VTMBH Article: Body
Recently, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) took time out from his busy schedule on Capital Hill to join lawmakers for a public hearing on a reparations resolution before the New York City Council.
Sponsored by Councilmen Bill Perkins and Charles Baron, the measure seeks to institute laws that would allow opportunities for reparations for those who were negatively impacted by the slavery system in New York.
This bill acknowledges that by the enactment of laws that sanctioned mass torture, kidnapping and the forced abandonment of children, the New York state government contributed to the violation of fundamental human rights of African people.
A similar measure is being pushed in the state Legislature in Albany, sponsored by the Black, Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caucus.
Assemblyman Roger Green, who heads the caucus, explained that the bill would compel the state government to formally apologize and atone for its role in the perpetuation of the slave trade.
Meanwhile, the City Hall hearing marked the first time in the Big Apple that any city or state legislative body has met to discuss the issue of reparations. Two other resolutions are also under consideration before the council.
Introduced by Baron, one of the resolutions call for declaring March 21 Reparations Awareness Day in recognition of the transatlantic slave trade and the institution of slavery as crimes against humanity.
The second resolution calls on the City Council to declare its support for class action plaintiffs in their effort to seek restitution in federal court from corporations that are alleged to have participated in and profited from the slave trade.
Barron said these ongoing hearings would provide the perfect forum to begin public discourse on New York Citys historical participation in the greatest crime committed against humanity, the transatlantic slave trade.
We are at a time in which the city of New York can be on the right side of history and be at the forefront of a movement that is sweeping the globe, he added.
Sponsored by Councilmen Bill Perkins and Charles Baron, the measure seeks to institute laws that would allow opportunities for reparations for those who were negatively impacted by the slavery system in New York.
This bill acknowledges that by the enactment of laws that sanctioned mass torture, kidnapping and the forced abandonment of children, the New York state government contributed to the violation of fundamental human rights of African people.
A similar measure is being pushed in the state Legislature in Albany, sponsored by the Black, Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caucus.
Assemblyman Roger Green, who heads the caucus, explained that the bill would compel the state government to formally apologize and atone for its role in the perpetuation of the slave trade.
Meanwhile, the City Hall hearing marked the first time in the Big Apple that any city or state legislative body has met to discuss the issue of reparations. Two other resolutions are also under consideration before the council.
Introduced by Baron, one of the resolutions call for declaring March 21 Reparations Awareness Day in recognition of the transatlantic slave trade and the institution of slavery as crimes against humanity.
The second resolution calls on the City Council to declare its support for class action plaintiffs in their effort to seek restitution in federal court from corporations that are alleged to have participated in and profited from the slave trade.
Barron said these ongoing hearings would provide the perfect forum to begin public discourse on New York Citys historical participation in the greatest crime committed against humanity, the transatlantic slave trade.
We are at a time in which the city of New York can be on the right side of history and be at the forefront of a movement that is sweeping the globe, he added.