A group of prominent Black city officials is advocating for reparations through a series of City Council bills, emphasizing the need for the government to be held accountable for its role in slavery and institutional racism.
The bills come as New York approaches the 200-year anniversary of the end of slavery in the state. At Just Conversations | Reparations in New York City: A Path Toward Justice and Equity, a talk held at the Center for Brooklyn History, part of the Brooklyn Public Library, on Jan. 21, Public Advocate Jumanee Williams and Council Members Crystal Hudson, Farrah Louis and Nantasha Williams, noted their hopes for a more just and equitable future for the city’s Black community.
“A lot of people, when they think of the history of slavery, really think about the south. They don’t understand the impact that it had in the north region,” said Williams to the crowd of about 150 people. “The first commodity that was traded on Washington was human beings.”
One bill, introduced by Hudson, requires the Commission on Racial Equity to establish a “truth, healing, and reconciliation” process that addresses the city’s role in slavery and its legacy felt today. Another bill, introduced by Louis, calls for a study to be done on the harms of slavery and provide recommendations on ways to address them.
Though these bills are focused on reparations for American slavery, Hudson noted that they will have positive impacts beyond Black communities. “If you actually center the needs of the communities that have been most harmed and most marginalized, then everybody benefits,” said Hudson. “When Black people are doing well, when disabled people are doing well, and older adults are doing well, and immigrants are doing well, everybody is doing well.”
The panelists discussed how the legacy of slavery and racism shows up in the city today when they talked about segregation in the school system, issues with policing in the Black community, housing and mental health. “We are a very diverse city, but we are very segregated,” said Council Member Williams. “[It’s been] 70 years since Brown v. Board of Education and our school system is more segregated than it’s ever been.”
One audience member asked how social media plays into reparations amid what feels like a coordinated media blackout surrounding social justice topics. “Social media is important, but it’s not the only tool that we have,” said Public Advocate Willams. “A lot of work is done without social media.”
“I think it’s going to be extremely difficult to hold anyone accountable on social media or to talk about any of this stuff on social media when you have the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and every other white male billionaire tech you know, entrepreneur supporting this presidency,” said Hudson.
Linda Tigani, executive director of the NYC Commission on Racial Equity, who led the panel discussion, rounded out the conversation by discussing the city’s 2026 fiscal year budget. “We have a budget that just came out that is about what resources you may or may not get. This is your time to reach out to your Council Members and share what you want to see,” said Tigani. “They have the power to push back, approve or disapprove of the budget.”
A second talk in this conversation series, Voices from New York State’s Reparations Commission, takes place on Feb. 19 and will discuss the work being done around reparations at the state level. In addition, Trace/s a new exhibit at the Center for Brooklyn History that explores the history of slavery in Brooklyn, opens Jan. 30 and runs through August 28.