Local church follows through on it’s pledge to help non-profit repair racial injustice through reparations

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – First Presbyterian Church of Lansing is following through on its pledge to help repair racial injustice in the Lansing area. Presenting the Justice League of Greater Lansing with a reparation payment, during their Sunday service, nearing their $100,000 goal. “To have this reparative justice piece be layered on that, it’s to be commended,” said Justice League of Greater Lansing founder Willye Bryan, when asked about receiving reparations during black history month. Bryan says the non-profit plans to offer scholarships to the community. In addition to grants that encourage home ownership “Housing generally is how families pass on their wealth.” And the creation of more black-owned businesses. “Small black business owners very rarely are able to get loans from the bank and it’s difficult to operate a business if you can’t get some capital,” said Bryan. Torri Tyler has been a member of First Presbyterian for 2 years. She says reparations are a start but bringing communities together could help when money cannot. “It’s about bringing everyone together to see that this is something we need to change. Reparations can be in the form of money; it can be in the form of time and effort. It...