Inside EAT’s preparation process for their DNC march for reparations

Demands for reparations could be heard from a group of Black organizers sporting orange shirts bearing the words “Reparations Now! We are far past 40 acres and a mule” as they marched down California Avenue toward the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention (DNC) is taking place this week.  “What do we want? Reparations! When do we want them? Now!” is the call-and-response chant from demonstrators on Wednesday morning.  Gregory Mann serves as the hype man of the action. Mann is the minister of organizing for the West Side-based nonprofit Equity and Transformation (EAT), which is led by formerly incarcerated people. The organization leads the “Keep it 1000 Campaign,” a demand for reparations for Black Americans during the third day of the DNC. Mann guides participants from the group’s West Side Center to a spot near the United Center, specifically with the goal of commanding President Joe Biden to create a federal Reparations Commission before leaving office. According to the EAT’s news release, a federal commission  “would develop proposals for how the U.S. government will deliver full reparations for Black Americans.” The action also is a call to push action on the H.R. 40 Bill, the “Commission to Study...