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Reparations is the necessary step forward. We should all work for it, and the gathering of Reparationists that has unfolded in the last few years is amazing. I want to share a bit of history that has come to my mind, inspired by @adospoliticsac's recent observation that we are
part of a struggle that is generations long.
My mentor in undergrad was Mudavanha Patterson, a Black Panther-turned-professor. He and I attended a series of meetings in the 80s that he was invited to, planning meetings for the secession of Roxbury through incorporation. In these
My mentor in undergrad was Mudavanha Patterson, a Black Panther-turned-professor. He and I attended a series of meetings in the 80s that he was invited to, planning meetings for the secession of Roxbury through incorporation. In these
meetings, activists from East Palo Alto explained how they had used incorporation to achieve a similar aim as what the Roxbury organizers were shooting for: Complete control over the resources of Roxbury. There were also other experts on hand to discuss various facets of the
transition, incl. how to handle administration of the new municipality. Also, the outreach efforts, which were an interesting blend of visible and covert engagement, were all laid out. What Mudavanha explained to me was that the nation owed the descendants of slavery a massive
debt and that claiming it would require ingenuity and always, always the building of power. When I see the forces being marshalled here, I think about those twin efforts, in EPA and Roxbury, both of which one could say failed in different ways, but I think they are a step in this
journey. Just seeing that there is a rightful claim and being able to envision ownership of the land, of the cities, of the country, is a revolutionary act and brings the actual transformation of the country even closer. How many thousands of organizing efforts like those were
the precursors to the work being done today, and how many more will follow our time on this Earth in the journey to justice?
