Faith Community Rallies for Reparations in Evanston
On January 15, 2023, a diverse mix of congregations gathered at the Faith Temple Church of God in Christ in Evanston for an interfaith service to celebrate the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This MLK service was more than a celebration of a civil rights leader. It marked a pivotal moment in the struggle for civil rights and reparations.
At the conclusion of the service, Rabbi Andrea London of Beth Emet Synagogue and Rev. Michael Nabors from Second Baptist Church announced that the Evanston Reparations Community Fund had secured $1,000,000.00 in payments and pledges from Evanston churches and synagogues.
How did this movement for reparations find fertile ground and take root in Evanston? It started with the historic passage of a city reparations program spearheaded by Alderwoman Robin Rue Simmons in 2021. This program uses tax revenue from cannabis sales to fund payments to Black Evanstonians to purchase or improve their homes.
Seizing upon the momentum provided by the city program, faith leaders in Evanston got behind a second reparations fund that would collect payments from predominantly white congregations and channel those resources toward Black-led organizations in Evanston. The funds could be used to address, not just housing, but also health disparities, economic development, education and job training, culture and the arts.
On June 13, 2022, 18 congregations gathered in Fountain Square to announce an initiative to collect $1 million to support the Evanston Reparations Community Fund. Each congregation then set to work within their community, to raise funds and make decisions about the wealth they held. We were inspired to do more than talk about racism and white supremacy, and attend rallies and marches. We were challenged to make a material difference in the disparities between our communities by moving wealth from White institutions to Black ones.
At First Congregational Church of Evanston, we built on years of study and activism in the struggle against racism and white supremacy. Our church hosted an exhibit on Redlining in Evanston, watched the reparations documentary, The Big Payback, read resources from Ta-Nehisi Coates and held forums for reflection and discussion on the history and purpose of reparations.
As the Senior Minister of the church, I preached on reparations on several occasions and encouraged church leadership to consider the sources of our endowment and to make a sacrificial gift to support the movement.
On Sunday, January 15, our congregation voted to pay $500,000 over the next five years to support the Evanston Reparations Community Fund. This payment does not resolve our debt, nor absolve us of our complicity in America’s original sin. However, it is a material measure of our ongoing commitment to the fight against racism and white supremacy. We want to do our part to ensure that, in the words of the prophet…
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’ (Isaiah 40:4-5)
To learn more about reparations and the movement in Evanston, take a look at our church’s Reparations Resource Guide, or drop me a line at jason@firstchurchevanston.org And, may God add a blessing to the work of the Spirit in the City of Evanston!
Rev. Jason W. Coulter, Senior Minister of First Congregational Church of Evanston