June 19, 2023

Center Director Mariana Chilton was quoted in an article about Philadelphia City Council members proposing the formation of a task force to explore Philadelphia's role in U.S. slavery and compensation for Black descendants impacted by slavery.

She believes that reparations are "the number one way to address household food insecurity, and all of the health problems and social problems associated with deep poverty." In 2020, she testified before City Council that reparations should be added as a line item to Mayor Jim Kenney's budget proposal.

"No amount of food stamps or little city attempts to supposedly address poverty by helping people get a housing subsidy here or there is gonna really address the deep generational issues," she said. "The health problems that we see today are rooted in the history of colonization and slavery."

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