Yesterday's reparations subcommittee: redressing redlining.

Realtor Mark Edward Alston, who has served as the chairman of the Public Affairs and Mortgage Banking Committees for the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, joined the meeting by phone and provided an excellent presentation on redressing institutional racism and redlining.

Evanston resident Bennett Johnson provided a brief overview of how reparations monies can be invested through Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).

Kamm Howard of N'cobra (The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America) also attended the meeting. N'Cobra is a mass-based coalition organized for the sole purpose of obtaining reparations for African descendants in the United States.

Shorefront Legacy Center's founder Dino Robinson provided historical news articles from the Chicago Defender (1933, 1935, and 1965) and from the Chicago Tribune (1903 and 1904) with headlines such as "Whites Seek Petition to Oust Man from Home: Evanston Joins Hands with Jim Crowers;" "Hat-in-Hand Grop In Evanston Would Bar Race," "Report Blames Realtors for North Shore Jim-Crow Housing," and "Evanston Blacks Fear Wave of Race Prejudice."

I'll report more on the meeting soon. For now, here's video of the meeting. It's well worth watching and listening to if you're interested in learning more about the history of housing discrimination and recommendations for how to address it in Evanston via reparations.

The meeting was led by Robin Rue Simmons 5th Ward Alderman. Ald. Rainey was at the funeral of David Jones, Evanston Fire Department chaplain, and 2nd Ward Ald. Peter Braithwaite had a family emergency.