Submitted by the Black United Fund of Illinois
The Big Payback, a documentary chronicling the historic push for reparations in the City of Evanston and nationally for reparations bill H.R. 40, will be presented in Chicago on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 5:00 p.m. at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, 740 E. 56th Place. The event is sponsored by Black United Fund of Illinois in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation and Reparations United.
The documentary follows former Evanston Council Member Robin Rue Simmons’ work to obtain the passage of the $10 million reparations bill and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee’s continued fight to pass H.R. 40. While serving as a City Council Member, Robin Rue Simmons introduced the idea to the City of Evanston in 2019. When it was approved last year, it was considered the country’s first reparations program.
“The Restorative Housing Reparations Program was created to remedy some of the harm caused by the city’s historical anti-Black housing policies,” said Rue Simmons.
It has been more than 30 years since the late U.S. Congressman John Conyers first introduced H.R. 40 to study reparations for descendants of enslaved people. Every Congress since 1989 has failed to pass the bill. H.R. 40 proposes the creation of a federal commission to study reparations and recommend remedies for the harm caused by slavery and the discriminatory policies that followed abolition.
While Congress languished on addressing the wrongs inflicted on generations of slave descendants, Evanston became the first U.S. city to make reparations available to its Black residents for past discrimination and the lingering effects of slavery.
The film’s co-directors, actress Erica Alexander and award-winning documentary filmmaker Whitney Dow, will be in attendance, along with Robin Rue Simmons and Kamm Howard of Reparations United, for a conversation after the airing of the film.
The Black United Fund of Illinois’ Executive Director Carolyn Day said “BUFI is proud to be a key sponsor of this important film and we feel strongly that all African Americans should be more aware of the issues surrounding reparations and HR40 and whether there is a role they can/should play in its passage.”
“Black Americans cannot wait for another generation, cannot wait for another administration, and certainly cannot wait until after another midterm election in order to engage in repair,” said Howard.
“This nation’s salvation lies in the righting of historic and contemporary wrongs committed against Black people in America,” he added. “Without our vote, America will sink deeper into an amoral, unjust, ultra-tribal system of escalating hatred and violence as we are experiencing this very moment.”
You can see and hear the makers of the documentary along with Co-Executive Producer Joy Reid, host of MSNBC’s The ReidOut, on this trailblazing project here.
The event is free, but registration is required. To register go to: Chicago Community Screening of the documentary, The Big Payback | Eventnoire