Dear Supporters,
Our country feels different since the last time we wrote to you. In the rooms we’ve been in lately, there’s a heaviness in the air—maybe it’s fear, despair, or perhaps it’s simply the reality that none of us know where all this is headed. Since President Trump took office, his administration has been working at warp speed to undo decades of progress. The erasing of Black history, the firing of Black military leaders and federal staff, and the claim that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs lead to “illegal and immoral discrimination” are just a few of the actions that have affected the lives and work of so many people we care about.
This administration and its supporters have made no secret of their desire to return America to a time many of us have spent our lives working to leave behind. So, in some ways, none of this should surprise us. But the absence of surprise does not make living through this any easier. The speed at which the federal government and the world outside of it is being shaped into a private club where only a chosen few mostly white people are making the majority of the decisions that affect our daily lives is alarming to say the least.
So, where does that leave Reparation Generation and our commitment to Black leadership and Repair?
Some would say the window is closed—that advocating for reparations is, at least for now, a lost cause. But at RepGen, we know there is power in organizing when the window is closed. We know we are only here because generations before us did just that.
Justice, equity, and repair are not trends. They’re not goals we pursue only when they feel within reach.
Previous generations have faced similar questions before. During slavery, some organizations fought for abolition, while others—believing abolition wasn’t feasible—pushed for better conditions for enslaved people (more time off, improved housing, and so on). Both played vital roles in the fight for an improved quality of life. But at RepGen, we proudly walk in the footsteps of the abolitionists. We are focused on what’s right and we believe it is our duty to model what repair can look like—so that when this country is ready, we have a solid foundation to build on.
That’s why we’re committed to direct reparative transfers of wealth to Black Americans and evaluating the impact—to prove that reparations are not just necessary and possible, but healing.
We need your support now to continue making reparative transfers, to sustain our work, and to inspire hope. This movement—our movement—needs you now. In this moment, we must support the people continuing to build the world we want to live in. Even when that world feels far away, we urge you to keep pursuing it. We have been here before. We’re calling everyone in.
We are living in a political moment that will be studied for generations. When that history is written, where will it say you stood?
