2026 Panel on Reparations: Confronting Histories of Racial Harm in Chicago and Illinois

Date of event: September 24, 2026 In the last decade, there have been multiple efforts across Chicago and Illinois to undertake reparations for racial harm, including work to document the history and extent of the harm, to address and repair harm done, and to make payments to harmed communities and individuals. These efforts have ranged widely including organizing in Chicago on behalf of the Burge Torture Survivors, in Evanston to address long histories of discrimination in housing, arts/activism related efforts to address the history and present harm of land sale contracts in the Englewood neighborhood in Chicago, and the State of Illinois’ legislative creation of new African Descendants Citizens Reparations Committee. This panel event examined what we can learn from some of the Chicago and Illinois efforts, and featured 4 expert speakers: N'Nanba (FirstRepair), Amber S Hendley (Black Reparations Study), Joey Mogul (Chicago Torture Justice Memorials), and Terrion Williamson (Social Justice Initiative).