About
The Philadelphia Reparations Task Force exists to identify, study, and offer remedies to the harms facing the descendants of enslaved Africans in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Reparations Task Force will produce a final report to present the Task Force’s research findings and policy recommendations from the descendant group to the Philadelphia Mayor and City Council. The reparations recommendations and proposals will detail methods to repair the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow through public policies that should be legislated to guarantee reparations.
History
As co-chairs of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA PHL), Breanna Moore and Rashaun Williams advocated for the creation of The Philadelphia Reparations Task Force by drafting a resolution, lobbying Philadelphia City Council Members, and organizing public events to garner support for reparations for Black Philadelphians. On January 19, 2023, N'COBRA PHL held a press conference calling for the city to establish a Philadelphia Reparations Taskforce and enforce the Philadelphia Slavery Era Business/Corporate Insurance Disclosure and Financial Reparations law.
After meeting with and receiving support from Council Members Helen Gym and Mark Squilla, Moore and Williams partnered with Council Member Jamie Gauthier to finalize the resolution of establish the Philadelphia Reparations Task Force. On June 15, 2023, Councilmembers Jamie Gauthier and Kendra Brooks co-introduced the resolution to City Council to establish a Philadelphia Reparations Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposal for Black Philadelphian Descendants of Enslaved Africans in the United States. On June 22, 2023, The Philadelphia City Council unanimously voted to pass a resolution “Authorizing the creation of the Philadelphia Reparations Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for Black Philadelphian Descendants of Enslaved Africans in the United States.”
On November 15, 2023, Philadelphia Reparations Task Force co-chairs announced the structure of the Philadelphia Reparations Task Force and invited Black Philadelphia to apply.
On May 21, 2024, The Philadelphia Reparations Task Force officially launched and held its first public listening session.
Resolution
Members
Breanna Moore, Chair
Breanna is a Ph.D. History candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include the transAtlantic slave trade, slavery, slave trade abolition, and reparations in the African diaspora. Breanna is a research consultant for the New Jersey Reparations Council. She has held fellowships at The United Nations OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) Programme for People of African Descent and the International Center for Transitional Justice. Breanna holds a B.A. in International Relations and African Studies from University of Pennsylvania.
Cara McClellan, Criminal and Legal Justice Coordinator
Cara McClellan is the Founding Director and Practice Associate Professor of the Advocacy for Racial and Civil (ARC) Justice Clinic at Penn Carey Law School, which provides students with hands-on experience working in civil rights litigation and policy advocacy around systemic racism. McClellan joins the Law School from her position as Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., where her work focused on increasing education equity and ending the criminalization of Black people. She gained litigation experience as the lead counsel on several cases, including Smith v. City of Philadelphia, challenging the Philadelphia Police Department’s use of military-style weapons against protesters, residents, and bystanders in West Philadelphia. McClellan has also represented students and families in school desegregation cases and students and alumni as amici in SFFA v. Harvard, defending Harvard’s affirmative action admissions policy. She is the author of numerous law review articles and is a frequent media commentator on issues of civil rights. A Philadelphia native, McClellan graduated from Central High School and spent two years teaching middle school in Philadelphia with Teach for America. McClellan earned her undergraduate degree from Yale, an MSEd from Penn’s Graduate School of Education, and a JD from Yale Law School. Following law school, she served as a federal judicial law clerk.
Ayanna Walker, Education Coordinator
Ayanna Stephens (Walker) is a Philadelphia native and mother of three children who was chosen by God to serve children. She is currently the Principal at The Workshop School, a project-based learning high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here she leads an amazing group of educators who provide amazing learning experiences for amazing young people. Ayanna has been an educator in the Philadelphia school system for 23 years, serving hundreds of students and teachers. She believes that the greatest teacher is a student first and is also a lifelong learner. Ayanna earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics and Master of Education degree from Lincoln University of PA., School Administration certification from Temple University, STEM professional development certification from NASA and the University of Columbia, PBL leadership certification from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership at Grand Canyon University. Ayanna’s love for education continues to shape her life, her community and the world.
Dominique London, Urban Planning and Sustainable Development Coordinator
Dominique London is a multi-disciplinary artist and organizer from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a songwriter, performer, and photographer. She has written music for Netflix, and Hulu and is streaming on the world-famous wake-up show on Sirius satellite radio. Dominique received her formal education from Rosemont College, where she received a bachelor’s degree in English literature and communication. She also holds a master’s degree from Temple University in City and Regional Planning and is pursuing a second master’s in Ayurvedic and integrative medicine. After being displaced from her Wynnefield home in the Penn Wynn Apartments, Dominique organized with her community to create housing legislation in Philadelphia; eviction sealing which passed in the City Council in October 2020. Dominique currently serves as Executive Director for UC Green, the largest and oldest tree tender group in Philadelphia. In her spare time, she stewards her community garden in Cobbs Creek, left by her grandmother, and holds volunteer days for neighbors looking to grow fresh produce.
Dr. Ikemba Ojore, History Coordinator
Dr. Ikemba Ojore is an Assistant Professor and Deputy Chair at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. His research focuses on the transnational relationship between Americans and Sierra Leoneans, with particular emphasis on the influence of American education on the African continent. He holds a doctoral degree in history from St. John’s University and has published a dissertation titled “American Mission Schools and the Albert Academy School for Boys: Roots and Legacy of Colonial Education.” Apart from academia, Dr. Ikemba is actively involved in community organizing and political activism, contributing to organizations such as the AKERELE Leadership Academy, Regeneration180, and InPDUM.
Jackie Newsome, Law and Policy Coordinator
Rev. Jacqueline (Jackie) Newsome, Esq. moved to Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 2019 after earning her Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. Prior to attending Emory University, Rev. Jackie earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in politics from New York University and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from The University of Chicago Law School. Rev. Jackie is a licensed attorney, liberation and womanist theologian, and prison and police abolitionist. Rev. Jackie knows that her unique academic and work experience at the intersection of faith and law will serve her well as the Reparations Task Force Law and Policy Coordinator.
Jourdyn Lawrence, Health & Wellness Coordinator
Jourdyn A. Lawrence, PhD, MSPH, is an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She joined the Dornsife School of Public Health as part of the Drexel FIRST (Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation) program. Broadly, her research interests include examining racism as a cause of racial health inequities, understanding the embodiment of racism (i.e., how racism “gets under the skin” to affect health), and assessing interventions, such as reparations, to mitigate the ongoing impacts of racism and other forms of social oppression. Primarily her work explores how interpersonal and structural racism are embodied and act as determinants of healthy aging and cognitive-related outcomes using interdisciplinary theories and advanced epidemiologic methods. She also focuses on how epidemiologic methods can be used as one way to advocate for social change. Dr. Lawrence received her PhD in Population Health Sciences from Harvard University and a Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in Epidemiology from the University of South Carolina.
Kevin Mansa, Economic Justice Coordinator
Kevin Mansa, formerly Kevin Thomas Jr., has been a financial professional and community advocate in the Philadelphia area for close to 20 years. He started his career as a Branch Manager/ AVP for PNC Bank, before transitioning to Entrepreneurship. Kevin established a business consulting firm that specialized in helping non-profits and start-ups gain traction and create organizational structure. In 2015, he joined the Center for Hunger Free Communities where he pioneered the first zero-income financial curriculum designed for people who receive public assistance. Over the next 8 years, Kevin taught thousands of low-income Philadelphians financial literacy and raised awareness for political and systemic injustices. In 2021, he launched Black Royalty, LLC an online education platform that teaches wealth generation for Black people. Black Royalty teaches financial models aimed at multi-generational wealth creation, the eradication of black poverty, and the reestablishment of the powerful black family.