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Task Force on Reparations

The task force will help the Mayor and the City of Boston on healing racial inequities for descendants of slavery.

Watch: Reparations Task Force Announcement

About the Task Force

The commission was established through a 2022 City Council ordinance and appointed by Mayor Wu. The task force is made up of ten members, including two youth voices.

The Task Force on Reparations will focus on:

  1. Working with a research partner to release a study on the legacy of slavery in Boston and its impact on descendants today
  2. Engaging the community throughout the process to include input from lived experience
  3. Providing recommendations to the Mayor for reparative justice solutions for Black residents

Timeline

Timeline outlining the three phases of the Reparation Task Force's work.

Phase 1

Working with research partners to study and document the City of Boston’s role in the transatlantic slave trade and its legacies

Phase 2

Assessing the City’s actions to date to address continued impacts of enslavement

Phase 3

Recommendations for truth, reconciliation, and reparations addressing the City’s involvement with the transatlantic slave trade

Meetings and Events

Meetings and Events

Request for Proposals

The Task Force on Reparations is looking for a research partner to study the lasting impact of slavery in Boston.

Congressional Bill That Started It All

H.R.40 — 117th Congress (2021-2022)

This bill establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. The commission examines slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present. It also recommends appropriate remedies. The commission identifies:

  1. the role of the federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery
  2. forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their descendants, and
  3. lingering negative effects of slavery on living African Americans and society.

Read the full bill

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