43,867 --> 01:13:47,215 What I want to see happen is that we move the bill 1658 01:13:47,250 --> 01:13:49,770 to the floor, and it's urgent that it gets passed. 1659 01:13:49,907 --> 01:13:52,255 And my commitment is, it must be passed. 1660 01:13:52,289 --> 01:13:53,498 There must be a commission. 1661 01:13:53,532 --> 01:13:54,809 I'm pinching myself to see 1662 01:13:54,947 --> 01:13:56,639 if this is really happening. 1663 01:13:56,777 --> 01:14:02,299 H.R. 40 is the significant, singular affirmation 1664 01:14:02,438 --> 01:14:04,992 of us in our journey. 1665 01:14:05,026 --> 01:14:10,273 This place called America is as much a part of us 1666 01:14:10,307 --> 01:14:12,137 and we are a part of it. 1667 01:14:12,275 --> 01:14:16,037 ♪ ♪ 1668 01:14:17,591 --> 01:14:20,282 - The purpose of this meeting is to get you prepared 1669 01:14:20,421 --> 01:14:23,217 for when the release of the application 1670 01:14:23,251 --> 01:14:25,564 occurs on September 21. 1671 01:14:26,600 --> 01:14:29,085 The idea is that hopefully we can get funding 1672 01:14:29,119 --> 01:14:32,157 out the door disbursed by the end of November, 1673 01:14:32,295 --> 01:14:34,504 beginning of December. 1674 01:14:34,539 --> 01:14:36,920 - The kitchen. I need the kitchen-- 1675 01:14:36,955 --> 01:14:38,957 those are the original cabinets, 1676 01:14:39,094 --> 01:14:40,027 and they're dry rotted. 1677 01:14:40,061 --> 01:14:41,787 They're just falling apart. 1678 01:14:41,925 --> 01:14:44,480 This is falling down in the bottom there. 1679 01:14:45,481 --> 01:14:47,275 The drawers is falling apart. 1680 01:14:48,276 --> 01:14:51,279 See the dry rot up there. 1681 01:14:51,314 --> 01:14:52,902 The cupboards is falling. 1682 01:14:52,936 --> 01:14:55,282 Disconnected up there. 1683 01:14:55,318 --> 01:14:56,457 The floor. 1684 01:14:56,594 --> 01:15:00,047 That's what--see the floor? 1685 01:15:00,081 --> 01:15:02,325 - Well, we're going to go down to Fleetwood-Jourdain, 1686 01:15:02,359 --> 01:15:05,017 and we're going to fill out an application 1687 01:15:05,052 --> 01:15:07,192 for the housing restoration program 1688 01:15:07,330 --> 01:15:09,434 for the first phase of reparations 1689 01:15:09,469 --> 01:15:11,127 for Blacks in Evanston 1690 01:15:11,161 --> 01:15:14,544 and hopefully get some compensation for my mom. 1691 01:15:14,682 --> 01:15:17,892 ♪ ♪ 1692 01:15:18,030 --> 01:15:19,480 - Miss Carmen will help you right over here. 1693 01:15:19,514 --> 01:15:23,967 - Oh. Hi. - Hi. 1694 01:15:24,002 --> 01:15:26,556 Do you have any documentation with you? 1695 01:15:26,591 --> 01:15:33,183 - Yeah, she got the closing and got the trust deed. 1696 01:15:33,218 --> 01:15:39,673 ♪ ♪ 1697 01:15:39,811 --> 01:15:41,433 - Do you have your driver's license with you? 1698 01:15:41,606 --> 01:15:42,814 - I do. - Or state ID? 1699 01:15:42,916 --> 01:15:44,643 Okay, I'll take anything. 1700 01:15:44,678 --> 01:15:48,682 - I have a obituary that has my mother's name listed in it. 1701 01:15:48,716 --> 01:15:52,893 So that was here 1947, his Evanston senior year 1702 01:15:52,927 --> 01:15:54,584 in high school. 1703 01:15:54,619 --> 01:15:56,482 - Okay. - Yearbook, and there he is. 1704 01:15:56,517 --> 01:15:57,691 - Oh, nice. 1705 01:15:57,725 --> 01:15:59,071 - So it shows that he was a graduate 1706 01:15:59,209 --> 01:16:02,074 of Foster School and Evanston Township High School. 1707 01:16:02,212 --> 01:16:03,179 - Okay. 1708 01:16:03,213 --> 01:16:05,112 - And you are all set. 1709 01:16:05,146 --> 01:16:07,079 Good luck. 1710 01:16:07,217 --> 01:16:09,150 - Well, thank you much. You're a scholar and a saint. 1711 01:16:09,288 --> 01:16:10,911 - You're welcome. No problem. 1712 01:16:12,291 --> 01:16:14,466 - Submitting, submitting. 1713 01:16:14,500 --> 01:16:17,296 [cheers and applause] 1714 01:16:17,331 --> 01:16:20,058 - Good job. Awesome. - Excellent. 1715 01:16:20,092 --> 01:16:22,059 Wonderful. - Good job. 1716 01:16:22,094 --> 01:16:25,477 [laughter] - Thank you. 1717 01:16:25,511 --> 01:16:26,443 - That's great. 1718 01:16:26,547 --> 01:16:30,413 ♪ ♪ 1719 01:16:30,447 --> 01:16:32,242 - My understanding is that reparations 1720 01:16:32,380 --> 01:16:36,971 is an attempt to repair the harm 1721 01:16:37,109 --> 01:16:39,180 that it's cost us economically. 1722 01:16:39,215 --> 01:16:40,492 When I started looking, 1723 01:16:40,526 --> 01:16:43,081 no, this is not the answer to reparations 1724 01:16:43,115 --> 01:16:44,876 that we're approaching in Evanston. 1725 01:16:45,014 --> 01:16:47,913 But the longest journey begins with the first step. 1726 01:16:49,466 --> 01:16:51,227 Good morning. 1727 01:16:51,365 --> 01:16:53,022 Either you're part of the solution, 1728 01:16:53,056 --> 01:16:55,334 or you're part of the problem. 1729 01:16:55,369 --> 01:16:57,198 I don't want to be a part of the problem. 1730 01:16:57,335 --> 01:16:59,304 Northern Illinois. 1731 01:16:59,338 --> 01:17:01,375 If this is the way we have to start with it, let's start. 1732 01:17:01,409 --> 01:17:03,377 We have 10 years. 1733 01:17:03,514 --> 01:17:05,344 But I want this to be the boilerplate. 1734 01:17:05,482 --> 01:17:07,692 I want this to be the initiative for cities 1735 01:17:07,726 --> 01:17:10,349 all over the United States 1736 01:17:10,384 --> 01:17:12,628 to accept that we're here to stay. 1737 01:17:13,905 --> 01:17:15,941 - Good morning. How are you? 1738 01:17:16,079 --> 01:17:17,148 I'm good. 1739 01:17:17,287 --> 01:17:19,048 Hi, Mr. Sutton. I'm good. How are you? 1740 01:17:19,082 --> 01:17:21,188 Is this one me? 1741 01:17:21,222 --> 01:17:23,052 - First, we're gonna have an introduction 1742 01:17:23,085 --> 01:17:25,088 of our new committee members, Carl Sutton. 1743 01:17:25,123 --> 01:17:28,436 - Being a third-generation Evanstonian and an active 1744 01:17:28,574 --> 01:17:30,300 member in the community, I've had a chance 1745 01:17:30,438 --> 01:17:33,338 to realize that Evanston now stands 1746 01:17:33,371 --> 01:17:35,478 at the brink of history. 1747 01:17:35,616 --> 01:17:38,654 We're in a very good position now to set the tone 1748 01:17:38,791 --> 01:17:42,554 which I hope the nation will pick up the ball and follow. 1749 01:17:42,692 --> 01:17:46,282 We are under the eyes now of the whole world. 1750 01:17:46,316 --> 01:17:49,216 [soft music] 1751 01:17:49,250 --> 01:17:52,288 ♪ ♪ 1752 01:17:52,322 --> 01:17:57,085 - So you know what we need, actually, is the labels. 1753 01:17:57,120 --> 01:17:58,674 The name tags. - Oh, okay. 1754 01:18:01,952 --> 01:18:04,956 - Okay, I got to prepare something to say. 1755 01:18:04,990 --> 01:18:09,995 We are ready to receive about 50 leaders 1756 01:18:10,030 --> 01:18:12,514 that have been working on local reparation initiatives 1757 01:18:12,549 --> 01:18:13,516 in their communities. 1758 01:18:13,654 --> 01:18:14,517 Hey, Tina. 1759 01:18:14,655 --> 01:18:17,209 Has anyone showed up? 1760 01:18:17,347 --> 01:18:19,764 Oh, wow. Great. 1761 01:18:19,798 --> 01:18:22,145 - The value of Evanston 1762 01:18:22,282 --> 01:18:24,665 and the work of Robin Rue Simmons is, 1763 01:18:24,700 --> 01:18:26,391 it's one of those turning points. 1764 01:18:26,529 --> 01:18:29,118 Because there is this pent-up yearning 1765 01:18:29,152 --> 01:18:33,570 for a concrete example that it can be done. 1766 01:18:33,709 --> 01:18:35,710 - The extra folders are over there. 1767 01:18:37,402 --> 01:18:41,199 - Symbolically, Evanston woke up the world. 1768 01:18:41,233 --> 01:18:45,755 ♪ ♪ 1769 01:18:45,893 --> 01:18:48,482 So everyone, municipalities, university, 1770 01:18:48,620 --> 01:18:51,761 I mean, is looking to Evanston. 1771 01:18:51,898 --> 01:18:54,384 And the hope is that what we all end up doing 1772 01:18:54,419 --> 01:18:56,732 is creating a national network of groups. 1773 01:18:56,870 --> 01:19:01,046 - This conference will and should go down in history 1774 01:19:01,184 --> 01:19:03,600 as the Evanston Conference. 1775 01:19:03,635 --> 01:19:05,568 It is a distinct honor to be representing 1776 01:19:05,706 --> 01:19:07,639 the CARICOM Reparations Commission 1777 01:19:07,812 --> 01:19:10,124 at this historical event. 1778 01:19:10,262 --> 01:19:12,886 - I bring you greetings from New Orleans, Louisiana. 1779 01:19:12,920 --> 01:19:14,991 - I am with World One Development 1780 01:19:15,026 --> 01:19:17,097 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, home of Black Wall Street. 1781 01:19:17,130 --> 01:19:18,684 - I'm from Los Angeles. 1782 01:19:18,719 --> 01:19:20,583 - Amherst, Massachusetts. 1783 01:19:20,617 --> 01:19:21,860 - I'm from Philadelphia. 1784 01:19:21,998 --> 01:19:23,309 - Omaha, Nebraska. 1785 01:19:23,448 --> 01:19:26,347 - When I started this work, I simply was trying 1786 01:19:26,382 --> 01:19:28,556 to repair some of the injury 1787 01:19:28,693 --> 01:19:31,180 that had been done in my own community. 1788 01:19:31,214 --> 01:19:32,975 - City of Tulsa. 1789 01:19:33,077 --> 01:19:34,942 - I had no idea how big 1790 01:19:34,977 --> 01:19:38,428 this whole local reparations movement would get. 1791 01:19:38,463 --> 01:19:40,879 - I'm Mayor Michael B. Hancock of Denver, Colorado. 1792 01:19:40,914 --> 01:19:42,087 - From Atlanta, Georgia. 1793 01:19:42,121 --> 01:19:43,986 - I'm a founding member of The Kansas City 1794 01:19:44,020 --> 01:19:45,919 chapter of the National Black United Front. 1795 01:19:45,952 --> 01:19:48,749 - In 2020, we talked about reparations, 1796 01:19:48,887 --> 01:19:50,544 but we didn't know how to go about doing it. 1797 01:19:50,647 --> 01:19:53,443 But one day, I was looking at TV, 1798 01:19:53,581 --> 01:19:56,446 and I saw this bad sister out of Evanston, Illinois. 1799 01:19:56,584 --> 01:19:58,000 [laughter] 1800 01:19:58,034 --> 01:19:59,898 She inspired me. 1801 01:19:59,933 --> 01:20:03,143 I said, "If they can do it in Evanston, Illinois, 1802 01:20:03,177 --> 01:20:05,076 why can't we do it in Detroit?" 1803 01:20:05,110 --> 01:20:06,835 We're 85% Black. 1804 01:20:06,974 --> 01:20:09,770 - For me, this is the most important thing 1805 01:20:09,805 --> 01:20:12,014 that we as a people should be focusing on 1806 01:20:12,048 --> 01:20:13,118 in this moment. 1807 01:20:13,255 --> 01:20:14,671 This is our shot to address 1808 01:20:14,809 --> 01:20:17,813 all the disparities, and in one-- 1809 01:20:17,951 --> 01:20:20,125 you know, one container. 1810 01:20:20,263 --> 01:20:21,782 - This country says that it values 1811 01:20:21,817 --> 01:20:23,611 liberty and justice for all 1812 01:20:23,646 --> 01:20:26,442 and equity and inclusion and freedom. 1813 01:20:26,580 --> 01:20:28,996 - So San Francisco has a population of over... 1814 01:20:29,134 --> 01:20:31,654 - That's not been the reality of Black America. 1815 01:20:31,688 --> 01:20:33,276 - Less than 6% of the population 1816 01:20:33,311 --> 01:20:34,415 is African American. 1817 01:20:34,450 --> 01:20:36,279 - Recognizing the legal challenges 1818 01:20:36,416 --> 01:20:38,005 that we know are coming up, 1819 01:20:38,143 --> 01:20:40,490 we still need to be about the task of beginning 1820 01:20:40,628 --> 01:20:43,355 to create a new narrative and a new legal framework. 1821 01:20:43,493 --> 01:20:45,978 - I realize that now I'm a part of a movement, 1822 01:20:46,013 --> 01:20:47,532 a national movement, 1823 01:20:47,566 --> 01:20:50,603 one that has great momentum to finally grapple with 1824 01:20:50,742 --> 01:20:52,606 the injury inflicted by slavery 1825 01:20:52,744 --> 01:20:56,990 and the deep-seated racism that we endure today. 1826 01:20:57,128 --> 01:20:59,475 We're here to represent and advocate 1827 01:20:59,509 --> 01:21:01,201 for H.R. 40, ladies. 1828 01:21:01,235 --> 01:21:03,030 We're here for H.R. 40. 1829 01:21:03,065 --> 01:21:04,998 We're all here for the things that empower our community. 1830 01:21:05,136 --> 01:21:07,138 Just want to make sure you had this flier. 1831 01:21:07,172 --> 01:21:08,587 - Thank you so much. - Thank you. 1832 01:21:08,621 --> 01:21:09,450 Thanks for being here. - Good luck to you today. 1833 01:21:09,485 --> 01:21:10,934 - Thank you. 1834 01:21:10,969 --> 01:21:14,076 Trauma in the Black community runs so deep. 1835 01:21:14,214 --> 01:21:15,800 The injury is so deep. 1836 01:21:15,940 --> 01:21:19,598 It's been passed down through generations. 1837 01:21:19,633 --> 01:21:21,496 And for us to move forward, 1838 01:21:21,635 --> 01:21:24,568 everyone in our community, all Americans, 1839 01:21:24,707 --> 01:21:28,124 need to commit to reconciling with that past. 1840 01:21:28,159 --> 01:21:31,782 [cheers and applause] 1841 01:21:31,956 --> 01:21:33,612 My name is Robin Rue Simmons, 1842 01:21:33,647 --> 01:21:36,443 and I am here in solidarity with each of you 1843 01:21:36,477 --> 01:21:38,755 as we fight for the issues we value. 1844 01:21:38,894 --> 01:21:41,585 Reparations for people of African descent in America 1845 01:21:41,620 --> 01:21:42,759 is long overdue. 1846 01:21:42,898 --> 01:21:44,900 We don't want a piece of freedom. 1847 01:21:44,934 --> 01:21:47,868 We want the whole package, and that's reparations. 1848 01:21:47,903 --> 01:21:50,975 H.R. 40 now, reparations now. 1849 01:21:51,009 --> 01:21:53,218 [cheers and applause] 1850 01:21:53,253 --> 01:21:56,394 [hopeful music] 1851 01:21:56,428 --> 01:22:01,088 ♪ ♪ 1852 01:22:01,226 --> 01:22:02,918 There are thousands of communities 1853 01:22:03,056 --> 01:22:05,955 all across this nation that need repair. 1854 01:22:06,093 --> 01:22:12,755 ♪ ♪ 1855 01:22:12,789 --> 01:22:14,136 It is my life's work. 1856 01:22:14,170 --> 01:22:16,827 I feel truly assigned to do this work. 1857 01:22:16,862 --> 01:22:20,245 I wake up every morning with an assignment 1858 01:22:20,280 --> 01:22:22,213 on, what is my next action? 1859 01:22:22,351 --> 01:22:24,422 Who should I try to connect with? 1860 01:22:24,456 --> 01:22:25,699 Who am I gonna meet? What partnership? 1861 01:22:25,802 --> 01:22:26,838 What new idea? 1862 01:22:26,871 --> 01:22:28,633 [thunder rumbling] 1863 01:22:28,771 --> 01:22:32,499 ♪ ♪ 1864 01:22:32,637 --> 01:22:35,053 I will not be satisfied until I see 1865 01:22:35,088 --> 01:22:37,434 that quality of life for Black Americans 1866 01:22:37,469 --> 01:22:40,817 is truly on par with that of white Americans. 1867 01:22:40,921 --> 01:22:46,064 ♪ ♪ 1868 01:22:46,099 --> 01:22:49,688 We have made a start in Evanston, 1869 01:22:49,723 --> 01:22:53,313 but there is so much more work that needs to be done. 1870 01:22:53,347 --> 01:23:00,077 ♪ ♪ 1871 01:23:16,508 --> 01:23:19,684 [upbeat music] 1872 01:23:19,822 --> 01:23:26,484 ♪ ♪ 1873 01:23:41,085 --> 01:23:42,396 - Let's give it up, please, 1874 01:23:42,534 --> 01:23:44,605 for Representative Sheila Jackson Lee. 1875 01:23:44,639 --> 01:23:45,675 Please. 1876 01:23:45,813 --> 01:23:48,885 [cheers and applause] 1877 01:23:48,989 --> 01:23:50,715 ♪ ♪ 1878 01:23:50,749 --> 01:23:53,130 - I declare and proclaim 1879 01:23:53,166 --> 01:23:55,754 that America has just gotten a gift. 1880 01:23:55,789 --> 01:23:57,584 They have the ability now 1881 01:23:57,722 --> 01:23:59,896 to call themselves the supporters 1882 01:24:00,035 --> 01:24:02,485 of the Juneteenth national holiday. 1883 01:24:02,520 --> 01:24:04,867 [cheers and applause] This is America. 1884 01:24:04,901 --> 01:24:06,248 The numbers kept coming. 1885 01:24:06,386 --> 01:24:07,628 They kept coming. They kept coming. 1886 01:24:07,663 --> 01:24:08,526 We haven't seen these numbers. 1887 01:24:08,664 --> 01:24:11,148 415 men and women 1888 01:24:11,287 --> 01:24:12,564 of the United States Congress 1889 01:24:12,702 --> 01:24:14,566 voted for the Juneteenth holiday. 1890 01:24:14,704 --> 01:24:16,775 415! 1891 01:24:16,809 --> 01:24:19,123 [cheers and applause] 1892 01:24:19,157 --> 01:24:21,193 Something about that word, Juneteenth. 1893 01:24:21,228 --> 01:24:24,128 [cheers and applause]