An Elder Activist鈥檚 Historic View on Reparations

Jul 5, 2023

Hundreds of movement leaders, activists, organizers, funders, and journalists gathered in Atlanta in June 2023 at , an invitation-only conference on reparations organized by the . As the conference鈥檚 media partner, 猫咪社区! Media spoke with more than a dozen prominent organizers, activists, and leaders, among them Kenniss Henry, considered a revered elder in the movement for reparations and the Chairperson of the Legislative Committee for the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA).

Henry spoke with 猫咪社区! Racial Justice Editor Sonali Kolhatkar in Atlanta about the history of the movement for reparations and what reparative justice could look like.

This video is part of Realizing Reparations, an exclusive digital series exploring the leading edges of the reparations ecosystem鈥攁nd revealing a path toward healing and reconciliation.

This series was funded by a grant from Liberated Capital, a fund of the , which is led by Edgar Villanueva, of the Lumbee tribe, and works globally to disrupt the existing systems of moving and controlling capital using education and healing programs, radical reparative giving, and storytelling. Reporting and production of the series was funded by this grant, but 猫咪社区! maintained full editorial control of the content published herein. Read our editorial independence policy.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 猫咪社区! in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽猫咪社区! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.