Calls for reparations were heard from a group of black organizers wearing orange shirts reading “Compensation Now! We have way more than 40 acres and a mule” as they marched down California Avenue to the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention (DNC) is taking place this week.
“What do we want? Reparations! And when do we want it? Now!” the demonstrators chanted on Wednesday morning.
Gregory Mann serves as the action’s “hype man.” Mann is the organizing minister for the West Side-based nonprofit Equity and Transformation (EAT), which is run by former inmates. The organization is leading the “Keep it 1000 Campaign,” a call for reparations for Black Americans on the third day of the DNC.
Mann leads participants from the group’s West Side Center to a location near the United Center, specifically with the goal of directing President Joe Biden to establish a federal commission on reparations before he leaves office. According to the EAT’s press release, a federal commission would “develop proposals on how the U.S. government can fully compensate black Americans.” The action is also a call to take action against the HR 40 billthe “Commission to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans”, that has been stuck in the House of Representatives for years.
The call is a continuation of other demands that have called for the U.S. government to redress not only slavery, but also discriminatory practices against blacks such as redlining and mass incarceration. Earlier this summer, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed a new executive order that sets up a task force for reparations to create a reparations program for blacks in Chicago.
Getting to Wednesday’s march required a lot of manpower. EAT began canvassing in February, knocking on people’s doors to get at least 1,000 people on the streets during the action, said EAT founder Richard Wallace. The TRiiBE.
“We had to make 5,000 contacts to get 1,000 people to turn out. For the last four months, our members have been surveying the West Side community and educating people that the DNC was coming and what the DNC was,” Wallace said.
