N.J. reparations council to hold virtual public session on Monday

Mosaic reparations image The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice’s Reparations Council will hear comments from pre-registered speakers during its sixth public session on Zoom at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. (Canva/File photo/Canva/file photo) New Jersey’s Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ) will continue to examine the state’s history of slavery and its impact on Black New Jerseyans during a virtual public meeting on Monday. The Institute’s New Jersey Reparations Council will hear comments from pre-registered speakers during its sixth public session on Zoom at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. The council, comprised of state and national experts from various disciplines, is the first of its kind in New Jersey to acknowledge and confront the state’s involvement in slavery and its impact on the contemporary life of Black people in the state. Saladin Ambar, a Political Science professor at Rutgers-New Brunswick, sits on the council’s Democracy Committee, which is also exploring how New Jersey can repair the damage caused by slavery. “What does the State of New Jersey owe its Black residents for the loss of their votes, full participation, and equal access to the benefits of democratic citizenship?” said Ambar, senior scholar at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. “Our committee has been...