ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, on Wednesday, signed an executive order to create a commission to explore and recommend reparations for the City of St. Louis.
According to a news release from Mayor Jones' office, all representatives in the nine-member volunteer commission must live in St. Louis city limits. Each member must represent different backgrounds, including at least one clergy member, attorney, public health professional, civil rights advocate, one youth and one person in academics.
“The people closest to the problems are closest to the solution,” Jones said in the release. “I look forward to reviewing this commission’s work to chart a course that restores the vitality of Black communities in our city after decades of disinvestment. We cannot succeed as a city if one half is allowed to fail.”
According to the executive order's language, the committee will be "Establishing a community-driven commission to assess the history of slavery, segregation and other race-based harms in the City of St. Louis; explore the present-day manifestations of that history; and, ultimately, recommend a proposal to begin repairing the harms that have been inflicted."
Jones, a member of the Mayors Organizing for Reparations and Equity (MORE) Coalition, has explored best practices and aligned goals around reparations with other mayors across the United States, the release said.
According to the release, the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America defines reparations as "a process of repairing, healing and restoring a people injured because of their group identity and in violation of their fundamental human rights by governments, corporations, institutions and families.”
To apply to serve on the commission, click here.
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