The predominantly Black Fifth Ward in Evanston, Ill. The Chicago suburb is preparing to pay reparations in the form of housing grants to Black residents who experienced housing discrimination. (AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar)
By Chanelle Chandler, Yahoo! News, July 13, 2023
As talk of reparations ripples through the federal and local governments nationwide, Evanston, Ill., has become the first city in the United States to put money in the hands of Black residents affected by years of discrimination.
“I’m excited to see that over 100 municipalities have followed in their inspiration and what's happened in Evanston. We all look forward to seeing more legislation put into law and then into practice, and then disbursed,” Robin Rue Simmons, the founder and executive director of First Repair and chairperson of the city’s reparations committee, told Yahoo News.
Simmons, a former alderwoman in Evanston, which has a 16% Black population and is located about 12 miles north of Chicago, has been a pioneer in bringing reparations to one of the Black communities affected by the aftermath of slavery in the United States.
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