On October 14, Greenbelt City Council heard from members of the Reparations Commission who presented a request that the city provide the commission with $165,000 to hire two historians specializing in African American and Native American history, a genealogist, a legal assistant and an administrative assistant. As leader of the commission, Lois Rosado identified one goal of this research group as being to determine if people of color living and working in Greenbelt have been treated fairly and, if not, what reparations are owed to them or their heirs from the city. She stressed that reparations are not necessarily money but equity in resources, for example. Commission members are also interested in reviewing the city’s code and charter with a Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) lens and in engaging in community outreach.
While council expressed its general support, Mayor Emmett Jordan noted that it already awarded the commission payments of $30,000 in both 2023 and 2024.
Councilmember Silke Pope added that council had not given “marching orders” on how those funds should be spent, while she also recognized the size of the task faced by this all-volunteer committee.
Councilmember Rodney Roberts asked how far back the research will go and what can Greenbelt citizens expect from the researchers? As one indication of the scope of the inquiry, Rosado mentioned slave cemeteries in this area that might offer clues to identifying some impacted individuals and, by means of genealogy, possibly their heirs. Commission member Tom Adams explained that the purpose of this work is to tell the whole story of Greenbelt’s history and that without continued support from council to fill in gaps in what has become a 500-page report, it cannot accomplish its mission. Again while supportive, council looked for ways to handle these costs.