ST. LOUIS — Mayor Tishaura O. Jones has appointed nine St. Louis residents to serve on the city’s first Reparations Commission.
According to a statement Friday from the mayor’s office, “the volunteer commission will analyze the history of race-based harms in the city and reveal the modern manifestations of injustice.
“Ultimately, the commission will offer recommendations for methods to develop and implement reparations for Black St. Louisans and the descendants of enslaved peoples.”
The statement said that Black St. Louisans are more likely to live in low-opportunity environments than white St. Louisans and that the commission’s goal is “addressing the toll racism has taken on Black neighborhoods.”
Eight of the commission members are Black; one is white.
Appointed to the commission are:
• Will Ross, associate dean for diversity at Washington University School of Medicine and professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology.
• Delesha N. George, program manager at Deaconess Foundation.
• Kayla Reed, co-founder and executive director of Action St. Louis.
• William Foster, external audit generalist at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
• Gwen Moore, curator of Urban Landscape and Community Identity at the Missouri Historical Society.
• Kevin Anthony, bridge pastor at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ.
• David Cunningham, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology at Washington University.
• Jada Brooks, student at Harris-Stowe University.
• Kimberly Hicks Franks, attorney, activist and board member of Dutchtown South Community Corp. The Missouri Bar Association lists her as an inactive member of the bar.
The commission was created by an executive order signed by Jones last December. Its first meeting will be held within 45 days.
In a series of conversations with Congresswoman Cori Bush and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, Post-Dispatch columnists Aisha Sultan and Tony Messenger ask the two political leaders of the region about a variety of topics, including reparations, rebuilding north St. Louis, crime, the changing political scene in Missouri, and parenting. Video by: Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
