for justice, transformation, and remediation
What we do
This was a clergy forum co-hosted by the Proctor Conference, at the request of the Honorable Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, on pending legislation, HR-40. The purpose for the gathering, “Why We Can’t Wait” was to afford the Congresswoman an opportunity to inform faith leaders about the content, purpose, and status of HR-40 and the need for their support. This was the most propitious moment in our opportunity for success, a vote of the full house! We welcomed this as an ecumenical, interfaith moment and opportunity for clergy allies to join us in moving further toward the mark.
how we do it
Evanston’s third Town Hall on Reparations took place last Thursday, August 27, 2020, in the shadow of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, in Kenosha, WI. Jacob Blake’s grandfather served as pastor of Ebenezer AME Church and was a civil rights activist for fair housing in Evanston. The event was hosted by Robin Rue Simmons 5th Ward Alderman, who has guided this municipality’s historic decision to pursue reparations. Dr. Iva Carruthers, a 4th generation Evanstonian and member of the National African American Reparations Commission, serves alongside others as an advisor to this ongoing process of reparatory justice.
What you need to know
Congress Must Pass HR 40
On Wednesday, April 14 history was made in our country when the H.R.40 Bill – Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposal for African Americans Act received…
Virginia Theological Seminary Issues First Reparations Checks
Virginia Theological Seminary has issued the first checks to descendants of Black people who worked on the campus during the eras of slavery…
Movement for Black Lives Reparations Now Toolkit
Reparations for people of African descent living in the United States have been in the news and a hot topic of conversation on social media…
News and events
latest from the center
Statement from Professor Sir Hilary Beckles: Caribbean Response to the Netherlands Apology for Slavery
CALLIE HOUSE ANNUAL LECTURE AND PRIZE PROGRAM
DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND REPERATIONS THE THEN AND NOW.
The New UN Forum for People of African descent: Realizing the Promises of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action
The new Permanent Forum of People of African Descent will have its first session on 5-8 December. The forum is a consultative mechanism for people of African descent and other relevant stakeholders as well as a platform for improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent. The webinar will be hosted as a side event relating to the themes of the forum, which will integrate learnings from various side events into its work and final report.
Announcing the Till Discussion Guide
Till is a powerful movie that is a truth-telling testament to our faith tradition and our struggle for justice and equity in this nation. The movie holds the sacred memory of the lynching of Emmett Till, yet it comes from the perspective of Queen Mother Mamie Till Mobley, Emmett’s diligent mother.
The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, along with the Center for Reparatory Justice, Transformation and Remediation, have curated a historical and faith-based ministry guide to accompany you on this journey through truth-telling.
After decades of lobbying, supporters say they have the votes in the House to pass a reparations bill
H.R. 40 would create a commission on reparations for Black Americans modeled on the process Japanese Americans went through to receive reparations for being imprisoned in internment camps during World War II.
We rise to recognize the 7th Commemoration of the Mother Emanuel AME Martyrdom. SDPC Trustee Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Jr. (Healing of the Nations Institute) and SDPC have partnered with Mother Emanuel AME in preparing a National Bible Study for all those who will join us on this healing journey.
“What Kind of Soil Are We? What Kind is God Calling Us to Become?” is a nationally coordinated weekend of Bible study, prayer, and preaching June 17-19, 2022, beginning in commemoration of the Martyrs of Mother Emanuel and concluding in celebration of Juneteenth, the federal holiday marking the emancipation of African Americans from slavery.
The Conversation
AP & Religion News Service
Dr. Iva E. Carruthers joined a group of leaders hosted by the Associated Press to discuss their strategies centered around the fight for justice. The panelists spoke to the intersection of religion, government, policy, and academia. They answered the question, “Can the faith community lead the way on reparations?” Through truth and reparation initiatives, financial investments, and long-term programs, the answer was in the affirmative. As Dr. Iva said, “The faith community not only can lead, but should lead, and is in a unique position to lead.”
Red Summer
“ Migration tensions.
Aggressive and abusive policing tactics.
Criminalizing biases
that encouraged acts of racialized domestic terror.
Palpable racial divides
that created jagged shadows of economic inequity
that separated cities and towns into
enclaves of wealth or poverty.
The deadliest of these anti-Black terror incidents
took place in Elaine, Arkansas
during the Fall of 1919,
where anywhere from 300 to 800
African Americans had their lives and land stolen! ”
“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”
—IDA B. WELLS
SDPC Elaine Massacres Hearing and the SDPC Montgomery Pilgrimage
One-Hundred Year Commemoration: Red Summer
Four-Hundred Year Commemoration: Quad-Centennial
The Black-lived experience in the United States historically can be translated into tones that echo something familiar for African Americans today. Then and now, white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy continues to stir up storm clouds of destruction. Then and now, Africans across the Diaspora are repeatedly exposed to biases and trauma at the hands of populist nationalism.
Commemorating this quad-centennial year, we acknowledge that there have been more than 400 years of European colonizers building wealth from stolen lands of Indigenous/Original peoples and the enslaved labor of Africans. Commemorating this centennial year of the Red Summer, we acknowledge that what was true 100 years ago about the Black lived experience still rings true today – xenophobia, national populism and racism fuel criminalization biases and anti-Black, anti-migration (“Send her back!”) assaults.
As these commemorative years collide, we know that only Divine Time can truly mark the pain and the promise of this moment across the generations of time, place, and circumstances.
Justice in Motion
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