Detroit reparations task force co-chair: Cash payments are only part of potential solutions

Detroit’s reparations task force dived into its first meeting Thursday at city hall introducing members and setting up the structure of the task force.

Commissioners are expected to provide a written report to the City Council with findings and recommendations to address systemic racism toward Black Detroiters within 18 months of the first meeting. Board members on Thursday addressed their visions for the task force, ranging from making systemic changes and adding to the national conversation of addressing reparations. Executive Co-Chair Keith Williams, who also chairs the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus, pushed for the passage of the reparations ballot initiative to establish the task force in the 2021 Detroit election.

"Today is a historical day as we begin the process of rewriting the wrong (and) repair the harm that was caused by racist practices and our political process that wasn’t favorable to Black folks," Williams said.

Executive Co-Chair Lauren Hood, city planning commissioner, emphasized that reparations include more than a form of compensation. Things such as cash payments are "potentially" part of the discussion but solutions will involve "so much more than a check."

"We’re not talking about a one-time payout but a paradigm shift in the kinds of policies and practices that govern Black communities in Detroit," Hood said. "This process shouldn't be painful or stressful. We’re doing something that’s never been done before, there is no template."

More:Detroit City Council: Reparations task force to research harm caused by systemic racism

Kofi Kenyatta, senior policy director of UpTogether, an organization that influences policies for systemic change, said he hopes the task force will engage the community and that "small-scale" government programming will not suffice.

"Reparations can mean a lot of things but it must include, no strings attached, direct cash to Black people and systemic change throughout all levels," said Kenyatta, who called in to provide public comment. "Poverty plagued this majority Black city and has for far too long."

Jerry Goldberg, an attorney who helps homeowners avoid foreclosures, said during public comment that the new task force presents a chance to demand that financial institutions pay reparations for the thousands who lost their homes due to foreclosures.

"It also presents an opportunity to demand that banks and financial institutions pay reparations for their wrongs. This displacement occurred through the widespread deliberately predatory and criminal subprime lending practices directed against African American and other people of color, and no city was hard hit as Detroit. We were the leading city for black homeownership," Goldberg said.

Going forward, the board will host meetings in different locations to reach residents across the city.

Meeting schedule

The board has yet to identify a specific day to meet each month but meetings will be open to the public on a biweekly basis. They will take place in different parts of the city to further engage the public across neighborhoods and advance notices will be posted on the city’s website or on City Council President Mary Sheffield's page.

The next meeting will be from 4 p.m.-6 p.m., Friday, April 29. A location has not yet been determined.

Board members

The four executive members, appointed by Sheffield, include co-chairs Williams and Hood, the Rev. JoAnn Watson and Dorian Tyus. The nine board members are Allen Venerable, Jeffrey Robinson, Camille Collins, Bernard Parker, Gregory Hicks, Maurice Weeks, Janis Hazel, Cydney Calloway and Anita Belle.

Council members approved a one-time budget of $350,000 for the task force, to be used for securing facilities for meetings across the city, technical assistance needs and other logistical needs.

Task force responsibilities

Board members will discuss solutions and submit a written report with their findings and recommendations in 18 months. Weeks, who has a background in community organizing, urged community members who have been fighting for reparations to speak up and get involved in the process.

"I'm not interested in writing a report that sits on the shelf and gathers dust," Weeks said. "We want to make sure that we do the things that we come up with as a city to the folks who actually make it happen. And I'm ready to fight alongside the rest of the city of Detroit to make sure that we get out there to do reparations," Weeks said

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact Dana: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana.