While people may associate slavery with the South, New Jersey was once so reliant on enslaved labor that it earned the nickname “the slave state of the North.” People now are not aware of that history, and its enduring harm, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice says.

The statewide advocacy organization is convening Wednesday night in Newark to discuss the legacy of slavery and what reparations could look like in New Jersey. Last year it formed the New Jersey Reparations Council which has held public discussions that explore slavery’s pernicious roots and the system of racism today.

The event is a one-year check-in for the institute’s two-year project, which is expected to culminate next year with a report that will detail the ways white supremacy and slavery have continued to impact Black communities in the state and  offer policy recommendations for restitution.