Reparations

The St. Louis Reparations Commission presented a draft of its harm report during the committee’s final meeting Monday at City Hall. The proposed report includes recommendations for recognition and redistribution, eligibility requirements based on lineage or proof of residency and personal narratives woven into issue areas like police brutality, health and housing discrimination.

The St. Louis Reparations Commission will present its harm report on Sept. 30. Over 100 Black St. Louisans testified why they want reparations and what form they want them to take. The harm report will include dozens of testimonies, history of racism and recommendations for the mayor to bring about a plan to repair racial harms.

Washington University in St. Louis researchers propose using child development accounts as a way for local and federal governments to deliver reparations to Black Americans. The recent journal entry explores three wealth-accumulating options for Black people to receive reparations — cash transfer, a savings plan or a trust fund.

A group of attorneys and researchers are stepping in to help community organizations and local and state reparations task forces get to reparative justice for Black communities. The African American Redress Network prepares harm reports, researches disparities or helps preserve a town's Black history.

The St. Louis Reparations Commission is working on its proposed 100-page report. It will include narratives and documentation that focus on housing, neighborhoods and built environment, education, public health, jobs and the economy, and state violence and policing. About 20 local and national experts will help write the final report.

St. Louis University's student government unanimously passed a resolution urging the school to address its history of slavery and compensate descendants for long-standing harm.

The proposed issues for the report will likely include housing, neighborhood and built environment, education, public health, jobs and economy and state violence.

The St. Louis Reparations Commission will be extended until Sept. 9. The commission was previously set to end this spring. Members asked Mayor Tishaura Jones for more time to engage with the community and to produce a final report.

The St. Louis Reparations Commission is preparing to create a race-based harm report for Mayor Tishaura Jones to review next year. Robin Rue Simmons created the Evanston, Illinois, reparations plan and got Evanston’s Black residents the country’s first reparations payout. Simmons talks about her strategy and what St. Louis can do to make its reparations process successful.

How would reparations work in St. Louis? A city commission is taking public comments and preparing a report.