{"id":366596,"date":"2026-10-07T05:22:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T05:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/366596\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T05:22:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T05:22:27","slug":"black-education-research-center-to-aid-nyc-policy-recommendations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/366596\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Education Research Center to Aid NYC Policy Recommendations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Scholars from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tc.columbia.edu\/berc\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Black Education Research Center<\/a> (BERC) at Teachers College will help lead research in a year-long <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nyc.gov\/content\/core\/pages\/get-involved\/reparations-truth-and-healing\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">study<\/a> that will examine the historical and contemporary impacts of racial inequities in New York City and offer policy recommendations for consideration. Funded by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nyc.gov\/content\/core\/pages\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">NYC Commission on Racial Equity<\/a> (CORE), the research team includes experts across Black Studies, economics, law and other disciplines who will take a multidisciplinary approach to participatory research that engages communities across the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReparations begins with an honest accounting of the past and the ways its harms continue to shape the lived experiences of Black New Yorkers.\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tc.columbia.edu\/faculty\/sdh2150\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Sonya Douglass<\/a>, BERC\u2019s Founding Director and Professor of Education Leadership. \u201cAs part of this examination of reparations in New York City, BERC will bring community-based participatory action research into conversation with community knowledge to document those harms and inform recommendations for meaningful repair.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Over the next year, BERC researchers will collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data related to \u201cthe impacts of slavery and its legacies in the city of New York using relevant historical and present-day evidence,\u201d contributing to the broader mandate established by Local Laws <a href=\"https:\/\/intro.nyc\/local-laws\/2024-91\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">91<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/intro.nyc\/local-laws\/2024-92\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">92<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Among the researchers working with BERC are: William \u201cSandy\u201d Darity, Jr., Samuel DuBois Cook Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, African and African American Studies, and Economics at Duke University, and a visiting professor at Howard University; Mary T. Bassett, FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health; Tanya K. Hern\u00e1ndez, Archibald R. Murray Professor of Law at the Fordham University School of Law; Linda Tillman, Professor Emerita of Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Rosa Rivera-McCutchen, Professor of Administration and Supervision, Hunter College, and genealogist Kellie Farrish.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis research represents an opportunity to deepen our understanding; honor lived experiences and help shape a more just future for all New Yorkers,\u201d said CORE Chairperson Linda Tigani, who announced the researchers at a community event on Sept. 25, where she and scholar and activist Cornell West discussed the project in a conversation moderated by Emmy award-winning producer Tyrik Washington.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The study\u2019s findings and recommendations will be presented to city officials next summer alongside an implementation plan \u2014 named the \u201cTruth, Healing, and Reconciliation process\u201d \u2014 that will begin in 2028.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>BERC\u2019s participation in CORE\u2019s research study builds on the Center\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tc.columbia.edu\/articles\/2026\/july\/advancing-black-studies-in-nyc-schools-and-beyond\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">groundbreaking work<\/a> to develop and implement the nation\u2019s first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tc.columbia.edu\/berc\/curriculum\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Black Studies curriculum<\/a> in New York City Schools. The initiative \u2014 launched in 2021 in partnership with the New York City Council \u2014 prioritized community-based research and implementation to offer meaningful results. The open-source curriculum, PK-12 lessons designed to expand student knowledge on the African diaspora, has reached more than 2,000 educators and been downloaded more than 30,000 times.<\/p>\n<p>As for their next chapter, Douglass observed, \u201cThis study is an opportunity to turn historical understanding and community priorities into concrete recommendations for redress and racial justice. Our goal is to give New York City a clear foundation for action with practical steps, meaningful accountability, and lasting benefits that address longstanding harms to Black New Yorkers and strengthen the city as a whole.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                &#13;<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-date\">Published Tuesday, Oct 6, 2026<\/p>\n<p>                &#13;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; Scholars from the Black Education Research Center (BERC) at Teachers College will help lead research in a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":["post-366596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366596","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=366596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}