Eyes on the Prize: Realizing Reparations in Full
December 10 @ 12:30 pm
Location: Robertson Hall
“We ask for nothing that is not ours by right, and herein lies the great moral power of our demand.”
— Paul Robeson
Reparations confront the enduring harms of slavery and colonialism, demanding transformative policies to claim long-denied rights. At a time when civil rights and liberties are under assault at the highest levels of government, how are organizers and policymakers defending historical truth and shaping policies for repair?
This June, a landmark new report from the New Jersey Reparations Council convened by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice marked a turning point in the state’s reckoning with its history, offering a sweeping narrative of harm and bold policy recommendations for repair across housing, health, economy, education, and incarceration.
On Wednesday, December 10, join us for a dynamic afternoon exploring the reparations movement occurring across the country and learning how organizers are moving an agenda forward in New Jersey.
Co-hosted by the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability (IARA) Project and SPIA in New Jersey, this event will bring together policymakers, advocates, scholars, and community members advancing reparations across the state and country. Together, we’ll explore lessons learned, policy strategies, and collective approaches to repair, equity, and liberation.
This event is made possible thanks to the RWJF Special Contributions Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation.
PROGRAM
12:30-1:30 EST — Panel
This panel will explore the findings and implications of New Jersey’s recent reparations report, focusing on how the state’s Reparations Council was formed and the processes that guided its work. Speakers will discuss the critical role of research in shaping policy recommendations and identify key areas where further study is needed to advance racial justice and equity in New Jersey and beyond. Lunch will be provided to all in-person attendees.
Speakers will include:
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- Ryan Haygood, President & CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
- Aria Florant, Co-Founder and CEO of Liberation Ventures (LV)
- Professor Mia White, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at the New School
- Katie Brennan, NJ General Assembly Member Elect representing District 32
- Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad (Moderator), Professor of African American Studies and Public Affairs at Princeton University & IARA Director
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2:00-4:00 EST — Roundtable (by invitation only)
Moderated by Brandon McKoy, President of The Fund for New Jersey, this roundtable will bring together experienced organizers and movement builders to explore lessons learned, policy strategies, and collective approaches to repair, equity, and liberation.
4:30-5:30 EST — Keynote
This keynote will explore the national case for reparations, diving into policy strategies and collective approaches to repair, equity, and liberation. Speaker to be announced soon. Stay tuned!
EVENT DETAILS
Location: Arthur Lewis Auditorium in Robertson Hall
Online: Streamed live via Zoom
Cost: The event is free and open to all.
How to join: Register to join in-person or online via the button below.
Questions? Please contact iara_project@spia.princeton.edu with questions or requests.
Register nowSpeaker Bios
Ryan P. Haygood
Ryan P. Haygood is President & CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. He leads the Institute’s transformative work to expand and strengthen democracy, reform the criminal justice system and close New Jersey’s staggering racial wealth gap.
Prior to the Institute, Ryan served as Deputy Director of Litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), where he litigated some of the most important civil rights cases of our time.
He received his J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law and B.A. in American History and Political Science cum laude from Colorado College, where he was nominated for a Rhodes Scholarship and earned academic and athletic All-American and hall of fame honors as a football player.
Aria Florant
Aria Florant is Co-Founder and CEO of Liberation Ventures (LV), a field catalyst and intermediary building the power to win federal, comprehensive reparations for Black Americans. Prior to LV, Aria has been a strategist, researcher, management consultant, organizer, teacher, and nonprofit practitioner. She is committed to taking courageous, honest action on racial repair in America, and all of her work drives toward a singular mission: building a world where all people’s whole selves belong. Aria is rooted in a Black feminist ethos, down to build multiracial coalitions, loves a bold Cabernet, believes that progress is limitless, and calls Colorado, East Palo Alto, Brooklyn, and the wilderness home.
Mia White
Mia Charlene White (she/her), PhD, is a first generation Assistant Professor of Urban & Environmental Studies at The New School, where she uses spatial theories of race to teach critically about the environment. Her work emphasizes democratic practice at the intersection of racial, climate, and housing justice. Her interdisciplinary service to the profession includes serving as Vice-Chair of the Black Geographies Specialty Group (BGSG) of the American Association of Geographers (AAG); leading the Planning History & Theory track for the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP), an appointment on the NJ Reparations Council’s Environmental Justice Committee, and support of the NYC Community Land Initiative to support their Public Land for the Public Good Campaign. She is a former Mellon Faculty Fellow and Mentor, a current Faculty Fellow with the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy, and is affiliated with both the Tishman Environment and Design Center and the Laboratory for Urban Spatial & Landscape Research at The New School.
Katie Brennan
Katie is a long-time Jersey City resident and dedicated public servant who gets things done. A trusted policy expert on housing, environmental justice, and protections for survivors of sexual assault, she has spent the last 15 years standing up to powerful interests and turning bold ideas into real results for working families.
Never afraid to fight for what’s right, Katie started her career by taking on Governor Christie to save the state’s affordable housing protections. She then helped secure the biggest influx of funding for affordable homes in New Jersey history, and launched the first-ever statewide hospital and housing agency partnership, now a national model for building affordable housing for families with serious medical needs.