Update: CaMille Collins remains an active member as of Jan. 29, according to the task force’s program manager.
Two more members of Detroit’s Reparations Task Force have notified colleagues of their intent to resign, which would create five vacancies on the struggling committee formed last year to study policy recommendations to redress historic discrimination against Black residents.
Allen Venable and CaMille Collins separately contacted members of the task force to announce their decisions to step away a month after task force members Maurice Weeks and co-chair Lauren Hood resigned. The prospect of resignations come on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the once 13-member group, which has struggled to hold consistent meetings, foster public engagement and publish information about its work since being formed last February.
In a Jan. 26 email obtained by BridgeDetroit, Venable wrote he was “constrained” to resign, notifying task force colleagues and a legislative director for City Council President Mary Sheffield, who sponsored a resolution to create the task force after voters approved a 2021 ballot initiative to study reparations policies.
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Venable declined comment on Friday, referring questions to the task force’s executive committee. Task force co-chair Keith Williams did not respond to a request for comment.
“I sincerely hope that all stakeholders have patience,” Venable wrote in the email obtained by BridgeDetroit. “Please grant the taskforce the time needed to do work that no city body has ever performed, which work arises from a vague voter-approved initiative. The work is new, novel, political, detailed, time consuming, and many eyes are watching across the nation.”
Collins was absent from several meetings last year, prompting the task force to send a “warning letter” advising her that she was in violation of bylaws stating that missing three consecutive meetings without notice is cause for removal. Collins acknowledged the warning in a Jan. 16 email to the task force, saying she does not plan to continue serving.
Collins declined to comment when contacted by BridgeDetroit on Friday, and hung up when asked whether her resignation had taken effect.
“I have been very present and vocal about my involvement with the task force and after much time to consider my next steps, I find myself still in dilemma,” Collins wrote in a Jan. 16 email obtained by BridgeDetroit. “After much thought I do not see or know of any benefit to continuing with my efforts within the (task force). I will speak to my council person on next best steps.”
The task force is scheduled to hold its second public meeting of the year at 2 p.m. on Feb. 3 at Northwest Activities Center.
A fifth opening on the task force was created last summer after the death of Rev. Dr. JoAnn Watson, a lifelong leader for restorative justice who led efforts to create a federal reparations commission.
Sheffield nominated two Detroiters to fill open seats on the reparations task force last week, and the City Council is expected to vote on the appointments at its Jan. 30 meeting. A representative for Sheffield on Friday deferred comment on the resignations to the task force.
Sheffield appointed Edythe Ford, director of community engagement at MACC Development, and Jasahn Larsosa, executive director of GreenLight Fund, a Boston-based nonprofit that supports wealth generation programs in Detroit.
Each City Council member nominated a member of the task force, and Sheffield is responsible for appointing four additional members to serve on the executive committee.
Venable was appointed by Council President Pro Tem James Tate. Collins was appointed by Council Member Fred Durhal. Weeks was appointed by Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero.
“Thank you to Councilman Tate for my appointment and to the citizens for allowing me to represent them,” Venable wrote in the Jan. 26 email. “It was both an honor and a stark reminder of how the harm we suffered directly connects to our current need for significant reparative justice.”
Williams told BridgeDetroit earlier this month that the task force is getting back on track after struggling to make much progress last year. The task force hired Emberly Vick this month to serve as a program manager handling administrative duties, which Williams said is a key step toward solidifying a consistent meeting schedule and properly noticing meetings.
Williams previously said the task force plans to release a report listing policy recommendations in September. In an interview with WDET this week, Williams said couldn’t speak for members who resigned in December.
“The reparations movement is bigger than those folks, it’s bigger than me,” Williams said in the Tuesday radio interview. “It’s about redressing issues that harm Black folks from gaining wealth in America.”
A group of residents called the Detroit Grassroots Coalition has recently called for greater transparency and accountability for the task force, arguing the leaders do not appear to be taking the work seriously. Sheffield said during a recent meeting with the coalition that she would take more of a role to ensure the task force was on track.
Expectations are high for Detroit’s task force, which is among a national reparations movement at the municipal level, with similar volunteer groups created in Kansas City, Boston, Philadelphia, Asheville, North Carolina and Evanston, Illinois. New York, California and Illinois also created statewide commissions in recent years to study reparations policies.
The lack of public documentation stands out among task forces established in other cities around the same time as Detroit’s group.
An email account – reparationsdetroit2023@gmail.com – was established to collect feedback from residents, but the task force is still in the process of creating a website to publish meeting notices and documents.
The task force is working with the University of Michigan to create a harms report identifying specific incidents of discrimination against Black residents.
The task force is also partnering with the African American Redress Network to study current impacts of historic discrimination. Researchers with Columbia and Howard universities are coming to Detroit the week of March 10 to collect stories from residents used to inform reparations initiatives.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the date of the next task force meeting and to clarify the spelling of task force appointee Jasahn Larsosa, which was incorrect in city documents.
This important work was started by N”cobra and “reparations Ray” was a solid pillar of the movement. Sadly he has passed and we miss him dearly. Jo Ann Watson has also been lost to us by passage of time. There are others still with us who are a rich source of knowledge. Minister Malik Shabazz is having health problems, so his council is available only if it does not adversely affect his recovery. If he can be a part of this again, our efforts would benefit greatly. Thank you brother Malik for being my friend and mentor.
Does any of this surprise you? This is all smoke and mirrors !!! There is no money set aside or available for reparations !!!! My God people wake up they are just Bull________ you!!!
Reparations – and a Reparations Committee – was a terribly misguided and divisive idea right from the beginning. I’m thrilled that it’s dying. Not one more cent of taxpayer money should be spent on this.
I WANT FILL ONE OF THE VACANT SEATS.
LET’S GET TOGETHER AND WORK FOR CHANGE.
REACH OUT TO ME
LETS GO US AND THE “DETROIT LIONS “!
There are top many errors in this article for it to be considered credible.
1. Only Atty. Venable has resigned.
2. Member Collins is NOT resigning.
3. The next meeting is SATURDAY, Feb. 3rd.
4. Jahsahn LARSOSA, not LaRosa.
I hope more comprehensive research is done prior to releasing inaccurate information in a rush to make breaking news.
Offer free mental health treatment for anyone holding on to the trauma they experienced.
I’m sadden by the lack of ” Consciousness” on this Taskforce! I see very little cultural collective among the members. Where is the grassroot community on the Taskforce. Just folks going through the motions.
Choose better members for the Taskforce,. Historical Connection to the Struggle for Reparations.
Have we reached the ultimate stage of absurdity when some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, while other people are not held responsible for what they themselves are doing today?
~Thomas Sowell
Precisely