New York’s reparations commission is set to hold its third meeting on Tuesday, with sessions in both New Rochelle and Syracuse. This meeting marks a step in the panel’s mission to investigate the lasting impacts of slavery and discrimination on Black New Yorkers and to recommend potential solutions.
The meeting will be webcast, as the nine appointees on the panel come from across the state. Three members will gather in each location. The goal of the session is to outline the steps for conducting the study, which is expected to last nine months and has been funded with $5 million from this year’s state budget.
New York is the second state, following California, to form a commission dedicated to exploring reparations for Black Americans. Various cities have also considered similar initiatives. Last month, the New York City Council voted for the city’s Commission on Racial Equity to propose recommendations by 2027, working alongside the state’s reparations panel.
Public Participation
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. and will be available online. The public is welcome to attend at either location and participate in a comment session at the end of the meeting. The physical venues are the Remington Clubhouse of the Boys & Girls Club in New Rochelle, Westchester County, and Coulter Hall at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse.
Commission Background
Officially known as the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies, the group has already held two prior meetings in Albany, on July 30 and August 27. Created by legislation signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in December, the commission has a mandate to complete a report with recommendations within a year of its first session.
Commission Members
The commission includes leaders from nonprofit organizations, scholars, a representative from the NAACP, a state official, and a faith leader. The members were appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
Seanelle Hawkins, president and CEO of the Urban League of Rochester, was chosen as the chairperson of the commission during its first meeting in July. One notable member is Linda Tarrant-Reid, an author and nonprofit leader from New Rochelle, who has spent two decades studying and writing about Black history. Tarrant-Reid was appointed as the commission’s secretary and discussed the panel’s upcoming work and potential remedies in an interview with the USA Today Network earlier this year. Source: lohud.
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