This is history in the making, John.
Earlier this week, Cori and the House Committee on the Judiciary held a markup and vote on H.R. 40 — a bill that would establish a commission to study and develop reparation proposals for Black Americans.
This legislation is long past due. It's been stalled for three decades, but with leaders like Cori in the House, it's finally heading to a vote before the House of Representatives. Cori has spoken up passionately in support of H.R. 40 and voted to advance this bill because she knows reparations to Black Americans are essential for one of the most egregious atrocities in the history of the world.
Let’s make this clear: The federal government must account for the world slavery created and its ongoing role in perpetuating, supporting, and upholding white supremacy.
As Cori said during the committee markup, the systems of trauma caused by the enslavement of Black people are not history — they are ongoing and they are vicious.
Cori's ancestors were enslaved in Mississippi and South Carolina. They migrated out of the rural South during the Great Migration after being denied the promise of 40 acres and a mule in the aftermath of the Civil War. Her great grandfather, a WWI vet, and grandfather, a WWII vet, served their country only to be discarded by their government and denied benefits given to white soldiers upon their return.
Cori's story is one of systemic, structural, and political violence that Black Americans have faced. It's past time for us to recognize the intergenerational trauma inflicted by slavery and fight for truth, honor, and justice.
In solidarity,
Team Cori