Your ancestors owned slaves. How can you make reparations?

At the national level, progress on making formal reparations for slavery has largely stalled. Various efforts at both the state and local levels have gained traction and seen more success, however.But what about for individuals? How can white folks whose ancestors benefited from — and even profited because of — slavery begin to directly engage in reparative justice? Lotte Lieb Dula hopes to provide a path forward.A retired financial strategist, Lieb Dula is the founder of Reparations4Slavery, a site that facilitates racial healing. She spoke with Marketplace special correspondent Lee Hawkins as part of our Golden Promises series, which explores the battle over slavery reparations in California. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.Lee Hawkins: So Lotte, you looked into your family history. When did you start doing that? And what really struck you the most?Lotte Lieb Dula: I discovered that my family had a connection to slavery. We’ve had plantations in the Mississippi Delta, and I had never known about this history. So in 2018, I met a young woman named Briayna Cuffie, who has since become my partner. And we have put together a presentation that takes each of us through our family history, showing at...