Speaker 1: I Am America Alexander, and I'm Whitney Dow. Welcome to
Speaker 1: Reparations The Big Payback, a production of Color Farm Media,
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio, and The Black Effect Podcast Network. Whitney.
Speaker 1: When we started this journey, we spoke of our own
Speaker 1: origin stories and how remarkable it was that our very
Speaker 1: different lives led us to arrive at the same place.
Speaker 1: So I feel that we can't go any further until
Speaker 1: we lay out the history of reparations. It's a big
Speaker 1: world and we can't mention everything, but we can focus
Speaker 1: on a few historic examples to give people an understanding
Speaker 1: of how long this battle has been going on. It's
Speaker 1: a really long and complicated story, and it has lots
Speaker 1: of heroes and villains, but it's also a story that's
Speaker 1: populated with people that we don't know, the people that
Speaker 1: were fighting for reparations and obscurity. But right now, I
Speaker 1: want to talk about a few people who I think
Speaker 1: are really important to the movement. I'm thinking of Calli House,
Speaker 1: who was born into slave ree and then mounted a
Speaker 1: major push for pensions for the formerly enslaved in the
Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds. Then there's Queen Mother Moore, who is a
Speaker 1: major figure in the reparations movement in the middle of
Speaker 1: the twentieth century. And Robin Ruth Simmons and Alderman from Evanston, Illinois.
Speaker 1: He's making history today with the first tax fund reparations
Speaker 1: program in US history. Oh it's awesome. I'm excited. But
Speaker 1: the phrase history lesson is a snoozer. So let's make
Speaker 1: this fun for ourselves. And here's where my film and
Speaker 1: television background, You're welcome may be useful. Okay, how about this? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Maybe we can do like an Uncle Remus sketch in
Speaker 1: Song of the South, you know, only this time you
Speaker 1: play Uncle Remus talking to the Blackbird explaining the history
Speaker 1: of the reparations movement. Oh yeah, how's your Southern accent?
Speaker 1: You want me to play the Uncle Remus of reparations?
Speaker 1: Have you heard of cancel culture? Okay, all right, I
Speaker 1: mean look, I mean, hey, I was you don't have
Speaker 1: to play Uncle Remus. I was trying not to typecast.
Speaker 1: You probably can't even hummaton, but look I got it.
Speaker 1: Oh this is it. Have you ever seen Jurassic Park?
Speaker 1: The first one I have? But now I'm really confused
Speaker 1: Erica about where this thing is going. Listen. Okay, this
Speaker 1: is awesome. Let's use this technique that they used to
Speaker 1: teach the visiting scientists Jeff gold Bloom, Sam Neil and
Speaker 1: Laura Dern how the Jurassic Park science team rebread those
Speaker 1: big old dinosaurs from the DNA samples locked in amber fossils.
Speaker 1: So you play the part of Richard Attenborough and he's
Speaker 1: very charming, so you have to you know, you'll make do.
Speaker 1: But okay, um and um, we'll get ah, I know,
Speaker 1: creased summer to play the part of the know it
Speaker 1: all reparations mosquito, creased summer. Okay, in that case, I'm in.
Speaker 1: But God help me. Hello Whitney, or should I say
Speaker 1: Professor Dow Hello reparations Mosquito, and please call me Whitney.
Speaker 1: So today we're going to be learning about the history
Speaker 1: of reparations. Indeed, I'm difficult, yet worthy conversation told within
Speaker 1: the rich, painful tapestry of America's failure to acknowledge the
Speaker 1: sin of slavery and the debt owed to its formerly
Speaker 1: enslaved people and their descendants. Here. Wait, that was exhausting.
Speaker 1: I quit. Oh no, you don't. Reparations Mosquito, no backing
Speaker 1: out now. Talking about race in America can be exhausting,
Speaker 1: But trying to get reparations, that's like shake up a
Speaker 1: snow globe in Boston expecting it to bring in Cleveland. Sadly,
Speaker 1: I'm sure they had made perfect sense to you, Whitney.
Speaker 1: Let's get started. Everyone's a critic, I know, Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: all yours. This is the cliff Notes version, right. Well,
Speaker 1: we can't talk about reparations without identifying the need for
Speaker 1: it in the first place, and that all comes down
Speaker 1: to the sin of slavery. A complicated discussion that takes
Speaker 1: more time than I got, so yes, please google that,
Speaker 1: but suffice it to say, the profits and progress made
Speaker 1: from the unpaid labor of slaves transformed America's economy and
Speaker 1: made America the most powerful country in the world in
Speaker 1: record time. Thank gad he didn't last. Soon came emancipation
Speaker 1: and a bloody Civil War. Long story short, they lost,
Speaker 1: we won, and a period of reconstruction began. Entered General
Speaker 1: William to come to Sherman. Sherman meets with a group
Speaker 1: of freedmen who asked Sherman to create a way they
Speaker 1: could benefit from their own labor. Their request land In response,
Speaker 1: General Sherman issues Special Field Order Number fifteen, four hundred
Speaker 1: thousand acres would be given to the freedman for settlement
Speaker 1: or to break it down for their acres and of you.
Speaker 1: Hence the famous phrase was born. But that didn't last long.
Speaker 1: President Link was assassinated and the new President, Andrew Johnson
Speaker 1: vetoed the bill mean while the Southern Homestead Act of
Speaker 1: eighteen sixty six was created. It gave black people six
Speaker 1: months to buy land at low rates, but no one
Speaker 1: could afford the land, so the program failed. There were
Speaker 1: some bright spots. Callie House started the National ex Slave
Speaker 1: Mutual Relief, Bounty and Tension Association, but the group was
Speaker 1: investigated by the Department of Justice and Cally was introduced
Speaker 1: to the newest legal form of slavery, jail. Marcus Garvey
Speaker 1: believed all black people should return to their rightful homeland, Africa,
Speaker 1: so he started the United Negro Improvement Association, but the
Speaker 1: FEDS infiltrated at and he wound up in jail. Two
Speaker 1: m yep. That whole lacking of black people for fighting
Speaker 1: for injustice never fill out of vogue. See also segregation, lynching,
Speaker 1: Jim Crow, but Whitney a lot has happened in between,
Speaker 1: so let's fast forward to the nineteen sixties. I never
Speaker 1: leave a man behind you. Good cool, Let's continue. Jim Foreman,
Speaker 1: you know him. He made big headlines when he interrupted
Speaker 1: the service at Riverside Church to demand five hundred millions
Speaker 1: in reparations from predominantly white religious institutions for their role
Speaker 1: in perpetuating slavery. Queen Mother Moore kept the pressure on
Speaker 1: and petition the government for compensation for slavery, but reparations.
Speaker 1: After this say we need and deserve federal restitution. In
Speaker 1: ninety nine, Congressman John Conyers introduced a bill just to
Speaker 1: study proposals for reparations for Black Americans, and he had
Speaker 1: to reintroduce the bill each congressional term until he left
Speaker 1: office in two thousand seventeen. The Bill family made a
Speaker 1: decision two years later, thanks the Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: it is still waiting for approval from the House Judiciary Committee.
Speaker 1: So let me begin. America is a place and welcomes
Speaker 1: the diversity of thought. We even welcome the diversity of
Speaker 1: thought among the multicolored chocolate people that are African Americans.
Speaker 1: Good luck, sister Sheila, who jee whiz Whitney. Reparations ain't easy. There,
Speaker 1: I told you, wait a minute, I'm a guy. Reparations
Speaker 1: has seen a huge wave of renewed interest over the years.
Speaker 1: America Civil and racial unrest, mixed with a global pandemic
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty made crystal clear the disparity, suffering, and
Speaker 1: terrorism that continue to plague all communities of color, poor people,
Speaker 1: and especially black people. And though George Floyd's murder was
Speaker 1: a rallying call for action, the ugly, mostly white mob
Speaker 1: of insurrection Is swarmed America's capital in January six, twenty one.
Speaker 1: Oh sometime it seemed like we live in constant sorrow,
Speaker 1: in a world without end. A man, Oh, I forgot
Speaker 1: to tell you something, Okay, I think I know what's
Speaker 1: coming here. In two thousand and ninet, four hundred years
Speaker 1: after the first enslaved Africans arrived, something wonderful, something extraordinary
Speaker 1: happened in Evanston. Against all odds, with a mostly white council,
Speaker 1: Alderman Robin Ruth Simmons successfully passes America's first Referations's Bill,
Speaker 1: which assesses a three percent tax on leal cannabis sales
Speaker 1: to create a fund to make cash payments to qualified
Speaker 1: black Evanstonians. That's amazing, right, I'll say. And I know
Speaker 1: this revelation may have many black folks asking where in
Speaker 1: the hell is Evanston. It's in Illinois, just in case
Speaker 1: you're plotting a move. Well that's all, folks, bravo. This
Speaker 1: is absolutely the best history lesson I've ever got from
Speaker 1: a Mosquito. Thank you, You're welcome. Unfortunately, this is the
Speaker 1: worst gig I ever had. Ain't got no sempor trailer
Speaker 1: my makeup or that's no massus. This dude that used
Speaker 1: to bring me what I need when I needed it,
Speaker 1: quarantine blocking all my connects. But now you know more
Speaker 1: than you did about the wonderful world of reporations. So
Speaker 1: long Whitney hugs the Erica. Yess my girl, she's such
Speaker 1: a cute pack. So long Creed, I mean, so long
Speaker 1: reparations Mosquito. Wow, Erica. That didn't sting at all. Oh
Speaker 1: that was freaking terrific. Oh, thank you, thank you Chris
Speaker 1: Summer for lending her master voice to this piece. She's amazing.
Speaker 1: Um A little jealous you two got to play, but
Speaker 1: I think it's something cool to do later. To even
Speaker 1: the score. Bill Whitney, you did a good job too.
Speaker 1: I appreciate the props Erica. You know, so my first
Speaker 1: conversation with Mosquito, but hopefully my last. But now you know,
Speaker 1: I love the story of Kelly House, and I love
Speaker 1: that we got a chance to talk to historian Mary
Speaker 1: Francis Barry, who wrote the book on this. Amazing woman,
Speaker 1: Mary Francis Barry. She's fantastic, she's smart, beautiful, in great shape.
Speaker 1: She's eighty two. Okay, I want to be here. Cally
Speaker 1: House was a black woman who had been a slave.
Speaker 1: You know, her mother had been a slave, her father
Speaker 1: had fought in the Union Army as a runaway slave.
Speaker 1: And she was at church and she heard about some
Speaker 1: white guy who had asked the federal government for pensions
Speaker 1: for slaves on the brow ex slaves, he called them
Speaker 1: on the grounds that the money would go into the
Speaker 1: pockets of the white people on the plantations where they
Speaker 1: were all still working, and that this was an indirect
Speaker 1: way to help white Southerners after the Civil War, and
Speaker 1: we can struction. But when she heard about it, she said, well,
Speaker 1: I don't understand why we can't do this for ourselves.
Speaker 1: Why can't we start some and ask the federal government
Speaker 1: to give us some pensions that we use for ourselves,
Speaker 1: After all, we were the ones who were slaves. And
Speaker 1: so she went around organizing herself in churches, and she
Speaker 1: would get people to if they couldn't write, somebody would
Speaker 1: write down their name and put what plantation they were
Speaker 1: on and so on, and they would put an x
Speaker 1: bot and sent them off to Congress. And eventually it
Speaker 1: grew and grew and grew, and she started traveling all
Speaker 1: of the plays, collecting petitions, listening to people's stories and
Speaker 1: all that, and the federal government got concerned. They decided
Speaker 1: because letters were coming from white people saying, the Negroes
Speaker 1: are meeting in churches and they come out saying and
Speaker 1: talking about someday we're gonna get something, and we know
Speaker 1: that I don't get anything, and we're scared of them.
Speaker 1: So you need to do something about that woman who's
Speaker 1: going around there stirn them up. And so they decided
Speaker 1: to go after her. They said the fetes did that.
Speaker 1: She had about three hundred thousand dudes paying members the
Speaker 1: dues of cents a year, and she was laughed at
Speaker 1: by middle class negroes because she was not very well educated.
Speaker 1: She had only been like, you know, the sixth grade,
Speaker 1: and the government decided that they would get after her
Speaker 1: for using the mails to defraud. Some of you may
Speaker 1: remember that that's what they did to market Garment later,
Speaker 1: and they said that she was using the mails to
Speaker 1: defraud because she was telling black people that she was
Speaker 1: going to negros, that she was going to try to
Speaker 1: get the federal government give them some money. And she
Speaker 1: should know the federal government is never gonna give negroes
Speaker 1: any money. That's the way they put it. So it
Speaker 1: was fraud to be organizing people. And they ended up
Speaker 1: prosecuting her, but all white jury in Tennessee, and they
Speaker 1: put in prison for her trouble. After that, there were
Speaker 1: branches who had There were black folks all the south.
Speaker 1: One was in New York City. They were all out
Speaker 1: in the black towns. And then there were people like
Speaker 1: Queen Mother Bore who was in the New Orleans chapter,
Speaker 1: all of whom became Garbagates. And so you can trace
Speaker 1: the present day reparations movement within Cobra and the other
Speaker 1: organizations all the way back to Callis House and her
Speaker 1: ex lay pension movement. A remarkable woman. And I think
Speaker 1: the people who say had their names on there at
Speaker 1: a time when they were attacked, when they were under
Speaker 1: attack and could be abused and everything else, their descendants
Speaker 1: ought to get something Malcolm X talks about. If you
Speaker 1: stick a knife in my back nine inches, pull it
Speaker 1: out six inches, that's not progress. If you pull it
Speaker 1: all the way out, that's not progress. The progress comes
Speaker 1: from the healing the moon that the blow made. You're
Speaker 1: talking about the loss so many hundreds of years of
Speaker 1: human potential. How would reparations impact of progress on issues?
Speaker 1: If we quality the reparations are the most direct way
Speaker 1: to target money to ease the disparities and let black
Speaker 1: people decide how to spend the money. But first the
Speaker 1: country has to acknowledge the disparities, and if people refuse
Speaker 1: to then that means that they're ignot acknowledging that slavery
Speaker 1: was an institution that did not benefit slaves. Once you
Speaker 1: accept what happened, then in fact, demanding reparations is easy.
Speaker 1: We should go after local city councils, local mayors, local
Speaker 1: government and organize the way Kelly House did, and better
Speaker 1: because we have better communication now to organize and demand
Speaker 1: that local communities pass measures to do this. The Cally
Speaker 1: Howd story is really interesting because it's both inspiring and
Speaker 1: completely depressing at the same time. You know, it's inspiring
Speaker 1: what this woman managed to accomplish at the height of
Speaker 1: the white terror and post reconstruction America, but it's really
Speaker 1: depressing because she did this, build a incredible organization and
Speaker 1: trying to get reparations for the formerly enslaved, and the
Speaker 1: response of the government was to thrower in jail. Now,
Speaker 1: I keep getting the feeling that white Americans feel that
Speaker 1: if they just open this reparations doors just a crack,
Speaker 1: they're not gonna be able to contain what comes flooding through.
Speaker 1: So they keep barring the door, and the pressure just
Speaker 1: keeps building and building. Yeah, it's funny that to me,
Speaker 1: it's not a door, it's it already exists. They either
Speaker 1: keep going and not talking about it, or they, you know,
Speaker 1: look at it and they face it, because it's kind
Speaker 1: of like an energy that's already out there. But whether
Speaker 1: they realize it or not. You've been telling me about
Speaker 1: CALLI House for a while, and I am a new fan. Look,
Speaker 1: I'm a believer. Dr Barry, Thank you, thank you you
Speaker 1: are river to your people. Thanks for educating us about
Speaker 1: who in what really matters, you know. But Whitney, I
Speaker 1: just realized that the pioneers were talking about today are
Speaker 1: all black women, and they all, all of them paid
Speaker 1: an emotional price for their work in the struggle. It's
Speaker 1: kind of like the same thing today right Erica. There's
Speaker 1: lots of strong black women leaders and they're taking a
Speaker 1: lot of shots right now. Look at Stacy and Georgia. Yeah, Stacy,
Speaker 1: Ayana ill han Omar, You've got Natasha Brown. I mean yeah,
Speaker 1: I could go on and on and on. There's amazing
Speaker 1: black women that have always been there doing their thing,
Speaker 1: and it's time for them to get their flowers. Speaking
Speaker 1: of which, I'm a bit competitive and I want to
Speaker 1: do something cool like your Jurassic Park history mash up.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna use my black wizard skills. You didn't
Speaker 1: know I had them to do something I know you
Speaker 1: cannot do. I am an actor with access and so
Speaker 1: you're you. But look I'm going to um, yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do something cool. So what are we gonna get?
Speaker 1: A song? Like a morality play? Maybe some a cappella. Nope,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go back in time. I'm going to talk
Speaker 1: to a queen, a pioneer of reparations whose life story
Speaker 1: led her to become a force of nature in the struggle.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna talk to Queen Mother Moore. How are you
Speaker 1: going to do that? I use a little bit of
Speaker 1: magic to do it, and I believe if I listen, well,
Speaker 1: I'll come back forever changed. So here, let's do this.
Speaker 1: Let's adjust the volume a little bit, Mr Pop Okay,
Speaker 1: I just know I needed to get on the right
Speaker 1: frequency and always works in the movies. Oh gosh, you're here.
Speaker 1: It worked. Oh you don't know how I but I
Speaker 1: got to go through to kid here own. Okay, chill Erica,
Speaker 1: you know she ain't got time for that. Welcome Queen Mother.
Speaker 1: I'm glad that you're here. Thank you so much, and
Speaker 1: thank you for blessing us with your story. Yes, no,
Speaker 1: thank you, ma'am. You know where I come from, this
Speaker 1: homeless of people to call themselves queen Charlemagne, the god Queen, Queen, Queen.
Speaker 1: He calls me queen. But you know what, how did
Speaker 1: you become the queen? Mother? Mea was restored upon me
Speaker 1: by the African students. First of all, as a result
Speaker 1: of my years of activities in this country. African students, well,
Speaker 1: they gave it to me. And when I went to
Speaker 1: Africa to dr and crew mass funeral, they chief heard
Speaker 1: about me and he sent for me to come to
Speaker 1: him and I went and he said, I'm going to
Speaker 1: make you a fishery queen mother, queen mother of the Ashanti,
Speaker 1: and he initiated me the queen mother. But I was
Speaker 1: queen mother before I went to Africa. We know you
Speaker 1: did amazing things in Harlem, but you're actually from the
Speaker 1: South right. But yes, I was born in New Iberia, Louisiana,
Speaker 1: seven ninety. I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana. My
Speaker 1: parents came from New all into Louisiana. My grandparents came
Speaker 1: from New Iberia, Louisiana. My father worked for herself. My
Speaker 1: mother was a housewife. I had two brothers and five sisters.
Speaker 1: I was the sixth one in the family, Queen of
Speaker 1: the more Where would you say that your story starts?
Speaker 1: What was life like growing up for you? My mother
Speaker 1: died when I was five years old, and after Papa died,
Speaker 1: my brother sold the house that papa had left. And
Speaker 1: mind your papa had told him that told me that
Speaker 1: brother Henry would take care of us. Well. He took
Speaker 1: care of us all right. The moment he came from
Speaker 1: the funeral, he said we had to move, and I
Speaker 1: had my little sisters. So I took a few of
Speaker 1: Papa's moves to the auction and sold them and readed
Speaker 1: an apartment. I left New Orleans during the war. I
Speaker 1: left and went to Muscle Shoals m Muscial Souls well
Speaker 1: Wreatha did a lot of recording there. Yes, really difficult
Speaker 1: to listen to you tell your story, but you made
Speaker 1: it through. Yes, So how did you get started with
Speaker 1: your work? We talked a lot about origin stories. What
Speaker 1: was the origin of your work? Within that cause? My
Speaker 1: face encounter with the real struggle was with the Red Cross,
Speaker 1: who discriminated against the black recruits. They gave the white
Speaker 1: recruits coffee and doughnuts while they were mobilizing them, and
Speaker 1: they didn't give anything to the black recruits. And I
Speaker 1: mobilized the people around to make what we used to
Speaker 1: call hook cakes and coffee and gave it to the
Speaker 1: blacks who were congregated waiting to be shipped off. And
Speaker 1: my sister and I we found a place where the
Speaker 1: soldiers could come and we got an old phonic have
Speaker 1: and a lot of scratch records. Well, it was a
Speaker 1: place where the men could come in and play cards
Speaker 1: or checkers or something. So we consider ourselves having to
Speaker 1: face USO among black Oh wow, so you've been organizing
Speaker 1: around the black community for a while, But how did
Speaker 1: you get to the liberation movement like your work with
Speaker 1: the great Marcus Garvey. Well, I was face brought in
Speaker 1: turned Marcus Carvey movement by the fact that he I
Speaker 1: understood that he was to come and speak to us
Speaker 1: in Louisiana. And we went to the meeting and low
Speaker 1: and behold, he didn't come, and we had the mayor
Speaker 1: refused to allow him to come. So we were very
Speaker 1: incensed about it and got a delegation to go see why.
Speaker 1: Then it was guaranteed that Marcus Carvey would come. The
Speaker 1: next night, the hall was packed with people. Everybody went
Speaker 1: with ammunition, had guns. Everybody had guns, Black people with guns.
Speaker 1: Blue Steve Smith and Western's German lugers. Really and uh,
Speaker 1: I had two guns with me. Y'all showed up and
Speaker 1: showed out, that's what's up. Amazing and ammunition, a bag
Speaker 1: of ammunition. Everybody had what you call a suitcase today
Speaker 1: because we was afraid the police would stop him from
Speaker 1: coming again and we wanted to protect him. Wow, in
Speaker 1: the night that he did come, what happened, thirty people
Speaker 1: was in that hall. So when God came, reapplauded very much,
Speaker 1: and he said, my friends, I wanted to apologize for
Speaker 1: not speaking to you last night. But the reason I
Speaker 1: didn't speak to you because the mayor permitted himself to
Speaker 1: be used as a stooge by the police department to
Speaker 1: prevent me for speaking to you. And when he said that,
Speaker 1: the police jumped up and said, I'll run you in.
Speaker 1: And when the police did that, everybody jumped up on
Speaker 1: the benches we had benches then and took out their
Speaker 1: guns straight up. The guns were straight up in the air.
Speaker 1: Speak Gorvy set and Gorvy said, And as I was saying,
Speaker 1: and he went and repeated itself, and the police filed
Speaker 1: out of their like little puppy dolls. Every police been
Speaker 1: filed out of the hall. And I can't forget that
Speaker 1: speak Garvey speak. Oh I wish I was there. And
Speaker 1: that was your first experience with Marcus Garvey. Amazing. Oh yes,
Speaker 1: I'm still a life member the Garvey movements, like to
Speaker 1: join the Garvey movement after that, How did this impact
Speaker 1: your path as an activist? Well, after must have shown.
Speaker 1: I went back to New Orleans and stayed there a
Speaker 1: while until Marcus Garvey came on the sea in so
Speaker 1: then we came to HALLM. Well, anyhow, HALLM was waste
Speaker 1: than anything we had seen. They had for white only
Speaker 1: signs and only apartment houses in Hallm for white only,
Speaker 1: big signs outside, and we had to go upstairs in
Speaker 1: the lowest theater like we did in the South. Same thing,
Speaker 1: the white people sitting the bottom downstairs and we had
Speaker 1: to go upstairs, and that kind of thing. So nobody
Speaker 1: could work in HALLM. No black place. And while you
Speaker 1: were in Harlem, you began working with Garvey's Universal Negro
Speaker 1: Improvements Association and uh the African Communities League. Oh yes,
Speaker 1: I had gone to his meetings and had was his
Speaker 1: guest divino on the Black store line. He bought some
Speaker 1: ships and they were very unsuccessful because they were sabotaged.
Speaker 1: You know. What was his plan for the ships to
Speaker 1: do export import from Africa, trade and so on. So
Speaker 1: I was very impressed with that. So was Marcus Garvey
Speaker 1: who helped push you to look towards Africa with your work. Yes, well,
Speaker 1: it was to teach our people self esteem for one thing,
Speaker 1: and our history and pride in our nation. And the
Speaker 1: other thing was self sufficiency going into business and so on,
Speaker 1: and to think in terms of the development of Africa,
Speaker 1: to help free Africa from colonialism, that kind of thing. Okay,
Speaker 1: So is that how you got into your reparations petition. Yes,
Speaker 1: the petition called for us to go back to Africa.
Speaker 1: So those who wanted to go back, and for those
Speaker 1: who wanted to stay here, they had to be certain
Speaker 1: indemnity given for the people who wanted to stay the
Speaker 1: people who wanted to go. I was asking for two
Speaker 1: hundred billion dollars for the injury that we have received
Speaker 1: as a result of our enslaveman. Okay, two under billionaire.
Speaker 1: That was a lot of money. Then in now, would
Speaker 1: you say the petition was successful? I got very good response,
Speaker 1: and he told me that we needed a member nation
Speaker 1: to introduce the resolution since we were not officially remembers
Speaker 1: of the You and I'm sorry, Queen mother more, I'm
Speaker 1: having trouble here. I think we're losing our connection free
Speaker 1: Mother More. Hello, you were talking about the members that
Speaker 1: you needed someone to introduce the resolution. Oh, just one
Speaker 1: that was getting good? I think, Oh I lost her.
Speaker 1: M hm, that was amazing. Wow, what was it like
Speaker 1: to talk to a legend? No, you know, I ain't
Speaker 1: got the words. I mean, Queen Mother More. She's a
Speaker 1: queen and you saw. I mean she suffered for her
Speaker 1: struggle work, as she put it, but she was unstoppable.
Speaker 1: She never quit and we have to celebrate her life.
Speaker 1: And when I think about all the soft handed complainers
Speaker 1: that we got, now me included, you know, battling racism
Speaker 1: one well written witty post at the time. But look,
Speaker 1: I just want to say this. I love black people.
Speaker 1: I love you. We are unique on this planet. Why
Speaker 1: did the universe choose of US African Americans to tell
Speaker 1: this epic story? I mean to bear this poisonous thorny crown.
Speaker 1: I'm inspired by Queen Mother Moore and I salute her,
Speaker 1: and I will work harder and I think twice. I
Speaker 1: will think twice before complaining about the lack of gluten
Speaker 1: free treats at the craft service table. I'm changed, So Erica,
Speaker 1: this history is amazing. You know, we've been talking about
Speaker 1: Cally House now Queen Mother Moore. But it also pulls
Speaker 1: up these other things for me as well, that there's
Speaker 1: another side of the story, and that's the white side
Speaker 1: of the story. The pressers in the story that we're
Speaker 1: hearing the people that opposed Cally House, people and lock
Speaker 1: are up the people that opposed Queen Mother Moore. It's
Speaker 1: complicated when you think about your legacy and how you're
Speaker 1: connected to these things. You know, I want to celebrate
Speaker 1: people like Calli and Queen Mother more, but at the
Speaker 1: same time, I have to figure out how do I
Speaker 1: take ownership of the other side of the story. When
Speaker 1: you think about history, there's history being made right now
Speaker 1: in Ebste Illinois. Alderman Robin Ruth Simmons from the Fifth
Speaker 1: Ward has just passed the first tax funded reparations bill
Speaker 1: in US history. I live in a city that has
Speaker 1: acknowledged our collective wrongdoing and we have acknowledged that we
Speaker 1: want to do something radically different in passing it. So
Speaker 1: that makes me hopeful. And the beauty of this reparation
Speaker 1: goal is it's in line with my highest priorities in
Speaker 1: my role as Alderman, I've known as reparation Robin and
Speaker 1: rolls of parks. Now, so that's different. I feel incredibly
Speaker 1: proud to lead in a community that allowed such radical
Speaker 1: policy and uncomfortable conversation. People have been extremely nasty to me,
Speaker 1: and I really, you know, feel bad for them that
Speaker 1: whatever is happening in their life that is so miserable,
Speaker 1: that they are in so much pain that they want
Speaker 1: to share it and pass it all around. So I
Speaker 1: feel sad for them, and I forgive them and hope
Speaker 1: that they find some peace. So when that happens, even
Speaker 1: you know, it's my faith that allows me to work
Speaker 1: past the pain that I received and take that pain
Speaker 1: and figure out how to turn it into some purpose.
Speaker 1: I would love for more people to take ownership of
Speaker 1: it and do the work. It's important. It's going to
Speaker 1: have to happen. We have officially started our public subcommittee meetings.
Speaker 1: You've established the timeline, and we have prioritized the initialmity
Speaker 1: and we're gonna start with housing, you know, keeping our
Speaker 1: black community. We have a declining population as serving a
Speaker 1: very diverse community. Right of the population is black and
Speaker 1: the rest of the community is not black, and they
Speaker 1: don't understand as much. So at the same time as
Speaker 1: I'm working on the policy, building relationships, finding resources, I
Speaker 1: still have a huge piece of education. In the process
Speaker 1: of this. I have been supporting the City of Chicago
Speaker 1: and the State of Illinois on their initiatives, just being
Speaker 1: an advocate, showing up to speak, sharing what was possible
Speaker 1: in Evanston, and hopefully giving some inspiration to the leaders
Speaker 1: at the state level and the city level. I'm also
Speaker 1: in full support of HR forty and supporting anyone that
Speaker 1: is looking to get that passed. The amount of support
Speaker 1: that I have received from leaders and experts has really
Speaker 1: given me confidence to tenue the second leg of the work.
Speaker 1: We are likely to be the you know, not only
Speaker 1: the first city, but also in the first state in bordering,
Speaker 1: the first major city to have a local reparative policy,
Speaker 1: a local reparation They're going to be more actions that require,
Speaker 1: you know, a majority vote. But right now, in terms
Speaker 1: of the direction, the thought, leadership, the intentions, I have
Speaker 1: said it, and I will continue nurturing it, and I
Speaker 1: will see it through. You Know, every time I hear
Speaker 1: Robin I start, I think about something that's always kind
Speaker 1: of in the back of my mind as a white person,
Speaker 1: is that I look at this community, Evanston, Illinois, and
Speaker 1: who's committed to give reparations to their black residents. But
Speaker 1: the effort was really driven by this black woman who
Speaker 1: put this whole program together and drove it to the
Speaker 1: mostly white city council. And so I always wonder, if
Speaker 1: we owe this, why aren't we take king the lead
Speaker 1: on it more? But I think what's really interesting about Evanston,
Speaker 1: and something that you and Iraq I've talked a lot about,
Speaker 1: is that what does a world that has had reparations
Speaker 1: pay it look like? And in Evsn, Illinois, in a
Speaker 1: few months, we're going to start to see three black
Speaker 1: women we never met locked together in their destinies. It's
Speaker 1: one long epic put on like the Odyssey or the Mahabarata,
Speaker 1: which I was in and did world tour the public
Speaker 1: theater long ago. But I digress. Anyway, Whitney, let's think
Speaker 1: about that world. But we need to give our history
Speaker 1: lesson the rock and heroes finale it deserves because of
Speaker 1: their work and others. One day we may finally get reparations,
Speaker 1: and what would that be like? The narrative would get
Speaker 1: flipped in a world where reparations exist in America for
Speaker 1: the descendants of African slaves. The human potential lost in
Speaker 1: the white capped, stormy seas, mixed with the blood and
Speaker 1: pain of centuries, is slowly regained and reanimated in the
Speaker 1: multi colored chocolate children who reclaim their destinies and God
Speaker 1: given potential, and ironically, American democracy is saved and finally realized,
Speaker 1: not by a caped, crusading billionaire bat or a greasy
Speaker 1: haired alien with a red s s on his chest,
Speaker 1: but by real life heroes of all colors, previously locked
Speaker 1: into the villain roll, newly free to be the gods
Speaker 1: and earths they were always meant to be. During Alexander
Speaker 1: and Whitney dow as they battle for the soul of
Speaker 1: America in the new action adventure Buckbuster Reparations, The Big
Speaker 1: Payback next time on Reparations, the big payback, to paraphrase W. B.
Speaker 1: Du Boise on the subject of the history of slavery,
Speaker 1: of the exploitation and violence against African Americans in US history,
Speaker 1: American people have been, as he put it, spoiled by sweets. Right,
Speaker 1: so we have too often got a nice nationalist dessert
Speaker 1: with a big old helping of American exceptionalism on top
Speaker 1: and to a large extent, it's not true, and we're
Speaker 1: not going to be able to face the future effectively,
Speaker 1: I think, if we continue to insist that the history
Speaker 1: of slavery and the history of land from Indigenous people
Speaker 1: are not the central realities of the first quarter millennium
Speaker 1: of our history. This podcast is produced by Eric Alexander,
Speaker 1: Ben ar Noon and Whitney Dow. The executive producers are
Speaker 1: Charlemagne the God and Dolly S. Bishop. The Supervising producer
Speaker 1: is Nicole Childers, and the lead producer is Devin Mavock Robbins.
Speaker 1: The producer writer is Sires Castle, and the Associate producer
Speaker 1: is Kevin fan With additional research and writing support provided
Speaker 1: by Nile Blast. Original music by d J D t
Speaker 1: P The Queen Mothermore audio was courtesy of the Tammament
Speaker 1: Library at New York University Reparations The Big Payback as
Speaker 1: a production of Color Farm Media, I Heart Radio and
Speaker 1: The Black Effect Podcast Network in association with Best Case Studios.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I
Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.