June 19, 2025
NEWARK – The New Jersey Reparations Council today released its groundbreaking report, For Such a Time as This: The Nowness of Reparations for Black People in New Jersey. The Council will unveil the report’s findings tonight at 7 p.m. at an event at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).
The report is the culmination of an intensive two-year study by the Council into New Jersey’s deep but often overlooked history of slavery and its aftermath – and a call for transformative change through reparations.
Through a series of chronological chapters researched and authored by nine subject-matter committees, the report recounts New Jersey’s history of slavery, its own Jim Crow era, and its perpetuation of segregation and racial disparities in the more modern era. It draws a throughline to today, when New Jersey has some of the worst racial disparities in the country, including a staggering $643k racial wealth gap.
The Institute convened the New Jersey Reparations Council on Juneteenth in 2023 when the legislature failed to move forward a bill to establish a reparations task force in the state.
The Institute and the New Jersey Reparations Council believe that the report is being released in just the right moment.
“In the turbulence of today lies an opportunity to build something new – a new New Jersey where Black people are truly free and empowered to flourish and where all residents benefit from our state’s wealth and opportunity,” said Ryan Haygood, President & CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “Our vulnerability to this moment is partially a result of never having confronted unresolved racial oppression – in the United States and New Jersey. This report will serve as a blueprint for New Jersey to finally repair that harm and live up to its ideals – to be a state of true equity where Black people and all of us can flourish.”
The New Jersey Reparations Council was convened by the Institute in 2023 with generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
“The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is proud to be part of this historical achievement and to support the New Jersey Reparation Council’s invaluable work,” said Rich Besser, President & CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who will be part of this evening’s program. “There is so much to be learned from this new report about how New Jersey’s history has resulted in today’s disparities – whether it’s in wealth, segregation or, of course, health – and what is needed to create a more equitable state.”
Tonight’s event will feature a fireside chat about courageous philanthropy and advocacy as well as two panels comprised of esteemed Council members, Institute representatives and elected officials. Panelists will engage in a robust conversation about New Jersey’s deep embrace of slavery, its lasting impact on the lives of Black people today and the way forward to repair the harm.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka will deliver the keynote address.
“I’m excited to take part tonight in this important conversation about reparations during this critical moment in time,” said Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, who will be a panelist tonight. “I look forward to working with the legislature to make the transformative recommendations put forth in the report into a reality for New Jersey.”
The New Jersey Reparations Council is co-chaired by Taja-Nia Henderson (Rutgers Law School) and Khalil Gibran Muhammad (Princeton University).
“It has been an honor to work with such a talented group of committed racial justice advocates over the past two years to study and chronicle New Jersey’s history and the transformative work that lies ahead,” said Taja-Nia Henderson, Co-Chair of the Council. “As New Jerseyans learn more about this shared history and how it has so strongly influenced our collective present, we are confident the movement for reparations will continue to build.”
“New Jersey has too often taken comfort in its status as a northern state with little connection to its own sordid history of slavery or the state’s policies that have perpetuated structural racism for several generations down to the present,” said Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Co-Chair of the Council. “This report is a siren call for us to see ourselves clearly and pave the way to finally repairing the harm. Now it’s up to all of us to meet the moment and embrace this opportunity.”
The Council is comprised of nine subject matter committees: History of Slavery in New Jersey; Public Education & Narrative; Economic Justice; Segregation in New Jersey; Democracy; Public Safety & Justice; Health Equity; Environmental Justice; and Faith & Black Resistance.
“We are grateful to each of the Council members who have contributed their time, knowledge and passion to this two-year endeavor,” said Jean-Pierre Brutus, Sr. Counsel at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “Their work will help New Jersey learn more about itself and become part of a growing movement for repair, so that we can one day live not in a world built by slavery, but in a world built by reparations.”
To read the full report, click here.
To watch tonight’s event, visit the Institute’s Facebook page.
If you wish to attend tonight’s event, please contact Lloyd Nelson at the contact information above.
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