Of all the major progressive proposals in recent years—universal basic income, a jobs guarantee, Medicare-for-All, and so on—reparations is the only one that addresses anti-Black racism head-on. With the majority of Americans now agreeing that anti-Black racism is an issue that needs to be addressed, it’s time for a serious conversation about reparations as one tangible way to root out systemic oppression. 

Join us on Wednesday, September 23, 2:00 PM EST as we discuss policy ideas to implement reparations. Should reparations be a community-based model that addresses systemic racism and economic inequities? Should funds be directed to individuals or communities? Who should be eligible? How will we measure the impact of reparations? After the discussion, stick around for a Q&A with the experts. 

Featuring:

  • Keynote Speaker: Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA)
  • Moderator: Danielle Belton, editor-in-chief, The Root 
  • Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, chief, race, wealth and community, The National Community Reinvestment Coalition
  • Keith Young, city councilmember (Asheville, North Carolina)

Please register to obtain the Zoom link, which will be sent twenty-four hours before the event.

Presented by NYU Wagner and The Century Foundation.

Speaker Bios

Representative Barbara Lee represents California’s 13th district, which serves Oakland and the East Bay. As a member of House Democratic Leadership, she is the highest ranking Black woman in the United States Congress. She is also a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, serves as co-chair of the Majority Leader’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity, co-chair of the Pro Choice Caucus, and is former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Danielle Belton, currently the editor-in-chief of the leading black interest news site, The Root, is best known as the former creator and writer of the award-winning pop culture-meets-politics blog The Black Snob. Since being promoted to lead The Root in 2016, the award-winning site’s traffic has grown month-over-month by more than 300 percent, now reaching around 10–12 million readers per month.

Dedrick Asante-Muhammad joined NCRC in January 2019 as the chief of race, wealth and community. He oversees NCRC’s Fair Housing, Fair Lending and Small Business programs. Dedrick is known for his racial economic inequality analysis particularly as it relates to the racial wealth divide. Dedrick comes from Prosperity Now where he was the senior fellow of the Racial Wealth Divide Initiative. Before Prosperity Now, Dedrick worked for the NAACP, where he was the senior director of the Economic Department and executive director of the Financial Freedom Center. Dedrick has also worked for Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network and the Institute for Policy Studies.

Keith Young was born in Asheville, North Carolina, and received a bachelor of fine arts degree from the historically black Virginia State University. Afterward, Young returned to Asheville and focused on community organizing in low-income communities. He is now a city councilmember in Asheville and spearheaded the city’s recently approved reparations legislation. Young is also author of the book, 12 Powers of Influence and a member of Harvard Kennedy School’s Implementing Public Policy Community of Practice.