A state commission studying the legacy of slavery and racism held a public hearing in Rochester on Tuesday night.
It was one of a series of meetings taking place across New York, hosted by the Community Commission on Reparations Remedies.
Chair Seanelle Hawkins says these conversations are more important than ever, especially as the Trump administration attempts to squash diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
“It's going to take a lot of work,” said Hawkins, who is also president and CEO of the Urban League of Rochester. “But there is an opportunity for us to have our voice be part of the change and continue to push the change.”
Governor Kathy Hochul signed the legislation forming the group in 2023 and stated its mission was to “study various forms of reparations and how we can help right the wrongs of the past.”
Recently the group has been traveling to different cities holding public hearings, inviting community members to share prepared remarks about their experience with the lasting impact of slavery.
The theme of the Rochester meeting was urban renewal, and it opened with a presentation from David Hochfelder, a professor of history at University of Albany.
Urban renewal is an umbrella term used to describe a series of federally-funded redevelopment projects in the mid-twentieth century that were put in place under the guise of improving American infrastructure and housing stock, but ultimately displaced and disenfranchised non-white residents in cities across the country.
Hochfelder's research on urban renewal shows it displaced an estimated 150,000 New Yorkers, nearly half of whom were Black.
“The deliberate targeting of black communities for removal has made urban renewal a legitimate topic of study for this commission,” he said. “We hope that the commission's findings and decisions will both bring these injustices to light and start to repair the damages.”
During public remarks, speakers talked about their ancestry and African roots, their family histories, and proposed ideas for what reparations would look like.
Soloman Titus Taylor is a lifelong Rochester resident, who said that he wants reparations to address generational trauma: from destroying families in Africa through the slave trade, to destroying families in America with segregation and oppression.
"What we see with our children these days is the destruction of the families,” he said. “It’s on our watch now to at least take care of that trauma.”
In his public remarks, Taylor said New Yorkers need to advocate for reparations on a national level.
“My voice is also that of my family members across this nation that are standing today,” he said.
“Because of reparations that did not come, we had to stand. And we produce lawyers, we produce councilmen. We produce teachers, educators, police officers."
Other speakers were more specific about what those reparations might be, advocating for money to reinvest in Black neighborhoods and schools.
Hawkins said in this phase the commission is compiling data and recording those testimonies to bring back to the governor.
