Marking the one year anniversary of a local group’s collaborative meeting to coalesce effort, activities and energy towards reparations for the descendants of African slaves in this country, Rev. Dr. Richard “MeriKaRa” Byrd, Sr. minister of the KRST Unity Center of AfRaKan Spiritual Sciences, hosted a Reparations Town Hall Meeting where over 50 community activists and pro-reparations advocates discussed the current status of the reparations movement.

The town hall meeting, broadly covered on local radio community affairs programs was hosted by community mouthpiece Mollie Bell, whose frequent calls to 102.3 FM, KJLH Radio’s early morning talk show, “Front Page,” has been instrumental in keeping the idea of reparations on the minds of KJLH listeners by always beginning her commentary with the phrase, “reparations in memory of our ancestors.”

The town hall program featured a free exchange of comments, questions and ideas from the participants as well as presentations from Dr. David Horne, associated with the Reparations United Front (RUF) who provided an update on the African Union (AU) Community Council of Elders and the Town Hall Meeting in August.

In addition, presentations were also delivered by Morris “Big Money” Griffin, representing the National Coalition for Reparations and Economic Wealth (NCREW), John Gardner, David Brown, James W. Clark, Taylor Mayfield, Mary Randall and John Peoples. Bell served as program moderator.

As the reparations movement appears to be making small gains throughout the nation, reparations activists are encouraged by the growth in understanding of the reason for reparations among a broader cross-section of Blacks as well as the political awareness and specific actions on the part of an increasing number of Black elected officials, locally and domestically.

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