Commission on Reparations Needs More Time to Complete Mission

In December 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law creating the nine-member Community Commission on Reparations Remedies. It’s tasked with investigating ways of compensating the descendants of enslaved people for historical injustices.

From The New York Public News Network, WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports the panel is asking for more time to complete its mission.
The first enslaved Africans arrived in New York in 1627. Now, almost 400 years later, the state is still struggling to make amends with its past as it moves toward being a kinder, more equitable society. The commission held its third public hearing in Albany February 15.

Seanelle Hawkins serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Urban League of Rochester and chairs the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies. The body is to create a final report for state leaders by July.

The panel soon discovered the enormity of that task. “We have hired our executive director, and we’re really proud of that, but that began in January, and we know that this work is going to take us much time to do it,” said Hawkins. “We want to make sure that we present to the governor, the bill sponsors, the legislature, we want to ensure that we send them a quality report, and that’s going to take time, because we have to ensure that we hear your voices, that we take the time to do the research. We work with our historians, we look at our policy analysts, and look at the policies and also an economic view, and that’s going to take us some time. We believe, as a commission, it’s going to take us about 18 months. So we produced a letter to the legislative body to let them know that we would like, we’re requesting, we’ve actually produced it to the governor that we would like an extension for about 18 months.”

WAMC has requested comment from the governor’s office about the extension.

Hawkins says although the commission has been filling open positions, it is still looking for a historian, a research and policy analyst and an audio visual streaming services consultant.

Pamela Stewart-Martinez spoke during the meeting’s public comment period. She suggested reparations be used to address environmental injustices caused by historical and systemic racism.

“I would like to see direct funding for environmental health cleanups, many of the communities, especially in Harlem, South Bronx and Brooklyn, have suffered from high levels of air pollution, lead poisoning and in some cases, water contamination, and that’s due to facilities like industrial facilities in our communities, highways cutting through our communities, such as the Cross Bronx Expressway. Reparations could help it by expanding green spaces in those communities, which would reduce diesel admissions,” said Stewart-Martinez.

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins praises the commission’s work, saying it will play a key role in telling the story of slavery and its impacts in New York.

“I almost never speak on Black history because I have so many members who have so much that they want to say, and I generally speak about Dr. King and then black history when it rolls out,” Stewart-Cousins said. “But I felt compelled this year because of where we are. Because of people who absolutely want to deny or erase reality. So as that is happening, sadly in so many places in the nation, I’m very happy that we are leading again in terms of telling the story, in terms of looking at the impacts, and looking at how we can create the kind of future that acknowledges, not hides, our past. And ensures better for us as New Yorkers and hopefully nationally.”

The session ended with a call for more community input. Hawkins encourages members of the public to not only attend upcoming meetings, but testify as to what they believe the commission should be working on, and suggest opportunities for remedies of the harms of slavery.

The next public hearing is in Rochester in March, followed by monthly meetings including in Utica on May 6 and Albany June 10.

Image: Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie announced their appointments to the Community Commission on Reparations Remedies in February 2024). (Credit: office of the Governor Kathy Hochul/reparationscomm.org)