St. Louis moved to the forefront of American cities when Mayor Tishaura O. Jones signed an executive order establishing a Reparations Commission in December 2022.
On March 9, the Commission’s historic first members were sworn in at Jones’ office.
“St. Louis has always been a leader on civil rights, and we have the unique opportunity to address the damage that decades of racism and disinvestment have done to Black neighborhoods across our city,” Jones said.
“The Commission’s work is essential as we acknowledge the history of racial injustice in our city, work to rectify them, and build a better, fairer St. Louis for every family.”
The volunteer commission will analyze the history of race-based harms in the city and reveal the modern manifestations of injustice. It will offer recommendations for methods to develop and implement reparations for Black St. Louisans and the descendants of enslaved peoples.
The Commission consists of nine members, and all reside in the city of St. Louis. The members represent different backgrounds, including civil rights advocates, clergy members, attorneys, academics, public health professionals, and youth.
The Commission’s members are:
-
Will Ross, associate dean for Diversity at Washington University School of Medicine and professor of medicine in the Nephrology DivisionÂ
-
Delesha N. George, program manager at Deaconess Foundation
-
Kayla Reed, co-founder and executive director of Action St. LouisÂ
-
William Foster, city resident and external audit generalist at PriceWaterHouseCoopersÂ
-
Gwen Moore, historian and curator of Urban Landscape and Community Identity
-
Kevin Anthony, bridge pastor at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ
-
David Cunningham, professor and chair of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis
-
Jada Brooks, a Communications student at Harris-Stowe University
-
Kimberly Hicks Franks, attorney, activist, and board member of Dutchtown South Community Corporation
“I am honored to be appointed by Mayor Tishaura Jones to the City’s Reparations Commission,” said Commissioner Delesha N. George.
“I look forward to working with my fellow commissioners to promote restorative justice and identify opportunities to bring reparations to the people of St. Louis.”
A myriad of health and social justice studies show that residents are subjected to racial disparities in their neighborhoods. Black residents in the City of St. Louis are more likely than white residents to live in low-opportunity environments, in concentrated areas of poverty, and in areas with low access to healthy food.
In addition, residents of majority Black neighborhoods are more likely to live in neighborhoods suffering from disinvestment.
St. Louis is one of many cities nationwide, including Mayor Jones joined the Mayors Organizing for Reparations and Equity (MORE) Coalition in 2021, an organization dedicated to analyzing best practices and approaches toward pursuing reparations initiatives.
San Francisco could become the first major US city to fund reparations, under a plan that would award a suggested guaranteed annual income of $97,000 for eligible recipients and homes in San Francisco for $1 a family.
The city’s Board of Supervisors has begun considering the recommendations.
The committee’s draft proposal, first released in December, outlines more than 100 suggestions and is widely viewed as the most detailed policy effort yet on the controversial issue of reparations.
Supporters of the plan say it is needed to redress the legacy of America’s history of slavery and racist policies, which they say have disproportionately harmed Black Americans in terms of poverty, poor health, incarceration and lower economic status.
Jones called the commission her administration’s “latest effort for advancing racial justice and addressing the toll racism has taken on Black neighborhoods by exploring opportunities to provide St. Louisans reparations at the local level.”
The commission will hold its first meeting within 45 days.
