Reparations Daily (ish) Vol. 85
The First Ever Commission to Examine Lynching & Racial Terror: A Conversation w/ Dr. David Fakunle
Happy Wednesday!
It’s been an eventful few weeks since our last edition.
Bill Russell, an 11-time NBA, and racial justice champion passed away.
Asheville’s Community Reparations Commission met for the fifth time as they try to figure out how to spend the $4.5 million they’ve set aside for a reparations program.
Florida Gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried said she would support a similar reparations bill as the one passed in California if she was elected.
The Pope paid a visit to Canada, where he apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in separating more than 150,000 Indigenous children from their families through the residential school program, in what the Canada Truth and Reconciliation Commission has called “cultural genocide.”
Raul Perez, a sociologist, wrote a new book called ‘The Souls of White Jokes,’ which explains how racist humor strengthens white supremacy.
A relatively new white nationalist group, the Patriot Front, is terrorizing people in Boston.
Airbnb apologized for allowing people to stay in former quarters for enslaved people on a Mississippi plantation.
A Black Wisconsin family took a school district to court over an assignment that asked their child how they would “punish a slave in ancient Mesopotamia.” The parents lost.
A few months ago, I had the pleasure to sit down with Dr. David Olawuyi Fakunle, who is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida, Chair of the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and a “mercenary for change.” Our conversation is featured in today’s Q&A section.
With radical love,
Trevor
National News
ABC: College campuses see growing reparations movement
Washington Post: Patriot Front is on the march. It’s selling a story about whiteness.
NBC: School’s slavery punishment assignment doesn’t violate rights
Fortune: Airbnb apologizes for ‘slave cabin’ listing after being called out on TikTok video
NBC News: How the backlash to 'woke' culture has made a way for racist humor to thrive
Politico: ‘I mean you no harm’: From troubled teen to neo-Nazi foot soldier
Forbes: Dear Sesame Place: Here Are Three Ways To Actually Address Racist Practices
Education Week: Backlash, Hostility, and Safety Fears: What It’s Like to Be a Chief Equity Officer in the Anti-CRT Era
NBC News: After a Texas school shooting, conservatives blamed ‘woke’ programs once approved by Republicans
The New Yorker: When Tribal Nations Expel Their Black Members
Newsweek: A Growing Number of Religious Groups Are Developing Reparations Programs for Black Americans
The Guardian: Could the US highways that split communities on racial lines finally fall?
Texas Tribune: Author of “critical race theory” ban says Texas schools can still teach about racism
Yahoo News!: Why is critical race theory so threatening to white people?
MSNBC: Oklahoma uses racist education law to punish schools for offending white people
The Hechinger Report: Why the narrative that critical race theory ‘makes white kids feel guilty’ is a lie
NPR: As a racial justice activist, NBA great Bill Russell was a legend off the court
Regional News
ACLU: California's Fight for Reparations
Rochester Beacon: Reparations. Finally.
KQED: Why Cleaning Up Bayview-Hunters Point is an Issue of Reparations
Denver 7: Individual churches using reparations to address past ties to slavery
WTTW: New DePaul Art Exhibit Explores State Violence and Reparations
Tallahasse Reports: Nikki Fried Announces Support of a Reparations Bill in Florida If Elected Governor
Washington Post: How researchers preserved the oral histories of formerly enslaved Virginians
Madison News: Judge dismisses lawsuit that aimed to return Confederate monuments to Madison cemetery
New York State Senate: As the Proud Boys move into Long Island, an anti-racism group fights back
Gothamist: Murphy promised social justice for NJ residents of color. Has he done enough?
Blue Ridge Public Radio: Asheville Buncombe Reparations Commission unpacks the issue that brought them all together, and waits to hear about their budget recommendation
WLOS: No concrete spending plan 2 years after Asheville, Buncombe reparations votes
Moguldom: Will Florida Follow The California Reparations Task Force Model? Candidate For Governor Says Yes
WITF: A councilman in Reading wants the city to implement reparations for slavery
Now This News: CA Beach Returned to Black Family After 100 Years in “Property-Based Reparations”
WGBH: Massachusetts close to banning natural hair discrimination
News Advance: King George's Confederate monument may move in September
The Post and Courier: Statue honoring Confederate-era leader going on public display in SC county
The Virginian-Pilot: Youngkin’s pick for Historic Resources Board under fire for defending the Confederacy
International News
PBS: Pope’s apology to Indigenous peoples for abuse at residential schools insufficient, Canada says
CBC: On Emancipation Day, a call for an apology, reparations
Toronto Star: Catholic Church should make reparations to Canada’s Indigenous communities in the same manner as Germany
Politico: Europe’s far right and the new racist normal
Q&A
The following conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Trevor: If you could start by telling me your name, your pronouns, and your story. How did you arrive at this point to serve as one of the Commissioners on this lynching Commission?
Dr. Fakunle: I'm Dr. David Fakunle; my pronouns are he/him/his. At the core of it, I'm a storyteller, and a lot goes into that. So I'll provide some details.
My connection with the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission comes from my lifelong association with the National Great Blacks In Wax Museum in Baltimore. It was founded by my Godparents Dr. Joanne Martin in the late Dr. Elmer Martin. I've always known that Black people can be intelligent, philosophical, and intellectual because my godparents both have a Ph.D. That whole notion of achieving the highest educational attainment was just something I grew up around. Both my parents were educated, and they both have master's degrees.
The museum specifically was where I learned about my Blackness and all that goes into being Black. Not just that we were enslaved, or just the civil rights movement, but everything that encompasses the African diaspora. Growing up around all that is a resource, an asset, and a weapon for good that I've been able to utilize much of my life. I got introduced to African drumming, African dance, and storytelling because of the National Great Blacks In Wax Museum. A lot of those skills are what make me stand out in the world today. I think more than anything else, what I bring to the Commission — is the importance of storytelling.
This is a story that is not pleasant or fun. Quite the contrary, it's heinous, inhumane, and barbaric, but it's a part of the history of the state of Maryland. It is a part of the history of the United States of America.
Trevor: Right. I love that. Thank you for that answer. And you are definitely a storyteller. What are some of the goals of the Commission, and what are some of the goals of the committees, and the committee you’re specifically on, the reconciliation committee?
Dr. Fakunle: So, one thing I’ll say to preface all this is that our official title is the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission. However, I have the support of my fellow Commissioners to say that there's nothing that we want to reconcile when it comes to the legacy of racial terror lynchings in this state in the United States of America.
We know that this relationship between people of African descent and this country, including the State of Maryland, has been, pardon my French, fucked up the entire time.
So it is about bringing healing, first and foremost, to the descendants of racial terror lynchings victims. Many of them have had their story suppressed, and many live in parts of the state where they can't be vocal about the injustice that has happened to their ancestors or even to them.
We want to be a platform for them to tell their story and share their truth. We've had one hearing session so far that happened last October in Allegheny County. We had the descendants of one of the confirmed racial terror lynchings victims in Allegheny County tell the story of their ancestors. They told the story about the fact that he never had the opportunity to live a full life and that his life was snatched away from him simply because he was Black. And that was important. That was important for them to have that space to share their truth. So that's what we want to bring.
We also want to bring healing to the communities affected by racial terror lynchings. We acknowledge that racial terror lynchings were part of a larger tapestry of oppression, much of which was undoubtedly racially motivated, but there was an economic component to it as well. There are neighborhoods and communities that were occupied by Black people in particular that were wiped off the map, literally wiped off the map,
So anything that we can do to honor the legacy of Black communities that were terrorized, not just by the lynchings, but again, the overall oppression that was inflicted — we want to do that, too.
On the reconciliation committee, which I’m on, we even flip-flopped with that name because it’s more of a healing and justice committee. So we are asking ourselves, what can we do to bring healing? What can we do to get justice? We can’t bring the victims back — they’re long gone. We can prosecute those we may find guilty, but they’re gone too. So it's all posthumous.
What can we do for the descendants? And what can we do for the communities and neighborhoods? We're still trying to figure that out. But we know that there has to be a reform of education. People need to know the story.
Trevor: To me, it sounds like when you were talking about justice, you were also talking about repair. How do you think this Commission fits into the larger conversation around reparations for Black Americans in the United States?
Dr. Fakunle: So yes, I'll make it very blunt. Yes, reparations have come up. Yes, reparations are on the table. I will say specifically when we got the $300,000 from the Department of Justice from the Emmett Till Cold Case program; we wanted to allocate 1/3 of that money for reparations. The DOJ felt some way about that.
So, we have made it known that to repair, there has to be an economic component to all of this. And we will not ignore that. Now we don't have the billions of dollars that could repair the economic damage that has been done. But it has to start somewhere.
So yes, it does fit within the slowly but surely growing movement around reparations, specifically for Black people in the United States of America. That's something that we want to continue and take to whatever level we can with whatever resources and assets we can acquire during our time.
At the very least, within our recommendations that we have to give to the Governor of Maryland and the Maryland General Assembly, I have no reason to doubt that reparations will be part of those recommendations.
Again, it's about drawing a line in the sand. We're not going to sugarcoat any of this; we're not going to tiptoe around this. We use whatever leverage we have, and talking to you, Trevor, is leverage — getting the word out, and we have to be able to talk to many people about what we do.
Trevor: Can you talk a little bit about the symbolic nature of the Commission? This is a first-of-its-kind type of Commission correct?
Dr. Fakunle: Well, it's a historic moment. And like you said, this is the first and only of its kind in the United States, and we recognize that, and that's why we have to do an exceptional job. We know that many more states outside of Maryland need something like this.
It took me a second to sit back and appreciate what I've been called to do. I've been on bodies before, but this one is legacy-defining, and I think that's the biggest difference between this and a lot of the other work I've done.
I've done many good things in my life and many memorable things in my life, but I'm okay with saying that this is probably the most important thing I'll ever do in my life.
I want people to remember that I did the best I could, was learning on the job, and was unapologetic about declaring the humanity of the people whose lives were taken.
This is the state that produced Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Thurgood Marshall. This is a state of legends and fighters of people who say, nah. Folks who said nah to racism, nah to oppression, nah to dehumanization.
I hope I'm remembered for what I did for the world. Maryland is my home, Baltimore is my home, and I love this place. I know it’s got problems. I've seen plenty of them. So there's always work to be done. There will be generations after me that will continue this work. And I want to make sure I set a place for them at this table as best I can.
Trevor: We’re still seeing lynchings. I think George Floyd is the most prominent example, but so many people are still being lynched today. What is the state of modern-day lynchings, and how do we reckon with that?
Dr. Fakunle: Yes, George Floyd was lynched. The Commission has said that. Freddie Gray was lynched, and we have said that as well. Now more of us, the people, know this is happening. I thank George Floyd for lasting as long as he did. For him, Freddie Gray, and I can name a bunch more, unfortunately. Their lives were not lost in vain.
We watched a man die. That is going to mess with you. It should mess with you. We saw all of the components of a lynching: the accusation, lack of judicial process, and the execution. So much of our work was boosted because of that. It has given us an undisputed marker demonstrating that racial terrorism still exists in this country. If the death of George Floyd upsets you, then folks should be just as upset about the history we are telling you.
Trevor: Last question. What do reparations mean to you?
Dr. Fakunle: Well, they could never give me enough money. For Black people, I want them to have land, transportation, education, financial compensation, and no taxes. If you give Black people those things, I think we could figure some things out. It might not cover everything, but it would cover a lot.