{"id":249808,"date":"2026-05-31T18:01:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T18:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/249808\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T18:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T18:01:15","slug":"some-new-yorkers-demand-800k-each-in-reparations-as-state-commission-holds-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/249808\/","title":{"rendered":"Some New Yorkers demand $800K each in reparations as state commission holds hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some Black New Yorkers are demanding\u00a0cash reparations<\/a>\u00a0from the government as state officials consider some form of compensation for slavery or other past racial injustices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need $800,000 for each foundation of Black Americans. That\u2019s simple,\u201d Aubrey Muhammud told\u00a0Fox News Digital. \u201cThat\u2019s \u2014 in New York \u2014 that\u2019s about the cost of living that\u2019ll get you a home or a small business or for you to recover from any financial duress.\u201d<\/p>\n

The New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies held a public hearing last Saturday. The hearing followed up on when Gov.\u00a0Kathy\u00a0Hochul\u00a0<\/a>in 2023 signed a bill for a \u201ccommunity commission to study the history of slavery in New York state\u201d to examine \u201cvarious forms of reparations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Empire State\u00a0joins several other states<\/a>\u00a0and local municipalities looking to issue reparations in some form, compensating Black residents for slavery or other instances of racial injustice. A Chicago suburb \u2014 Evanston, Illinois \u2014 went as far as paying $25,000 in cash to Black residents to address past racial\u00a0housing<\/a>\u00a0discrimination through its program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly grateful that you all came up here today to enjoy and participate and lend your voice to this public hearing. Our theme today is truth before repair,\u201d commissioner Seanelle Hawkins told the audience.<\/p>\n

As the state considers reparations to Black Americans or any other group in some form, some advocates of reparations spoke up about the importance of the identity of foundational Black Americans to be recognized.<\/p>\n

Black New Yorkers are demanding cash reparations as the state considers compensation for past racial injustices. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The public hearing allowed for residents to share their experiences for the commission to gather input for their effort to examine past discriminatory policies and slavery in the United States.<\/p>\n

Many told Fox News Digital what they think reparations should look like.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it should be, me personally, I think there should be a new Freedmen\u2019s Bureau back and that is like a central bank almost to Black America and would be distributed to Black communities,\u201d Rex Burns said.<\/p>\n

Some of the speakers represented \u201cThe United States Freedmen Project,\u201d a group of self-identified \u201cfoundational Black Americans\u201d aiming to inform Americans about the distinctions between African Americans who are descendants of slaves and those who migrated to the country willingly.<\/p>\n

The NY State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies held a hearing; Aubrey Muhammud demanded $800,000 per person. Getty Images<\/p>\n

According to its website, the organization \u201cis a non-partisan organization that seeks to fulfill the abandoned missions of the Freedmen\u2019s Bureau and the Freedmen\u2019s Savings and Trust Company.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Freedmen Project supporters argued that the reparations bill includes language that violates the Constitution. Therefore, state officials should instead base the reparations\u2019 eligibility criteria on \u201clineage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t only be a check, but it should start with a check,\u201d Brooke Lean told Fox News Digital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lean, wearing a shirt promoting the Freedmen Project, told Fox News Digital cash payments need to come first before other forms of reparations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we can start addressing education issues, redlining issues, policing issues, all of these other issues that are badges and incidents of slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Michaelle C. Solages, representing New York\u2019s 22nd District, who helped draft the Reparations Commission legislation, said.<\/p>\n

Advocates like the \u201cUnited States Freedmen Project\u201d argue for lineage-based eligibility, prioritizing cash payments first. Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we\u2019re a collective state. We are many people in one, and it\u2019s important that we hear from New Yorkers,\u201d Solages said. \u201cAnd so our intention when drafting the legislation was for the Commission to hear from the New Yorkers and deliver a report.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some other locals who attended the public hearing identified themselves as \u201cfoundational Black Americans,\u201d explaining to Fox News Digital why cash payments are necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that we are owed a debt,\u201d Caprice Reins said.<\/p>\n

Tanasia Poke said that financial compensation is the only way to achieve \u201ctrue justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been the greatest impact to our community overall, generationally. And so, by policy and finance, it\u2019s how it\u2019s been institutionalized in the first place. It is the way to repair it,\u201d Poke said.
Burns said\u00a0cash payments are important\u00a0because they\u2019re \u201ctangible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s right in front of you,\u201d Burns said. \u201cI\u2019m for community building as well. I don\u2019t want cash to go to the wrong people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some Black New Yorkers are demanding\u00a0cash reparations\u00a0from the government as state officials consider some form of compensation for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[609,426,57,9,11,10,49,51,50,15797,47163,58],"class_list":["post-249808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-government","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-reparations","tag-slavery","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}