Leaders of Detroit’s reparations task force are promising transparency and results after a series of setbacks prevented the voter-approved group from making much progress in 2023.

Detroit’s 13-member reparations task force was assembled last February to make policy recommendations but has little to show for its first year of work besides three vacancies. Council President Mary Sheffield recently committed to a more active role in supporting the task force, which was appointed by the council but operates independently. Eighty-percent of Detroit voters supported a 2021 proposal to create housing and economic development programs benefiting Black residents. 

A small group of Detroit residents called on Sheffield to take responsibility for the lack of progress during an “emergency town hall” two days before the first task force meeting of 2024. Porscha Edwards, co-chair of the Detroit Grassroots Coalition, said residents want  accountability. 

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 “We don’t think that anyone is taking this seriously enough,” Edwards said during the Jan. 4 virtual meeting attended by Sheffield and her staff. 

Sheffield told a fiery group at the meeting that she was dissuaded from being involved by the task force, which she described as a “separate entity.” The reparations task force does not have any council members serving on it, which is unique among task forces created by the council. 

“We don’t want bureaucracy. We don’t want this to be government-driven. There was an initial sentiment that (City Council) should stay away,” Sheffield said during the virtual town hall. “Now I see that I have to take more of a forefront role to get this thing going, and I’m willing to do that.” 

A written report of findings and recommendations is due to the City Council by October. Co-Chair Keith Williams, who was appointed by Sheffield to lead the task force, said the group used the last year to set itself up for success. The task force adopted bylaws and established committee assignments last year for education, economic development, housing, research and finance. 

“We’ve been in the weeds trying to get ourselves in order, and we finally did that,” Williams told BridgeDetroit. “The tide has turned. At the end of the day, we all want to get this right. This is the first time that a ballot initiative on reparations won (in America). We want to continue making history, but we also need to have patience.”

The task force hired a program manager to handle administrative tasks, coordinate meetings and improve transparency. Williams said Emberly Vick, a former City Council staff member, started in January and will be paid $90,000.

The group plans to gather on the first Saturday of each month for public meetings after struggling to keep a consistent schedule in 2023. The Northwest Activities Center hosted the group Jan. 6 and will host again Feb. 3. Subsequent meetings will be held at a different location across Detroit.

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 City Council allocated $350,000 for meeting facilities and technical assistance for the task force. Virtually none of the funding was used last year, Sheffield said. A spokesperson for the council president did not respond to requests for comment. 

“I was disappointed that nothing was spent,” Sheffield said on Jan. 4. “It’s going to be very difficult for me to advocate with my colleagues for more money this upcoming budget because the previous money wasn’t spent.” 

Task force member Janis Hazel said they “absolutely” have enough resources to be successful this year. It’s a matter of using them wisely, she said.

“(We have) funding available to do things like buy technology, go into the community, do interviews, host events,” Hazel said. “It’s all here. You just have to use and marshal the resources.”

Williams said the task force is focused on addressing harms specifically caused by the city of Detroit. It’s up to the federal government to provide redress for the legacy of slavery, he said. 

Williams provided BridgeDetroit with a roadmap for the work to come in 2024.

Studying the scope of reparations 

The task force began a partnership with the University of Michigan last September to document discriminatory government policies, setting a foundation for discussions on reparations programs. A scope of work agreement shared with BridgeDetroit shows U-M is studying the historical injustices and human rights violations committed against Black Detroiters. 

U-M is expected to provide a first draft on housing recommendations between March and April. The task force set a September deadline to complete its final report, though Williams said they could take more time if needed.

There are differing views on the scope of historic injustice that the task force should consider.

A City Council resolution that established the task force references slavery, Jim Crow laws, redlining, unequal systems of education and justice and urban renewal programs that eradicated Black Bottom and Paradise Valley neighborhoods.

Williams said the task force should stay focused on harms caused by the city government starting around the Great Migration of Black residents from the South during the early 20th Century.

“I want to build an economic infrastructure,” Williams said. “Retail businesses, homeownership, those things are how you build wealth and longevity.”

Shannon Slayton, a reparations advocate and member of the Detroit Grassroots Coalition, said it would be a mistake to ignore the impact of slavery. Reparations must acknowledge the harm traced along family lineages. She’s a proponent of direct cash payments to descendents of slaves, in part because she said the city often fails to equitably implement programs. 

“The idea that cash wouldn’t go directly to the descendants of slaves, it makes you nervous because you’ve seen (the city) funnel money that’s supposed to go to certain groups to programs and people don’t see the relief,” Slayton said. 

Anthony William Lloyd, Jr., a Detroit native and historian with the Black Bottom Archives, told the task force last July “to study slavery and slavery only as an integral part of society, as it still exists today.”

Task force members often cite Evanston, Illinois, which created a $25,000 grant program for home repairs or down payments. The Chicago suburb determined any process for restorative relief must connect between the harm imposed and the city.

Evanston’s process found the city’s part in housing discrimination through zoning ordinances in place between 1919 and 1969 makes the strongest case for reparations. Reparations programs in Evanston are being paid for through a tax on marijuana retail sales. It’s unclear how Detroit reparations programs would be funded.

Williams and others have said it wouldn’t make sense to gather funding from taxes paid by residents. Williams, who is leading the group’s finance committee, said he’s exploring whether the task force could issue bonds. 

“I have some ideas,” Williams said. “Tax billionaires.”

Additionally, the African American Redress Network is coming to Detroit the week of March 10 to collect stories from residents used to inform reparations initiatives. Researchers with Columbia and Howard universities will interview Detroiters at public forums.

Cidney Calloway, who was elevated in January to co-chair of Detroit’s task force, said U-M is identifying past harms while the redress network focuses on the experiences of Black Detroiters in the present. 

Calloway said the two efforts are critically important to understanding the cause and effect of historic discrimination. The task force plans to release dates of public engagement events later this year.  

“They (researchers) are coming to collect our stories, to paint a picture of what it’s like to live in Detroit right now as a Black person,” Calloway said. “We want to invite everybody, no matter how old you are, young you are, how long you’ve lived in the city or been away. We need all of that experience to paint a picture to inform our recommendations.”

Transparency issues abound 

Residents said the task force is falling short of assurances it would be transparent and accessible to residents. 

Task force members pledged to follow the Open Meetings Act, though they are not required to by law. The state “sunshine” law guarantees public access and advance notice of meetings, sets rules for public comment and contains other transparency requirements. 

Agendas, which give the public a preview of action items and discussion topics, have not been available before meetings. Likewise, meeting minutes that summarize actions taken have not been released to the public. Recordings of only three meetings from last year are posted on the city’s website.

Independently-created notes by Detroit Documenters provide a partial record of the task force’s work last year. 

Public meetings have not gone smoothly thus far. Audio and video streaming quality was often poor last year and faulty links were provided on multiple occasions, preventing some residents from participating virtually. 

One meeting was interrupted by trolls who spouted racial slurs and displayed pornographic videos, taking advantage of a public setting on the Zoom broadcast. “Zoom limitations” prevented virtual attendees from being able to pose questions at the Jan. 6 meeting. 

Hazel, the task force member, said records of past meetings must be posted online for residents who couldn’t attend. The task force needs to do a better job of making meetings accessible, she said. 

“We are facilitators, in my view,” Hazel said. “We need to inform and educate the public on what we can do. We need information and feedback from the public.”

The group held its first meeting in April 2023, postponed its May meeting and convened again in June, July and August. The task force took a break from public meetings from August to December after the death of Rev. Dr. JoAnn Watson. 

Watson was a lifelong advocate for a federal reparations commission to examine slavery and discrimination dating back to 1619. Watson’s death struck a major blow to the task force, Sheffield said.

Sheffield said she was “adamantly” opposed to the task force meeting privately last fall but said she doesn’t have authority over the group. 

“Mother Watson was the rock of this task force,” Sheffield said on Jan. 4. “She kept everyone in order, she wanted meetings to be regular. Once she passed I think people were still trying to figure it out. They did not want to meet publicly and just be up here and not really know what to do.

“They said instead of having public meetings and looking unorganized and making a fool of ourselves, just take a pause. They were meeting internally amongst themselves trying to figure out next steps.” 

Two other task force members resigned in December, citing frustrations with the lack of progress, City Council support and strategic vision.

The City Council is responsible for filling the three vacancies. Watson and former co-chair Lauren Hood were appointed by Sheffield while Maurice Weeks was nominated by Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero and appointed by a vote of the full council. 

A March 2023 survey by U-M found a strong link between awareness of racial inequity and support for reparative policies. Detroiters who agree that the legacy of slavery and discrimination continues to affect Black Americans today are more likely to support reparations (73%) compared to those who disagree with this statement (30%).

The vast majority of the city’s Black residents support reparations (72%), but only 38% of the city’s white residents support reparations and 27% of Latino Detroiters support reparations. 

Calloway, who is the daughter of District 2 Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway, said the task force was given enough resources to do its job. However, she wants more public involvement, especially from younger residents. 

“This is more of a dialogue,” Calloway said. “Setting up candid spaces to have that conversation is going to be beneficial for us.”