Funding for the Fulton County Reparations Task Force has officially been approved. The Fulton County Board of Commissioners moved forward to include funding in the 2023 budget for the task force during a 4 to 3 vote during its January 18 meeting. The budget was approved for $250,000 after a preliminary cycle of research that was completed over the course of more than a year.
The Reparations Task Force serves as an advisory body to the Board of Commissioners to investigate and provide recommendations to the Board of Commissioners regarding priorities, objectives, and policies which will support the revitalization, preservation, and stabilization of the Black/African American population in Fulton County in the form of reparations.
“It’s a decision that shows that this county is not only aware, but cares about the work being done by the Reparations Task Force,” said District 5 Commissioner Marvin S. Arrington, Jr. “This is important work being done by volunteers who are all passionate about an issue facing every African American not only in Fulton County, but around this country.”
“It was a great victory to secure a majority vote from the Board of Commissioners granting $250,000 to perform an empirical-based study and a feasibility study,” said Task Force Advisory Board Chair Dr. Karcheik Sims-Alvarado. “Qualitative and quantitative data will allow the Task Force to critically examine the ways slavery, Jim Crow, and Urban Renewal denied African Americans opportunities to acquire personal, political, and economic autonomy. Recommendations will be offered based on the empirical evidence. The feasibility study will demonstrate how Fulton County can support the recommendations made by the Task Force.”
Commissioner Arrington, along with several other Commissioners including Natalie Hall of District 4 and Khadijah Abdur-Rahman of District 5 have all come out as strong advocates for the Reparations Task Force. Established in…
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